Howard Griffith Interview

Welcome to No Compromise Radio, a ministry coming to you from Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston. No Compromise Radio is a program dedicated to the ongoing proclamation of Jesus Christ, based on the theme in Galatians 2, verse 5, where the Apostle Paul said, �But we did not yield in subjection to them for even an hour, so that the truth of the gospel would remain with you.

In short, if you like smooth, watered-down words to make you simply feel good, this show isn�t for you. By purpose, we are first biblical, but we can also be controversial. Stay tuned for the next 25 minutes as we�re called by the Divine Trumpet to summon the troops for the honor and glory of her King.

Here�s our host, Pastor Mike Abendroth.

The Weekly Format and Wednesday Interviews

Welcome to No Compromise Radio, a ministry. My name is Mike Abendroth, and as you know the format here, the last five years of this daily show, Monday is a sermon that I�ve preached at Bethlehem Bible Church.

Tuesdays, I talk to Pastor Steve Cooley, my associate pastor, and we discuss issues in the church of all shapes and sizes. Thursdays, I usually talk about a doctrine that we can learn about, something that the Lord teaches us in His Word, probably systematic theology-oriented.

Fridays, I usually examine things. The Bible teaches us to examine everything carefully. But my favorite days are Wednesdays, and Wednesdays I get to talk to authors, theologians, scholars, men who have been gifted by the Lord, and they study and teach and influence.

And so today, since it�s Wednesday, we have Dr. Howard Griffith online, associate professor of systematic theology and academic dean at RTS. Howard, welcome to No Compromise Radio ministry. Thanks so much, Mike.

Howard Griffith's Conversion and Call to Ministry

Well, Howard, let our listeners know a little bit about you. Tell us how the Lord saved you and got you into pastoral ministry and teaching at a seminary. Oh, that�s great, thanks.

I was converted at age 15. I was kind of an aimless high school student, young high school student. I was invited to a ministry called Young Life, heard about Christ there, fell in love with the Bible there, and was influenced early on by Dr. R .C. Sproul.

I heard him give a Bible study on Genesis 15, and I thought to myself at that point, if I could know God and His Word and help others do it, that would be the joy of my life and sort of followed that calling right from that point.

Howard, you studied some at Gordon-Conwell. I did. You know, that�s pretty close to us here. I�m in central Massachusetts in Worcester. How did you like Massachusetts?

Oh, loved it, loved it. We only lived there for a brief time, too brief, but we loved the beauty of it, and I loved to be there because I was deeply interested in the American Puritans.

Well, I often ask people, when you think of Salem, Massachusetts, what�s the first thing that comes to your mind? And when they say, �Witches I say, �You�re a pagan because you should think of Adoniram Judson leaving this land to go off to Burma to preach the riches of Christ.

So Dr. Griffith, tell us a little bit about pastoral ministry. I really appreciate men who have served as pastors, served at a local church, and you did that at All Saints Reform Presbyterian for 23 years, then and simultaneously teaching at a seminary.

In other words, I have some professors that were never pastors, and I learned a lot from them, but there was a unique kind of personal touch. I�ve been there, I�ve done that, I am a pastor, I�ve been a pastor, and then teach at a seminary.

How has your pastoring helped you train young men for the next generation?

Well, I appreciate the question. If it had been up to me, I would have been a seminary professor right out of seminary and graduate school, but that was not God�s plan. He called me to church plant, and I had the opportunity to do that.

I planned on doing it for a brief period of time, and it was 25 years of time, all of which was to lead me to a deeper place of dependence on the Lord, humility, the kinds of things that are essential to being able to minister.

It�s not just mastering information or even being able to proclaim the truth adequately. You have to be humble before the Lord yourself. It took a long time, as it were, to work some of those things in my life, but my passion for learning and for teaching has always been there.

I continued to grow. I was able to do a doctorate at Westminster Seminary, and then got some opportunities to do some teaching. But the privilege that I have now is to work with these young people who love the Word of God, and they love people, and they want to take Christ to people.

They don�t really know, in some ways, how difficult that is, how challenging it is, and I can coach them and encourage them, challenge them.

Systematic Theology and Biblical Theology

Howard, tell us a little bit about your field of expertise. You teach systematic theology, and these days biblical theology is very popular, and of course it�s a good discipline as well. Tell us the difference between systematic theology, biblical theology, and why we should still study systematic theology in a culture of �everybody�s hot for biblical theology.

Yeah, that�s great.

Well, I love biblical theology, too. The reason you love it is because it�s following the contours of the particular organ of revelation, like Matthew or Paul, or a particular period of redemptive history, and looking at that in its own right.

But the wonderful thing is, God expects us to be responsible for, to know, and to proclaim the whole teaching of His Word. So the two, biblical theology and systematic theology, interact with each other, they inform each other.

And so when we say, �Who is Jesus Christ we have to give a whole Bible answer to that question. When we say, �What is human sin we have to give a whole Bible answer. So we need both. And systematic theology informs our assumptions about studying the text of Scripture, and as we grow in our knowledge of the text of Scripture, it enriches our larger grasp of the teaching of the whole.

Howard, I think you have a good radio voice. You want to be my permanent guest host? I may need another gig, I don�t know. Now, you�ve written a new book called Spreading the Feast, a PNR publishing, 2015.

The subtitle of Spreading the Feast is �Ministry at the Lord�s Table. It may be a question you get asked often, but tell our listeners, why would you write a book called Spreading the Feast, and what was your intention?

The way I think of books, Howard, is, you know, I don�t write very well, but I try to pick topics that no one else is writing about, and I figure then I can fill in the gaps and the Lord could use someone like me.

And so I don�t know if that�s your approach, but when I�ve been reading your writing, you�re an excellent writer. So give us your strategy.

Oh, well, thanks. I ministered at the Lord�s Table. We enjoy the Lord�s Supper every Sunday as part of our worship at All Saints for the 23 years of my ministry there. I was eager to do that because the Supper itself is one of the ways God builds up His people along with the preaching of His Word and baptism.

But I also was concerned that the Supper not become rote, if you will, or just something that you tack on. So I was eager to and hopeful that I could present different aspects of what it means to be a Christian along with the presentation of the meaning of the Supper.

And so I tried to do that, and the Lord was with us and blessed us. And as my own knowledge grew and my own grasp of what it means to be a Christian, especially the idea that when we�re Christians, we�re in union with Christ, as that grew, then my appreciation for the richness of the Lord�s Supper grew.

And so I�ve written this book, and it has quite a number of meditations, trying to help pastors and Christians, pastors as they present the Lord�s Supper and Christians as they enjoy it, to know some of the riches of what it means to be one with Christ.

Fencing the Table, Celebration, and Examination

Dr. Griffith, I liked it when you were saying in your introduction that you were reading in seminary table addresses by John Murray, and he would have these, what you called the embodiment of Christ-exalting biblical spirituality, and he would talk about things before the Lord�s Supper to kind of set the table the right way.

Often maybe we discuss fencing the table, that is, you know, talking about the gravity of the situation, and we ought not to rush into the situation. But in light of that, I struggle as a pastor when I think to myself, I�ve got celebration on one hand, and you�ve encapsulated that with your �Spreading the Feast� title, and then I�ve got an examination on the other hand.

How can we as pastors, and then of course listeners, some folks aren�t pastors, is it true it�s both a celebration and a time for examination, and how could we have both, and what do we need to think through, how do we need to think through that issue biblically?

You know, that�s great. I think the matter of examination is, it�s a kind of renewal that we�re doing. As we come to the table each week, or as often as we do it, we�re asking, �Am I Christ? Do I value that His blood was shed for me on the cross?

Do I trust in Him, and how would God have me live before Him Now, we all have to ask those kinds of questions, and ask them all through our lives, but this gives us a place to do it in which then we can be strengthened and helped, and this is exactly what the Holy Spirit does at the supper.

It�s exactly what He does with the preaching of the Word, too. So, they�re not radically different from each other, and I wouldn�t suggest that they are, but you know, the question is, �Am I Christ? Is what He has done on the cross, is what the Father has given me in Him?

Is that my hope and my only hope And for everybody who can say yes to that, and of course it�s been admitted to the table in the church, then it is a rich fare that God gives us.

Howard, when people think through the issue of examination, and they reflect upon 1 Corinthians chapter 11, help our listeners between the idea of, �I say to myself at the supper, is Christ my only hope?

Am I trusting in anything else besides Christ, representative work, substitutionary death, confirmed by the resurrection But then it bleeds into, �Well, I was short with my wife this week, and I wasn�t thankful, and a variety of things that I did not personally do as a response to the gospel, and therefore I feel like I�m coming to the table in an unworthy manner.

How should people think through that? I know what your answer is going to be, but I want our people to hear what should go through their minds on Sunday morning at the Lord�s Supper.

Excellent. Thanks for that question. We�re never worthy of the grace of God. His grace is completely free. Now, if I need to repent because I�ve been hard on my family, or I need to be reconciled to a brother, or I need to give up a certain sin that I�ve been flirting with, or something like that, yes, that�s the time to do it, right then.

But that doesn�t keep us away from the table, it invites us to the table to receive the grace of God again. So that examination doesn�t say, �Am I worthy The examination says, �Do I have a Christ who saves me from these things

And repentance in Scripture is absolutely essential. You can�t be a Christian without repentance. But repentance, by and large, is a joyful thing, because God accepts us freely in Christ. I think that�s what I would say.

Rededication, Justification, and Union with Christ

Excellent. We�re talking today to Dr. Howard Griffith. He�s written a book called Spreading the Feast, P &R. I�m sure you can order it at Westminster Books or Amazon, a variety of those places, our P &R�s site, their own site.

Howard, tell us a little bit about rededication. There are many Arminian churches, they have rededication services. Would it be proper and right to think of the Lord�s Supper as a rededication service, or would that be erroneous thinking?

Well, I�m not sure, Mike, exactly what is in people�s view when they use that term, but I wouldn�t think of a person because a person who�s in Christ never becomes out of Christ, if I may put it that way.

So our sins are serious, God takes them seriously, and we need to repent, but we don�t lose our justification. God�s declaration of our righteousness is a permanent declaration because Christ�s righteousness is counted to us.

So when we sin, our communion with God can be hindered, and it is, but our union with Christ is not broken. So what I would say is we�re renewing the relationship over and over again, or better said, God is renewing His relationship with us, especially at the table.

So yes, we confess freely, we get it all out there before the Lord in prayer, we resolve to make relationships right or do what we can from our side, and then go to that table for help and strength. If that�s what a rededication is, I�m all about that.

Well, Howard, thank you for answering the question, because I often say to myself, and I�m using the term loosely though, this is a rededication. Lord, in light of what you�ve done for me, would you give me the strength to live and think the right way, and I�ll now say this is a time where God is renewing my rededication.

Now I love Chapter 1, it starts off in your book, Spreading the Feast, Theology. That�s the name of the chapter title, Theology, so you got me right there, and you said at the beginning, this is a book about the ministry at the Lord�s table, not systematic theology, but there�s underpinnings of theology, and you go on to talk about Gaffan�s faith union with Christ, three aspects, predestinarian union, redemptive historical union, and then existential union.

Why do we need to think that way, and why is it important to the Lord�s supper?

Oh, well, union with Christ is at the heart of the Apostle Paul�s presentation of the Gospel. And what that means is that when I entrust myself to the Lord Jesus Christ, what God gave him on behalf of his people by raising him from the dead, the status of righteousness, power over sin being broken, and the relationship of adoption and power as the resurrected Son of God, those things belong to me.

So his righteousness is counted mine, his holiness begins in my life, I have the status of a child of God, a son of God, along with Jesus. That�s union with Christ. But what lays behind that is what he did in history.

And what he did in history was give himself for our sins, as Paul says, and then was raised on the third day. What lies behind that is God�s plan which sent him. So an eternal plan that sent the Lord Jesus to accomplish this on behalf of his people, that Gospel then proclaimed, �I, believing in Christ, am then united to him.

So what begins in God�s plan in eternity, and then was worked out in history in his death and resurrection, becomes mine by the Holy Spirit uniting me to Jesus by faith. So those three things come together in the life of the Christian.

Teaching Seminary Students to Administer the Lord's Supper

Steve Howard, at seminary, do you specifically teach your students the theology and then methodology of, �Here�s the Lord�s Supper. I don�t remember at the seminaries that I attended, actually in a pastoral ministry class, this is exactly what you do.

Now maybe it was taught and I just wasn�t paying attention. But don�t you think we should have a little more time spent teaching seminary students, this is actually what you do, and maybe have a table there and the tray of bread and the cups and actually walking through it, and also saying like you do in the book, �Let�s have a meditation ahead of time so we can think through these things properly.

Yes. Yeah, I think that, I agree, I was never taught that in seminary, I had to learn it on my own. And I felt pretty much at sea when I had to do it. So that�s part of the reason that I�ve tried to present this in the book, is I want to help people with it.

Well, I felt a kindred spirit with you because before I would teach, before I would administer the Lord�s Supper, I would say, �Well, today we�re going to just talk about propitiation and then I�d work through it.

And then the next time, �Redemption. Then the next time, �Reconciliation. Giving a small meditation, and that�s exactly what you�ve done with this book, and you�ve written out those meditations to help pastors and lay people.

Is that what you were thinking when you developed these? I don�t want to say they�re devotionals, but they�re meditations. Walk us through the process of why you did that.

No, exactly. It�s exactly why. I want pastors to be able to show the fullness of what it means to be one with Christ, and that�s what the table is for. It�s to seal to our hearts, in the power of the Spirit, what we have in the Lord Jesus Christ.

It is a feast. It is rich. And you have to think about that. If you�re going to do that, if you�re going to do that as a minister, you have to be able to think of what you�re going to say. Every minister is going to do that and develop his own voice and his own way of doing it, but these were different themes, some from the Old Testament, some from the Gospels, and some from the Epistles, that just show some of the richness of it.

In Jesus� own statements that are found in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and 1 Corinthians, those four passages in which the Last Supper is recounted and then the Lord�s Supper is instituted, there are many references and events, like the New Covenant, the Passover, the Blood of the Covenant at Sinai, many of these things.

Isaiah 53, that Jesus either refers to or alludes to in these passages, and I thought, �Well, these are the ones that we ought to be looking at. So that was sort of accounted for the structure of that part of the book.

The New Covenant in My Blood and Jeremiah 31

Dr. Griffith, it seems to me, if I was going to use maybe more modern nomenclature, you would go to a meditation that you wrote, �The New Covenant in My Blood, Luke 2220. And, of course, quoting Christ, �This cup that is poured out for you is the New Covenant in My Blood.

And then it�s almost like a little zip drive that�s opened up to say, �Let�s unpack what New Covenant is and then present that in the meditation. So when our listeners hear that, �This is the cup that�s poured out for you, it�s the New Covenant in My Blood they should be thinking, �What about Jesus�s words

Yes. Jesus�s �My blood shedding Jesus says, �brings to you all the benefits of what God has promised. So now, because I�m in Him, I�m brought into the sanctuary, into the heavenly sanctuary, which, you know, no Levitical priest ever entered, but the Lord now is there on my behalf.

I have forgiveness of sins. I have the true knowledge of God provided by the Spirit, because the Spirit has written God�s law in my heart. All these things that are in the text in Jeremiah 31, well, now they�ve been accomplished in the blood of Jesus.

And as I take the cup and as I eat the bread, I�m having fellowship with the Lord in that holiest place.

A Study on Children in the Church

Dr. Griffith, are you working on any other books at this time?

I�m working on a study on different views of children in the church. So it has to do with sort of different approaches to where they fit and kind of how we think about them, how then we nurture them as they�re coming to faith.

Preparing for the Lord's Supper on Saturday Night

We�ve got about two minutes to go. Dr. Griffith, tell me a little bit about what you would say to a congregant on Saturday night as they prepare for the Lord�s Supper and the rest of the worship service on Sunday.

Is there something that people can walk through on Sunday night from praying for the service to maybe some examination at home, or how do they get ready for the feast?

That�s great. Thank you. I appreciate that so much. Well, the main thing I�d say is to get to bed. Get some rest. But beyond that, I think the question is, you know, how�s my relationship with my family?

And if I need to work on a little bit there or say something to someone to, you know, sweeten things up, go for that. Do that. And then remind yourself of something like Ephesians 1 verse 7, �In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of his grace.

Meditate on that. Think about that. Then ask God to bring it home to your heart and ask God to bless the ministry of the Word. Pray for your pastor.

Closing Remarks and Station Disclaimer

Good advice. Dr. Howard Griffith, you can go onto his website through RTS. I believe it is, is it rts .com? I have it here somewhere. It�s rts .edu. Oh, yeah, that�s correct. Right, slash Washington. And what I like about the site, once you go to his faculty site, there are some sermons there, �Treasure in jars of clay, praise the strong covenant-keeping God, Christ restores marriage certainty in Christ.

And the theme there is, if you�re going to listen to this man, you�re going to have to learn about Jesus, because it seems like that�s your one string of the guitar.

There�s nothing else to be talking about, is there?

Amen. So thank you so much for being on the radio show today, Howard. People can get the book Spreading the Feast at Amazon, probably wts .com, or whatever the Westminster Seminary�s website is. We�re set there.

Thank you for being on No Compromise Radio.

My pleasure. Take care. No Compromise Radio with Pastor Mike Abendroth is a production of Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston. Bethlehem Bible Church is a Bible-teaching church firmly committed to unleashing the life-transforming power of God�s Word through verse-by-verse exposition of the sacred text.

Please come and join us. Our service times are Sunday morning at 1015 and in the evening at 6. We�re right on Route 110 in West Boylston. You can check us out online at bbchurch .org or by phone at 508 -835 -3400.

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