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RTS and the Current State of Theological Education

Some of you may have seen this important article over at The Gospel Coalition about the decline and relocation of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (TEDS) by Collin Hansen, who is a graduate of the school. Reformed Theological Seminary has been friends with TEDS for many years. Over the years, a number of our faculty have done their studies there before coming to RTS, and a number of our graduates have gone on to do doctoral work there. We wish TEDS all the best in this new stage of their institutional life. The last twenty years have been tough for accredited graduate theological education…

Who Is the Greatest?

The Lord's Day Morning March 14, 2010 Luke 9:46-56 “Who Is the Greatest?” Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III O come, let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker for He is our God and we are the people of His pasture, the flock under His care. Let us worship Him. If you have your Bibles I'd invite you to turn with me to Luke chapter 9. We’ll begin in verse 46 as we continue our way through the gospel of Luke. If you look at this passage there are three parts to it. Luke 9:46-48 contains a story explaining what the disciples were discussing amongst themselves as they went along the way in ministry in the northern part of Palestine on their way eventually to Jerusalem. They were having a conversation amongst them about which one of them was the greatest. Immediately…

Amazed by the Greatness of God

The Lord's Day Morning March 7, 2010 Luke 9:37-45 “Amazed by the Greatness of God” Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III O give thanks unto the Lord for He is good. His steadfast love endures forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom He has redeemed from trouble and gathered from the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south. Let us worship Him. If you have your Bibles I'd invite you to turn with me to Luke chapter 9. We’re going to be looking at verses 37 to 45. Make sure you look back to verses 28 to 36 which records the passage we were in the last time we were together in the gospel of Luke which is the story of Jesus’ transfiguration. This is the one time in Jesus’ earthly ministry that something of the full glory of who He was shone through…

Why We Sing (And How It Helps)

The Lord's Day Evening March 7, 2010 Colossians 3:16 “Why We Sing and How it Helps Us” Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III The apostle Paul, in Colossians chapter 3 verse 16, exhorts the Colossians and you and me as brothers and sister in Jesus Christ to “let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” A quick glance at the concordance will supply you will well over one hundred passages in the Scripture that exhort us to and supply us reasons for singing and singing praise to God. And so in just a few moments I want to explore with you why we sing, and to answer that from Scripture, and then to ask — How does that help us? How does it help us to sing?…

The New Exodus

The Lord's Day Morning February 14, 2010 Luke 9:28-36 “The New Exodus” Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III O give thanks unto the Lord for He is good. His steadfast love endures forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so. Let us worship Him. Our Lord and our God we bow before You. We acknowledge you as the Creator of everything and the Ruler of the whole universe, but especially this day we come to You as the God of grace, for it's only by Your grace that we dare enter into Your presence and…

The First Lesson in Christ’s School of…

The Lord's Day Morning February 7, 2010 Luke 9:23-27 “The First Lesson in Christ's School of Discipleship” Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III If you have your Bibles I'd invite you to turn with me to Luke chapter 9. We’ll be looking at the twenty third through the twenty seventh verses in this great chapter together. The subject of this passage is self denial. Connie said to me before the morning service that she would be praying for me because she knew this would be a hard sermon to…

Confession, Christ, Cross, Constraint

The Lord's Day Morning January 24, 2010 Luke 9:18-22 “Confession, Christ, Cross, Constraint” Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III If you have your Bibles I'd invite you to turn with me to Luke chapter 9 as we continue our way through the Gospel together. Before we read this passage, a passage of central importance in the gospel of Luke and in the whole story of the Lord Jesus Christ, I want to draw your attention to six parts in the passage so that as we read through you’re able to follow along…

Jesus Is More Than Enough

The Lord's Day Morning January 10, 2010 Luke 9:10-17 “Jesus Is More Than Enough” Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III If you have your Bibles, I'd invite you to turn with me to Luke chapter 9. As we continue our way through this great gospel, we come to a passage which deals with the feeding of the five thousand. It's a passage which has obvious bearing on the Lord's Supper. It's a passage in which Jesus’ compassion is on vivid display, especially in contrast to His disciples, who…

From Eden to the New Heavens and Earth: The Unfolding…

Wednesday Evening Prayer Meeting January 6, 2010 Joshau Dr. J. Ligon Duncan, III. We’re beginning a series of studies of whole Bible books and as you've already seen in your bulletin, I'm going to be preaching on Joshua tonight — all of Joshua — twenty four chapters of Joshua. Now lest you feel sorry for me, as I may have at moments myself today, Derek has to preach on the Psalms — all one hundred and fifty psalms in twenty five minutes. And so I think Derek wins the prize. So…

He Called. He Gave. He Sent

The Lord's Day Morning January 3, 2010 Luke 9:1-9 “He called. He gave. He sent.” Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III We’re looking at a passage in which Jesus commissions His disciples to preach the circuit, a short preaching assignment in the villages and towns in the area in which they presently found themselves. As we look at this passage I do want you to keep your eyes out for three or four things. In verses 1 and 2, you see Jesus call His disciples and engift His disciples and send His…