CHRISTIAN SABBATH: THE DAY THAT CHRISTIANS ASSEMBLE

(Message by Tanny Keng)

1. Christian Sabbath

a) Many folk regard Sunday as the “Christian Sabbath”. You may be surprised to learn that this is not so. However Sunday (the first day of the week) is the day on which Christians should meet for the Lord’s Supper.

2. The Day That Christians Assemble

a) The assembly for the Lord’s Supper should be on “the first day of every week” and this can be seen by comparing four scriptures.

i) Hebrews 10:25. Firstly, the Hebrew writer forbids “forsaking the assembling of yourselves together as is the the habit of some” This shows that the early Christians held regular assemblies and were commanded to attend them, not to forsake them. In fact the Greek word for “church” is εκκλησια (ekkleesia) which is another word meaning “assembly”.

ii) 1 Corinthians 16:1-3. Secondly, Paul commanded the churches or congregations to collect money “on the first day of every week” His reason was “so that there will be no need for collections when I come” We are forced to conclude that it was on the first day of every week that the congregations were assembling. Otherwise, why would the first day of every week be singled out to facilitate the collection?

iii) 1 Corinthians 11:20-26. Thirdly, Paul writes about errors at Corinth “when you come together as a church” These errors concerned “the Lord’s Supper” This shows that one purpose for coming together on the first day of every week was (or should have been) to properly observe the Lord’s Supper.

iv) Acts 20:7. Fourthly, the above conclusions are confirmed by Luke who mentions “the first day of the week when the disciples came together to break bread”. That was in Troas. Paul and his companions met with this congregation, on the first day of the week, and Paul preached to them.

b) The above verses establish that it was the practice of the first Christians to assemble on the first day of every week to partake of the Lord’s Supper. Their day for “church” was not the Sabbath, the seventh day, but the day after that, the first day of the week.

The End ...