Why We Meet on Sunday – 1

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Why We Meet on Sunday – 1

Sermon by  Thomas Thornhill Jr

Passage: Acts 20:7


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It is no secret that we meet on Sunday, or “the first day of the week” as it is described in the Bible.  The reason we do this is because we find it as part of the New Testament pattern.

But this is not something universally accepted by professed followers of Jesus.   There are denominations that believe you ought to assemble on Saturday (aka “the Sabbath” – such as 7th Day Adventists, some churches of God, Messianic Jews, etc.).  In addition to this, many mega churches make no distinction as to which day we ought to assemble (they offer services on either day, so you can choose at your convenience).  Some Catholic churches also give the option of meeting Saturday night or Sunday (your choice).  Recently, I have been shown some online videos where they were advocating that we are supposed to be meeting on Saturdays.  With that in mind, I would like to remind us of the reason we do meet on Sunday and examine some of the arguments being made to command meeting on Saturday.

  1. We are called upon to meet on “Sunday”
    1. Churches met on the first day of the week
      1. Acts 20:7 – they met to partake of the Lord’s supper. Acts 20:7 is particularly significant when you consider vs. 6 says that Paul waited 7 days at Troas, where he met with the brethren on Sunday.  There is nothing in the text to indicate this was a SPECIAL Sunday.  Just as they met every Sabbath, we meet every Sunday.  NOTE: Vs 16 of this this chapter, Paul was hurrying to get to Jerusalem, but he stayed a week to meet with these brethren.
      2. 1 Corinthians 16:1-2, Paul gives instructions that on “the first day of the week” they were to “lay by in store” according to their prosperity.
        1. The necessary conclusion is that Paul knew they would meet on that day to worship God (including to partake of the Lord’s Supper), thus it was a convenient time to fulfill the command.
        2. NOTE: This is why we ONLY take up a collection on Sundays. It is the only authorized pattern to do so.
    2. NOTE: Never do we read in the NT of disciples assembling on “the Sabbath”.
      1. But what about Paul? He would often (in fact, the first place he would go) go to a synagogue which was meeting on the Sabbath.  This is very true, but the reason was Jesus instructed the apostles to go FIRST to the Jews and then to the rest (Matthew 10:5-6, Acts 1:8, 3:26, *13:46, Romans 1:16, etc.).  In a city where would find Jews?  When they assembled at their synagogues.  Paul was going there to preach the fulfillment of the LOM and Jesus as part of that fulfillment.
    3. Consider what happened on the first day of the week:
      1. Matthew 28:1, Mark 16:1-2, Luke 24:1-2, John 20:1 – ALL 4 gospels are clear to mention “the first day of the week” with many saying AFTER the Sabbath. Jesus arose on Sunday!  This is a new beginning.
      2. It was on 2 “first day of the week” that He made appearances – John 20:19, 26.
      3. Acts 2:1 – the church began on Sunday. It was the day of Pentecost.  Pentecost was a day to be observed on a Sunday – the ONLY OT feast to be annually observed on a Sunday.  Recorded in Leviticus 23:15-16, ‘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.   This was the day of Pentecost, or the “feast of weeks” and was counted from the Passover week.
  2. The Sabbath day was given to Israel
    1. Exodus 20:8-11, it was the 4th commandment given to Israel at Mt. Sinai. It was part of the 10 commandments.  This is where the command was instituted.
    2. That this was a command to the nation of Israel is clearly taught –
      Deuteronomy 5:2-3 is clear that this was designed for the children of Israel. Note in vs. 12, as the 10 commandments are repeated, we read, “Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the LORD your God commanded you.”
      Exodus 31:12-18, as Moses is receiving instructions on Mt. Sinai, the LORD is very specific about who the Sabbath was for – the Israelites.  Notice vs. 13, 14-15 – which clearly associates it with the children of Israel.
      Later, in recounting what happened at Mt. Sinai, as Judah is facing Babylonian captivity, Ezekiel 20:12 says, “Moreover I also gave them My Sabbaths, to be a sign between them and Me, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them.”
      Nehemiah 9:13-14, after Judah is permitted to return and rebuild the temple and city of Jerusalem, in repentance, Nehemiah prays, “You came down also on Mount Sinai, And spoke with them from heaven, And gave them just ordinances and true laws, Good statutes and commandments. You made known to them Your holy Sabbath, And commanded them precepts, statutes and laws, By the hand of Moses Your servant.“ (emph. mine)
    3. There is NO observation of the Sabbath in the book of Genesis, among the patriarchs. You would suppose that IF they observed the Sabbath, it would have been mentioned somewhere, especially considering that Moses wrote Genesis for the children of Israel.
    4. What about the fact that God rested on the 7th day? Yes He did!  But that doesn’t change the fact that we are NOT told anywhere that the patriarchs or ANYONE in Genesis observed the Sabbath.  We read about sacrifices, moral conduct, and even circumcision, but NOTHING is said about the Sabbath.
      Consider that if Genesis was written by Moses, he was writing to Jews and explaining what they were called upon to do.  He simply used God resting on the 7th day as an (inspired) illustration.  In Deuteronomy 5:12-15 gives a DIFFERENT reason to keep the Sabbath (to remember they were delivered by God out of Egypt).   In FACT, in that text, Moses notes in Deuteronomy 5:2-3 that the covenant “with us in Horeb.  The LORD did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, those who are here today…”
    5. What about Exodus 16:23-29? The point is made that this predates the giving of the 10 commandments at Mt. Sinai and thus proves the Sabbath was observed before.
      It is truth this is the FIRST time the Sabbath is mentioned and it was on the way to Mt. Sinai.
      BUT, consider it was given to Israel, the people who WOULD receive the law at Mt. Sinai.  While not specifically stated, could this be preliminary instructions given to Israel to TEACH them and prepare them for the Sabbath they were to observe?  That text is interesting because it describes how many did NOT pay attention when Moses gave them instructions concerning the collecting of mana (twice the amount the day before).  But vs. 27-29 describes how some did not listen and did not collect double.  They had to go a day without mana (or someone shared with them).  Lesson learned – vs. 30, “So the people rested the seventh day”.
  3. The Old Law was done away with
    1. Another consideration is that the 10 commandments, including the Sabbath day, were part of the Old Law, or Law of Moses. This is important to understand, as we are no longer under the Old Law.
    2. The Old Law has been done away with. Consider the following:
      1. Jeremiah 31:31-34 – there is the promise of a new covenant that is coming. Clearly this text is declaring from the LORD, that it will be DIFFERENT than the one made with Israel and Judah.  So even their law declared that it had a time limit as Jeremiah was writing.
      2. Hebrews 7:12, For the priesthood being changed, of necessity there is also a change of the law. The writer is explaining how Jesus could be High Priest. The priesthood needed to change.  NOW, notice Hebrews 8:7-13, where he quotes Jeremiah 31:31-34 and explains that the first (old, e.g., LOM) covenant is becoming obsolete and is ready to vanish away.
      3. Ephesians 2:14-16 – Christ, in His death made peace (between Jews and Gentiles), breaking down the middle wall of separation, and having abolished in the flesh the enmity, that is the commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create one new man… we are all reconciled to God in one body through the cross.
      4. Colossians 2:13-16, And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it. So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths. NOTE in the latter phrase, none is to be judges in regard to sabbaths (indicating that while some Jewish brethren still observed it, they didn’t have to NOR could they bind it on Gentiles).  AND that is a major point of Paul’s letters to the Romans and the Galatians, as well as mentioned in other letters.
      5. These passages, and perhaps others show clearly that the Sabbath belonged to Israel and thus has been done away with.
    3. This is why we cannot appeal to the Old Testament to justify instrumental music, burning incense in worship, priestly robes, etc.
    4. HOW MANY of the 10 commandments do we observe today? The answer is NONE!  9 of the 10 in one form or another are repeated and taught as part of the New Testament.  But we are NOT keeping the 10 commandments when we do this!  There were many things that carried over from the Old Law, but not everything!   We keep Sunday, because it is PART of the New Testament.
  4. Testimony by the early church writers.
    1. While uninspired, we get a good glimpse into how Christians worshipped and served God by early writers who only a few generations away from the first Christians. They would have had a better understanding of what Christians did, and very likely some of the original documentation.  During the 2nd -4th centuries it was clear that Christians met on Sunday.  Hear what they said:[1]
      1. The Didache (c. A.D. 120) declares that “every Lord’s day” the Christians gather themselves together and “break bread” (ANF.VII.381).
      2. The Epistle of Barnabas (c. A.D. 120), in discussing such things as incense, new moons, and Sabbaths, says that the Lord “abolished these things” in deference to “the new law of our Lord Jesus Christ” (ANF.I.138). Later, it is affirmed: “Wherefore, also, we keep the eighth day with joyfulness, the day also on which Jesus rose again from the dead” (I.147).
      3. Justin Martyr (A.D. 140) declared that “on the day called Sunday” the primitive Christians met for worship. He further stated that this was the day on which Christ was raised from the dead (I.186).
      4. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 194) spoke of the one who “keeps the Lord’s day” as “glorifying the Lord’s resurrection in himself” (ANF.II.545).
    2. NOTE: Sabbatarians sometimes argue that it was Catholicism that changed the Sabbath to Sunday. Some appeal to the popes, others to Constantine, a Roman Emperor who converted to “Christianity” and later made it the state religion, who issued an edict in AD 325 declaring Sunday a “holy day”.  Still others trace it back to the early 2nd century.  While interesting to study this history.  The ERROR of such arguments is found in the earlier writings of Christians who CLEARLY emphasized that Christians met on Sunday.  Catholicism and Constantine might have “formalized” it, but it was not their invention, nor was it a change!

And thus we see some things to consider as we address why we do not observe the Sabbath day today.  It is important that we follow God’s instructions in all that we do.  This is why we assemble on Sunday.  What about you?  Are you keeping all of His commandments?  Are you in Him?  Think about it!

[1] https://www.christiancourier.com/articles/314-should-christians-keep-the-sabbath

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