The Lord’s Day
by Marvin L. Weir
The devil never sleeps or fails to take advantage of any situation he can exploit. COVID-19 may turn out to be something Satan uses to lead brethren astray. Some brethren have not attended church services in over a year.
Is there a special day the church is commanded to assemble together to worship the true and living God? Can that day be identified? Do both “Sunday” and “the first Day of the week” refer to the “Lord’s Day?” If such a day exists, what must the “church” do on that day?
We live in a society that now treats religion in a very casual manner. It is the age of “house churches” and congregations that divide up on Sunday evenings to gather in small groups in numerous homes (“cell groups“). What is implemented on Sunday evening will eventually come home to roost on Sunday morning. For decades now, the Sunday evening service has been treated as something less than the Sunday morning service. Are not both AM and PM assemblies Lord’s Day worship services?
There is no scripture that commands Christians to meet in a building, but the scriptures do demand that Christians assemble together on a certain day. The apostle John specifically mentions “the Lord’s day” (Revelation 1:10). Church historians, lexicons, and Bible dictionaries all refer to “the Lord’s Day” as Sunday, the first day of the week.
The church of the New Testament met regularly. Please note the language Paul uses to describe the regular gathering of Christians in the early church. Paul uses expressions like “when ye are gathered together” (I Corinthians 5:4), “when ye come together” (I Corinthians 11:18), “when ye come together therefore into one place” (I Corinthians 11:20), and “if therefore the whole church be come together into one place” (I Corinthians 14:23).
It is easy to prove from the Scriptures that the early church had a regular time to assemble. It is also easy to see the pattern for assembly involved the “whole” church, not just a part of the church. There is absolutely no Scriptural authority whatsoever for congregations dividing up into “cell groups” or multiple “house churches” for their Lord’s Day assemblies!
The devil never sleeps or fails to take advantage of any situation he can exploit. COVID-19 may turn out to be something Satan uses to lead brethren astray. Some brethren have not attended a worship service at their congregation in over a year. Yet, they go to the grocery store, which is far more dangerous. Many have continued to go to work. They say these things are necessary. Think about this for a moment —is worship not necessary? Some brethren have become content to “worship” at home. Is this remotely akin to being “gathered together” (I Corinthians 5:4) or assembling “yourselves together” (I Corinthians 11:18)? The Lord intended that the “whole church be come together in one place” (I Corinthians 14:23) on Sunday or the first day of the week. Brethren who are able to go to work, go to Wal-Mart, attend other activities during the week, deceive themselves when they think they have engaged in a Lord’s Day worship service by themselves at home!
Hebrews 10:25 warns brethren not to forsake their assembling together. This verse of Scripture clearly depicts that the early church had a routine of “assembling together” and that some already had a habit of “forsaking the assembling” (Hebrews 10:25).
We have examples of the early Christians coming together on the first day of the week. Paul and Luke refrained from further travel to gather with the local Christians on the Lord’s Day (no other explanation is given for their deliberate delay). In Acts 20:6-7, we read, “And we sailed away from Philippi after the days of unleavened bread, and came unto them to Troas in five days; where we abode seven days. And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight.” Paul instructed the church at Corinth, “Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye. Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come” (I Corinthians 16:1-2).
The first day of the week is the day Christ rose from the dead. The Scriptures read, “In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. ... He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay” (Matthew 28:1,6).
The Holy Spirit fell on the apostles on the day of Pentecost — the 50th day after the Passover. This would involve seven Sabbaths (49 days) plus one —the 50th day (cf. Lev. 23). It would be the first day of the week, and Peter preached his sermon (Acts 2) on that day (Sunday, the Lord’s Day).
The early Christians assembled together for a particular purpose — to worship. This is the very reason saints are to assemble together today! The most common word for worship (proskuneo) means “to kiss the hand toward.” One cannot help but observe that this word denotes an act of reverence that requires a specific action! The Scriptures declare that the early Christians “...continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers” (Acts 2:42). Worship does not occur automatically, accidentally, or unknowingly.
We learn from the Scriptures that Abraham said to his young men, “I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you” (Genesis 22:5). In I Samuel 1:19 we read, “And they rose up in the morning early, and worshipped before the LORD, and returned, and came to their house to Ramah: and Elkanah knew Hannah his wife; and the LORD remembered her.”
It is more than obvious that true worship of God has a beginning and an ending! The “all of life is worship” doctrine is blatantly false! May we desire to assemble with the saints to worship every Sunday, which is also called the Lord’s Day — the first day of the week!
