THE
FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK
It
is not strange that the first day of the week was chosen by our Lord
as the day in which we should assemble to worship Him. Even at the
very beginning, when the prophecies of old were being fulfilled in
the establishment of the church, we notice that it occurred on the
first day of the week. In Acts 2:1, the writer records that it was
on the day of Pentecost that the events, which are contained in that
chapter, occurred. It was on this Jewish holy day that the apostles
were baptized with the Holy Spirit, as Jesus had promised (Lk. 24:49;
Acts 1:7-8), and preached repentance and remission of sins for the
first time (Acts 2:38).
As
we find in Lev. 23:15-16, the day of Pentecost was determined in this
way: "And you shall count for yourselves from
the day after the Sabbath,
from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven
Sabbaths shall be completed. Count fifty days to the
day after the seventh Sabbath;
then you shall offer a new grain offering to the Lord." The
"day after the Sabbath" would be Sunday, or the first day
of the week. It was not because of tradition
however, that Sunday should be that day on which the saints would
continue
to meet.
Jesus
instituted the Lord's supper with the words, "...Do this in
remembrance of Me." (Lk. 22:19) Though He spoke these words to
His apostles, it must be noted that in His great commission, Jesus
instructed these
same men
that part of their responsibility to those whom they were to baptize
was to be "teaching them to observe all things that I have
commanded you..." (Mt. 28:20) Certainly, the command to
"remember
Me"
in the observance of that memorial was as much intended for all
Christians. But what has this to do with understanding when the
church is to assemble to worship the Lord? Simply that the Lord's
supper was observed by the first-century church on the first day of
the week as an act of worship.
There
is no doubt that this is so, for Paul rebuked the church at Corinth
for profaning the observance of the Lord's supper "when you come
together in one place..." (1 Cor. 11:20) Then upon rebuking
them, he said, "For I received from the Lord that which I also
delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He
was betrayed took bread." (1 Cor. 11:23) Finally, in Acts 20:7
we notice that Paul preached in Troas "on the first day of the
week, when the disciples came together to break bread..."
It
was on the first day of the week that the church at Corinth was
instructed by Paul to "lay something aside, storing up as he may
prosper..." (1 Cor. 16:2) The reason being, "...that there
be no collections when I come." Why the first day of the week?
First, because it was the prescribed time for them to meet to
worship, therefore the most logical
time to lay by their offering. Second, it made it unnecessary to
have a special
collection upon the arrival of those who were to transport the gift
to the needy saints at Jerusalem. Finally, because Paul, as an
apostle, was one of the "ambassadors for Christ, as
though God were pleading through us..."
(2 Cor. 5:20) by apostolic authority.
In
days gone by, even to the present time, the frequency of the
observance of the Lord's supper and laying by an offering has been
perverted to correspond to the desires of men. Such action reflects
a how-little-can-I-get-by-with attitude. Since the bible gives no
frequency for this observance, but only states the day,
it is obvious that it can only mean every
first day of the week. The Jews would not have questioned the
frequency of the Sabbath day which was to be "remembered"
and "kept holy" under penalty of death for failure to do
so, (See Ex. 31:14-15)
To
the children of God, as students of His word, these truths are
certainly not new but merely serve as a reminder that it is not by
accident, tradition, or of human design that the first day of the
week is to be set aside as a day in which God's family assembles to
worship Him and edify one another. There is no more solemn an
occasion than to meet in the presence of our Creator "where two
or three are gathered together in
My name..."
Indeed, it is not a time to be taken lightly, as can be seen in the
admonition and warning of Heb.10:25-26 where willful forsaking of
assembling together is called sin.
It
is interesting to note the severity of punishment for those who
failed to "keep the Sabbath." (Ex. 31:12-17) In warning
the Hebrews not to forsake the assembling of themselves together,
Paul enhanced the urgency of his message by reminding them that those
who "rejected Moses' law dies without mercy..." (Heb.
10:28) If we were confronted by such warning in the New Testament to
those who fail to assemble on the first day of the week, our attitude
would probably be drastically different. But we are
faced with an even greater
punishment for such willful neglect: "a certain fearful
expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the
adversaries." (Heb. 10:27) To fail to assemble and have enough
consideration for our brethren to admonish them to assemble with us,
is classified as willful
sin.
Brothers
and sisters, can you say, "I was glad when they said to me, 'Let
us go into the house of the Lord.'"? (Psm. 122:1) What is your
attitude toward assembling on the first day of the week?
-
Gary V. Womack - (1978)