In Holy Communion God stoops down to our level to show the great mystery of our union with Christ in a very tangible manner. He does not just explain a complex theological concept to us and leave us to ponder about it. He lets us see, smell, touch, taste, and even participate in its reenactment. Even when we cannot see the cross of the past, or imagine our future feast, or comprehend our present union with Christ, Holy Communion still helps us get a small taste of this mysterious beauty.

What happens when Christians “do” Holy Communion? What’s the point of it? Is it just a visual aid—a symbolic depiction of something that can be communicated just as effectively by words? Is it something we really need?
Many of us might find it difficult to give clear answers to these questions—especially after the long period of online worship we have been through recently. Perhaps some of us still aren’t sure whether getting together for Communion makes any difference at all.
In this short article, I want to set out three things that Jonathan Edwards tells us about why we should take Communion seriously.
Remember: a Commemoration of Christ’s Death
This is perhaps the one thing that most Christians think of when they consider the meaning of Holy Communion. Remembrance is the most obvious aspect of the Communion. Jesus himself said during his Last Supper, “Do this in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19; 1 Corinthians 11:24)
Jonathan Edwards said that Christ’s death “should be commemorated in the church in all ages by this representation of it in this ordinance [i.e., the Holy Communion].”[1] In a sense, this sacrament transfers our minds back across time. Every time Christians partake in the Holy Communion, we remember and even reenact Christ’s sacrifice which gives us life. And that’s a good thing. We are forgetful creatures. In the midst of the busyness and distractions of life, God has given us this sacrament to help us remember what Jesus has done. It is our duty to help our minds remember regularly by partaking in it as often as we can.
Hope: an Expectation of the Heavenly Feast
Holy Communion also transfers our minds to the future. This is probably not something a lot of Christians think of as they partake in Communion. But for Edwards, this was an important aspect of the sacrament. Communion is “a type of that eternal feast of the saints in heaven.”[2]
Imagine that: there are Christians having an eternal feast right now with Jesus at the head of the table—something that we, living Christians on earth, are looking forward to as well (see Isaiah 25:6; Revelation 19:9). We will join them when we get there. But for now, what we do during Communion is a “type”: a pointer towards that heavenly reality. Every time Christians partake in Holy Communion, we are participating in a spiritual feast together with all the saints—on earth and in heaven; from the past, present, and future. That future when we get together and actually feast with Jesus face to face will be “unspeakably happy and glorious”—so glorious that it will have to be experienced. But we can enjoy that experience now, to a small extent, as we partake in Holy Communion. Edwards constantly invited his church members to diligently participate in this sacrament for this reason. And he’s right. Who does not want to participate in that glorious heavenly banquet?
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Written by C.R. Carmichael |
Monday, September 13, 2021
David describes the good person as one who delights in the law of the Lord, and meditates every day and night. Never let a day pass without reading a portion of Holy Scripture, and realize that an important duty of the day has been neglected if Scripture reading has been omitted. 

No one can be an eminent Christian, no matter how frequently he hears his favorite preacher, who does not converse much with his Bible in secret. Anyone who wishes to grow in grace and in knowledge must commune daily with the Bible’s prophets and apostles. Through the medium of these inspired texts, the Christian must drink largely of the pure living waters and undiluted milk of the word. Alas, it is a weak and sickly faith that depends solely upon the hearing of sermons or the reading of Christian “bestsellers” for its spiritual support.
God’s word is the food of the soul. There is more concentrated nourishment in a single text of Scripture, drawn out by the digestive process of meditation to strengthen the heart of the believer, than in many pages of uninspired, though instructive, composition. God’s words are life, and they are spirit. Read the pages of Christian martyrology and you will find that the secret of the martyrs’ strength was in their intimate acquaintance with the Scriptures. They were Bible Christians, and not mere sermon Christians.
If you have any deep experience in the ways of God and the devices of Satan, then you would easily remember times of peril when the perusal of a single chapter, or even the pondering upon a single verse, sounded like the voice of God and seemed like the mightiness of His omnipotence coming into your soul. If, then, you want to relish the uncorrupted sweetness of the word; if you want to realize all its strength-giving efficacy; if you want to grow to the strength and stature of a perfect man or woman in Christ Jesus; if you want to be valiant in the fight of faith—you must be much in converse with God alone, through the medium of his own blessed word.
Is this precious privilege not often neglected by many of you? Does the Bible not lie upon the table or the shelf for days or weeks unopened? What excuse have you to offer for so ungrateful a return for this inspired book? Perhaps, you say, it is a difficult book to understand. Admittedly, there are dark and inexplicable passages to ordinary readers, and yet how much more there is that is clear to the feeblest capacity. And think how much more those dark passages would brighten and unfold their meaning with a more spiritual, more devoted, and habitual attention!
Diligence, prayer, and a holy state of mind will unlock to the inquiring believer most of the hidden treasures of inspiration. Those who complain of the darkness of the Scriptures are generally those who have devoted the least time and attention to the study of them. Many uninspired books are difficult to those who only dip into them occasionally, but which, to the very same people, become easy when studied with care. There is such a thing as becoming, by long examination, familiar with an author’s style and manner, just as our protracted acquaintance with an individual enables us to understand the drift of his remarks better than we did at our first introduction to him. If necessary, the aid of a commentary may be of service to those who have leisure to peruse it.
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As our roots go deep in Christ, the fruit of our lives is the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22–23). This is an important point. By repentance, we are not making another resolution to “do better next time.” Rather, by repentance, we are asking God to “create in me a clean heart…and renew a right spirit within me” (Ps. 51:10). We are turning from our sin by asking God not only to forgive us from our sins, but to change our lives.

When Matthew abruptly introduces us to John the Baptist, he focuses his remarks on the central theme of John’s message: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matt. 3:2).
Certainly, John said more as he preached in the wilderness; however, this summarization is not an out-of-context soundbite from John’s preaching. Central to John’s ministry and message was the exhortation to repent, in view of the coming kingdom—that is, in view of the coming King. Consider:

John baptized people as they were “confessing their sins” (Matt. 3:5)
John turned away the Pharisees and the Sadducees who did not “bear fruit in keeping with repentance” (Matt. 3:8)
John defined his own baptism as a baptism “with water for repentance” (Matt. 3:11)

God sent John into the wilderness to prepare the way for the coming of King Jesus, and those preparations required repentance.
What, then, is repentance?
The word for repentance in Greek (μετάνοια; metanoia) carries a basic meaning of changing one’s mind. The common word for repentance in Hebrew (שׁוּב; shûb) has a basic meaning of turning—turning away from one thing, and turning toward another.
So, repentance is more than coming to a different opinion in one’s mind about something. Repentance is a whole turning away from our sin, and turning toward Christ.
It’s hard to beat the answer given in the Westminster Shorter Catechism:
Q. 87. What is repentance unto life?A. Repentance unto life is a saving grace, whereby a sinner, out of a true sense of his sin, and apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ, doth, with grief and hatred of his sin, turn from it unto God, with full purpose of, and endeavor after, new obedience.
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