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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…

Lamps, Levites, and Retirement

Wednesday Evening April 25, 2007 Numbers 8:1-26 Lamps, Levites, and Retirement Dr. Ligon Duncan III I’d invite you to turn with me to Numbers 8. We have been working through Numbers for a number of weeks now. The last time we were together in Numbers, we were in the longest chapter in the Bible, Numbers 7; that runs to 89 verses. And we said that it describes a unique event in Israel’s history, a twelve-day event when gifts were brought to the tent of meeting–all of the gifts the same, each brought by a tribal leader, one each day. The same leaders brought the gifts as had been responsible for the census that was taken and recorded back in Numbers 2. And we said, looking at that long passage, that the passage highlights at least five things. First of all, the importance and…

Heaven

Fear…Not…Heaven! “There Is Hope” Luncheon Series April 25, 2007 What is Heaven? Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III If you have your Bibles, I'd invite you to turn with me to John, the Gospel of John. I think it's appropriate for us to begin our thinking about heaven from Jesus’ own words as He speaks on the night of His betrayal, the night before His kangaroo-court trial and crucifixion. He speaks words of comfort to His disciples, and in the course of those words He speaks to them about heaven, and the way He speaks about heaven to them is important and instructive. We’re going to give it some attention. John, chapter fourteen, and we're going to look at the first few verses. Before we read God's word, let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank You for the privilege of…

Offerings of the Leaders

Wednesday Evening April 18, 2007 Numbers 7:1-89 “Offerings of the Leaders” Dr. Ligon Duncan III We’re in Numbers 7 tonight,. It’s been a month since we’ve been in the book of Numbers. Numbers 7 is the longest chapter in the Bible, with the exception of Psalm 119, if you want to count that as a chapter. So what I’ve done is I’ve provided you an outline on two sides of an 8 Ѕ x 14, with all the verses–all 89 verses of Numbers 7. And I’ve put some notes above each of the sections because there is a lot of repetition in this passage, and in order to focus you on certain things that we’re learning throughout different parts of the chapter, even in the repetition I’ve given you some notes. So follow along as we read tonight in Numbers 7. Let me…

The Final Judgement

Fear…Not…Heaven! “There Is Hope” Luncheon Series April 18, 2007 The Final Judgment Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III Today our subject is the Judgment–the final Judgment in the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. If you do have Bibles, I would invite you to turn with me to Matthew, chapters 24 and 25. I'm going to read three verses out of Matthew 24, and then I'm going to read the final verses of Matthew 25, because in that great passage Jesus Himself is speaking directly to the subject…

Biblical Priorities For the Life of the Church (14)…

The Lord's Day Morning April 15, 2007 Communion Sunday I Corinthians 10:31 Qualities of a Healthy Local Church Glorifying God, Loving Others, Blessing the Nations Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III Amen. If you have your Bibles, I'd invite you to open them to I Corinthians 10:31. We’re going to look at five passages this morning, but slightly out of order. Today we are coming to the final message in a series on the qualities of a biblical local church. We've been looking at this over the…

What Happens When Christ Returns?

Fear…Not! “There Is Hope” Luncheon Series April 4, 2007 What Happens When Christ Returns? The Resurrection of Christ and the Resurrection of the Body Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III Today we have somewhat of a blended topic. The next time we're together we're going to be looking at the Judgment Day and the issues related to that. We’ll cross into that territory just a little bit today, because our focus is going to be asking how Jesus’ resurrection affects us in this life, and how it…

Biblical Priorities For the Life of the Church (13)…

The Lord's Day Morning April 1, 2007 I Timothy 3:1-13; Hebrews 13:7 Biblical Priorities for Church LifeBiblical Church Leadership Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III If you have your Bibles, I'd invite you to turn with me to I Timothy 3. We've been for a number of months now, on and off, working through the attributes, or the characteristics, or the priorities of a biblical local church; that is, what are the characteristics of a church which in some measure has aspirations for and bears the…

Biblical Church Leadership

What Happens After Death?

Fear…Not! “There Is Hope” Luncheon Series March 28, 2007 What Happens After Death? Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III Thank you for being here, friends. There are going to be three parts to the message. The first part is what happens after death for the believer; the second part is what happens after death for the unbeliever; the third part is to address a range of practical questions which arise because of this question of what happens after death. So we have a lot to do in a short period of time.…