Why do you observe the Lord's Supper every first day of the week?
This an excellent question! As Christians, we learn what we should or should not practice in regards to our worship to God through His word...the bible. Jesus told His disciples, "And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven...". The apostles then echo these words of Christ in their teachings:
- Philippians 4:9 - Those
things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and
seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.
- I Corinthians 4:16 - Wherefore
I beseech you, be ye followers of me.
- Philippines 3:17 - Brethren,
be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have
us for an example.
- II Thessalonians 3:9 -
Not because we have not power, but to make ourselves an example unto
you to follow us.
- I Corinthians 11:1 - Be
ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.
- Hebrews 6:12 - That ye
be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience
inherit the promises.
- I Thessalonians 1:6 - And ye became followers of us, and of the Lord ...
So we see that the Bible actually commands us to follow the approved examples of the apostles. But did the apostles bind anything concerning what day we should partake of the Lord's Supper and the frequency of our partaking?
Acts 20:7 provides an example of disciples eating the Lord's supper on the first day of the week:
"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."
This certainly demonstrates "the first day of the week" as the designated day, but how do we know which first days of the week we are supposed to partake of the Lord's Supper? Once a month? A few times a year? Every first day of the week?
To provide proof that Acts
20:7 is teaching that we must eat the Lord's supper every first day
of the week, compare it with Exodus 20:8 which reads, "Remember
the sabbath day, to keep it holy." The verse does not say, "remember
every sabbath day," it just says, "remember the sabbath day."
How did the Israelites know they were supposed to keep every seventh
day holy? Because every week has a seventh day in
it. Likewise, we know that we must eat the Lord's supper every first
day of the week, because every week has a first day in it.
Also we should notice that our examples are not of Christians partaking of the Lord's Supper by themselves randomly upon the first day of the week; it was done by a congregation meeting together (I Cor 11:18, 20, 33) during a worship service.