Have you ever wondered, or questioned why denominational churches gather to worship on Sunday, the first day of the week? Let’s take this one more step, have you ever wondered or questioned why churches of Christ gather to worship on Sunday, the first day of the week? It is so natural, no one appears to question the gathering of churches on Sunday, the first day of the week.
Before looking into the above questions, the subject of implication, needs to be addressed first. There are some who rejected the idea that Jesus taught by implication, or that other inspired writers of the New Testament taught by implication. This is a very important subject, if we are to understand the subject of authority as revealed in the New Testament. If we, understand first, that no part of the New Testament was written to us, directly! This idea is horrifying to many, as they do not understand how New Testament authority reaches us in the 21st century! Yet, the subject of gathering to worship on Sunday, the first day of the week, falls within this subject.
Did Jesus teach by implication? Yes, he did! Here is a case in point. Here is the question that started the subject, were Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, alive at the time Jesus walked upon the face of the earth? Are Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, alive today? Before reading the text, the over all question started with the Sadducees coming to Jesus with what they thought was an unanswerable question. Keep in mind, the Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection. Therefore, after giving their story of a woman, who had married seven brothers, as each did and according to the law of Moses, the next bother was to marry the woman upon the death of her husband (Matt. 22:23-28). With this, here is their question: “Therefore in the resurrection whose wife shall she be of the seven? for they all had her” (Matt. 22:28). How could Jesus possibly answer their question? Jesus would teach more than one thing; first he said: “Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God” (verse 29). Do not over look these words, as they apply to so many today; as they “do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God!” Second, Jesus said: “For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven” (verse 29). In the resurrection we will not have flesh and blood bodies, by which marriage takes place, but we shall all be as “the angels of God in heaven!” Spiritual bodies, not physical. Third, Jesus said: “But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living” (verse 31 – 32). It is here that Jesus teaches by implication! Did you get it? Answer this question: Did Jesus say that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, were alive at the time he spoke? Read it again, God had said in the past, after these three were dead: “I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?” No, Jesus never said that these three were alive as he spoke! But, he did teach that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, were very much alive as he spoke, for Jesus did say: “God is not the God of the dead, but of the living;” therefore, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were alive when Jesus spoke. Jesus was teaching by implication. Jesus expected his hearers to reach the correct conclusion on their own, with the information he gave them implication!
Now, why do denominational churches gather on Sunday, the first day of the week to worship; why do churches of Christ gather on Sunday, the first day of the week to worship? First, this question: Is there a command to gather and worship God upon Sunday, the first day of the week? No! Nowhere in the New Testament did any writer every command that the church gather to worship God on Sunday, the first day of the week! This may be a total surprise to some; but nevertheless, it is true! There is no such command!
It is a total surprise to some, yes, even to some members of the churches of Christ, that the reason churches of Christ gather to worship God on Sunday, the first day of the week, is by implication: the church under the oversight of the apostles of Christ gathered to worship God, on “the first day of the week (Acts 20:7).
First, the first act that those who were saved did, is written by Luke in these words: “Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers” (Acts 2:41-42). Is this good enough for you, to gather to worship God on the first day of the week?
Frank R. Williams