Frequency Of The Lord’s Supper – with objections considered
It is this writer’s conviction that the New Testament teaches congregations of Jesus’ disciples should eat the Lord’s supper together every first day of the week, and not on any day other than the first day of week. This article is intended to prove this position from the scriptures. If I am wrong, I will be happy to be proven wrong. The reasoning will go as follows:
• The Bible requires that we follow approved New Testament examples.
• Acts 20:7 provides an approved example of disciples eating the Lord’s supper on the first day of the week.
• Therefore, we must eat the Lord’s supper on the first day of the week.
The Bible Teaches/Binds By Example
The following passages teach we learn by example; that we are supposed to follow “approved examples” that we find in the New Testament:
• 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 ensample.
• II Thessalonians 3:9 Not because we have not power, but to make ourselves an ensample 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 the Bible actually commands us to follow approved examples.
Acts 20:7 Refers To The Lord’s Supper
Acts 20:7 reads “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.” Some question the fact that “break bread” in this verse even refers to the Lord’s supper. But that same phrase appears in I Corinthians 10:16 (“The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ: The BREAD which we BREAK, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?”) and definitely refers to the “communion” And I Corinthians 11:21-22,34 proves Acts 20:7 cannot just be referring to a common meal since it condemns the congregation coming together to eat a common meal. Therefore Acts 20:7 must be referring to the Lord’s supper.
Acts 20:7 Binds It To The First Day Of The Week
Acts 20:7 says the disciples broke bread (ate the Lord’s supper) on the “first day of the week.” Since we must follow approved examples, and since Acts 20:7 presents us the approved example of eating the Lord’s supper on the first day of the week, then we (the congregation) must follow that example and eat the Lord’s supper on the first day of the week.
Why Is The Example Of Acts 20:7 Important?
For those who justifiably ask how we know the disciples eating the Lord’s supper on the first day of the week is a binding example, and not just an incidental occurrence, please consider the following points that suggest this example is not just what some individual Christians did by happenstance:
• It was done by a group of Christians.
• It was done by a congregation meeting together (I Cor 11:18,20,33) for a worship service.
• It was accompanied by preaching.
• It was determined before-hand by the disciples (the congregation) that they would come together on the first day of the week for the purpose of eating the Lord’s Supper. This is WHY they came together!
One additional point along these lines. Carefully read Acts 20:7. Is the phrase “first day of the week” mentioned just in passing, or does the text go out of its way to point out the disciples broke bread on this day? If you agree it is the latter, then you agree the first day is not just an incidental.
Before we leave this point, let’s remind our brethren the text says the “first day of the week,” not “Sunday.” If we live in a society that has a different calendar than the USA, their first day of the week not falling on the USA’s Sunday, we should eat the Lord’s supper on the first day of the week where we live, not necessarily on the day that is simultaneous with USA’s Sunday.
Also (as far as we know) the requirement to eat the Lord’s supper on the first day has nothing to do with Jesus rising on the first day, or the first gospel sermon being preached on the first day, or the church starting on the first day, or the Holy Spirit falling on the first day, nor does it have anything to do with the “Lord’s day” referenced in Rev 1:10 (actually the Bible does not reveal when the “Lord’s day” is; we don’t even know it was a once a week occurrence).
EVERY First Day Of The Week
It is only half the issue to show the Lord’s supper must be eaten on the first day of the week, and not another day. To show Acts 20:7 is teaching 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? How do we know they were supposed to keep every seventh day holy? Because every week has a seventh day in it, right? Likewise, we know we must eat the Lord’s Supper every first day of the week, because every week has a first day in it. The conclusion would be that the Bible teaches that we must come together to eat the Lord’s Supper EVERY first day of the week.
Now let’s consider several objections to the position taken in this article.
The Bible Says It Only One Time?
Some retort that the New Testament only refers to the eating of the Lord’s supper on the first day of the week one time. This is true, but so what? How many times does God have to say something for it to be true? The obvious answer is once. I don’t know about you, but if I had disobeyed my Dad with the excuse that he only told me to do something one time, I would have been heading for a spanking. How many times did God give the “steps of discipline” for a personal sin? Only once in Matt 18:15-17. But we all agree that procedure must be followed, right?
In addition, consider the commandment to give as we’ve been prospered found in I Corinthians 16:1-2. Though it proves little about the frequency of the Lord’s supper, it does show another church activity of the saints occurred on the first day of the week.
The Lord’s Supper Was Instituted On Thursday Night?
It is true the Lord’s supper was not instituted on the first day of the week, but all the details of the institution of a religious activity is not always the same as the regular observance of that activity. Consider, for example, the passover:
• Did the Israelites strike the blood “on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses” (Exod 12:7) every year?
• Did God, every year, “smite all the firstborn” of those who didn’t do this (Exod 12:12-13)?
These two events happened in conjunction with the institution of the passover, but they did not occur as part of the regular observance of the passover. Am I correct?
In Luke 22:16, Jesus referred to the regular observance of the Lord’s supper as the “fulfillment” of the institution of the Lord’s supper, not simply a continuance of the same thing. So the day of the institution of the Lord’s supper proves nothing about the regular observance of the Lord’s Supper. Acts 20:7 is the only passage that tells us when the regular observance should take place, and it teaches (by example) that we must do it on the FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK.
For As Often As Ye Eat This Bread?
Some act like the phrase “For as often as ye eat this bread” in I Corinthians 11:16 shows we are free to eat the break (partake of the Lord’s supper) at whatever frequency we choose. But this verse does not say “eat this bread as often as ye want;” it says “for as often as ye eat this bread.” See the difference?
This phrase does not tell how often it is to be done, neither does it imply that it can be done anytime that we want; it just says that whenever we do do it, we should “shew the Lord’s death till he come.” Parallel:
• When I was growing up, my Dad required us brothers to lift weights every other day.
• Later, as we got older, he added jogging to the exercise list. He basically said, “as often as you lift weights, I want you to jog.”
• Did he mean we could do our weight exercises just any time that we wanted to? No, it was still understood we must lift weights every other day. What he was saying was that we must jog every other day also (on the same day that we lifted weights).
Likewise, when Paul says “as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come,” he is not saying we can just eat it anytime we want to. This verse does not tell how often (Acts 20:7 does), it just says that whenever we do partake, we “do shew the Lord’s death till he come.”
Conclusion
I may not be able to answer every question about which New Testament examples are binding, but that doesn’t mean I throw away what I do know. Neither does it mean it is impossible to determine that some examples are binding.
Does the congregation of Christians that you worship with, come together every first day of the week for the purpose of eating the Lord’s supper? They ought to. If they don’t, meet with one that does.
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