Concerning the first
day of the week, one can trace it source from the beginning God created the
universe .God used seven days in creating the universe when we go to the
Genesis account that is Genesis 2:1-3. One must first know the night day
account very well to understand this principles of “THE LORD’S DAY” argument.
In Genesis chapter 1:1-31, we do know that night comes before day to make a
complete day to our understanding. Because the book of Genesis chapter 1:2-4
says that “so the evening and the morning were the first day. Telling us that
the evening comes before the morning in each day.
The argument now is
based on the statement made by Luke in the book of Acts 20:7 that “Now on the
first day of the week, when the disciple came together to break bread, Paul,
ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until
midnight.” So taking it from the account of creation, Paul spent the night with
the disciples and during the day he left. If I may ask, do we do normal worship
during the day or in the night? If worship is being done in the day, why would
Paul leave for somewhere else during the day time of the first day?
According to
Matthew henry commentary, he says, we have here an account of what went on at
Troas the last of the seven days that Paul staid there. There was a solemn
religious assembly of the Christians that were there, according to their
constant custom, and the custom of all the churches. They came together upon
the first day of the week, which they (some scholars) called the Lord's day
(Rev. 1:10), the Christian Sabbath, celebrated to the honour of Christ and the
Holy Spirit, in remembrance of the resurrection of Christ, and the pouring out
of the Spirit, both on the first day of the week .
. This is here
said to be the day when the disciples came together, that is, when it was their
practice to come together in all the churches. Note, The first day of the week
is to be religiously observed by all the disciples of Christ; and it is a sign
between Christ and them, for by this it is known that they are his disciples;
and it is to be observed in solemn assemblies, which are, as it were, the
courts held in the name of our Lord Jesus, and to his honour, by his ministers,
the stewards of his courts, to which all that hold from and under him owe suit
and service, and at which they are to make their appearance, as tenants at
their Lord's courts, and the first day of the week is appointed to be the
court-day. 3. They were gathered together in an upper chamber (v. 8); they had no
temple nor synagogue to meet in, no capacious stately chapel, but met in a
private house, in a garret. As they were few, and did not need, so they were
poor, and could not build, a large meeting-place; yet they came together, in
that despicable inconvenient place. It will be no excuse for our absenting
ourselves from religious assemblies that the place of them is not so decent nor
so commodious as we would have it to be. 4. They came together to break bread,
that is, to celebrate the ordinance of the Lord's supper, that one instituted
sign of breaking the bread being put for all the rest. The bread which we break
is the communion of the body of Christ, 1 Co. 10:16. In the breaking of the
bread, not only the breaking of Christ's body for us, to be a sacrifice for our
sins, is commemorated, but the breaking of Christ's body to us, to be food and
a feast for our souls, is signified. In the primitive times it was the custom
of many churches to receive the Lord's supper every Lord's day, celebrating the
memorial of Christ's death in the former, with that of his resurrection in the
latter; and both in concert, in a solemn assembly, to testify their joint
concurrence in the same faith and worship.
II. In this assembly
Paul gave them a sermon, a long sermon, a farewell sermon, v. 7. 1. He gave
them a sermon: he preached to them. Though they were disciples already, yet it
was very necessary they should have the word of God preached to them, in order
to their increase in knowledge and grace. Observe, the preaching of the gospel
ought to accompany the sacraments. Moses read the book of the covenant in the
audience of the people, and then sprinkled the blood of the covenant, which the
Lord had made with them concerning all these words, Ex. 24:7, 8. What does the
seal signify without a writing? 2. It was a farewell sermon, he being ready to
depart on the morrow. When he was gone, they might have the same gospel
preached, but not as he preached it; and therefore they must make the best use
of him that they could while they had him. Farewell sermons are usually in a
particular manner affecting both to the preacher and to the hearers. 3. It was
a very long sermon: He continued his speech until midnight; for he had a great
deal to say, and knew not that ever he should have another opportunity of
preaching to them. After they had received the Lord's Supper, he preached to
them the duties they had thereby engaged themselves to, and the comforts they
were interested in, and in this he was very large and full and particular.
There may be occasion for ministers to preach, not only in season, but out of
season. We know some that would have reproached Paul for this as a long-winded
preacher, that tired his hearers; but they were willing to hear: he saw them
so, and therefore continued his speech. He continued it till midnight; perhaps
they met in the evening for privacy, or in conformity to the example of the
disciples who came together on the first Christian Sabbath in the evening. It
is probable he had preached to them in the morning, and yet thus lengthened out
his evening sermon even till midnight; we wish we had the heads of this long
sermon, but we may suppose it was for substance the same with his epistles. The
meeting being continued till midnight, there were candles set up, many lights
(v. 8), that the hearers might turn to the scriptures Paul quoted, and see
whether these things were so; and that this might prevent the reproach of their
enemies, who said they met in the night for works of darkness. III. A young man
in the congregation that slept at sermon was killed by a fall out of the
window, but raised to life again; his name signifies one that had good
fortune-Eutychus, been fortunate; and he answered his name. The infirmity with
which he was overtaken. It is probable his parents brought him, though but a
boy, to the assembly, out of a desire to have him well instructed in the things
of God by such a preacher as Paul. Parents should bring their children to hear
sermons as soon as they can hear with understanding (Neh. 8:2), even the little
ones, Deut. 29:11. Now this youth was to be blamed, That he presumptuously sat
in the window, unglazed perhaps, and so exposed himself; whereas, if he could
have been content to sit on the floor, he had been safe. Boys that love to
climb, or otherwise endanger themselves, to the grief of their parents,
consider not how much it is also an offence to God. (2.) That he slept, nay, he
fell into a deep sleep when Paul was preaching, which was a sign he did not
duly attend to the things that Paul spoke of, though they were weighty things.
The particular notice taken of his sleeping makes us willing to hope none of
the rest slept, though it was sleeping time and after supper; but this youth
fell fast asleep, he was carried away with it (so the word is), which intimates
that he strove against it, but was overpowered by it, and at last sunk down
with sleep.
The calamity with which he was seized herein:
He fell down from the third loft, and was taken up dead. Some think that the
hand of Satan was in it, by the divine permission, and that he designed it for
a disturbance to this assembly and a reproach to Paul and it. Others think that
God designed it for a warning to all people to take heed of sleeping when they
are hearing the word preached; and certainly we are to make this use of it. We
must look upon it as an evil thing, as a bad sign of our low esteem of the word
of God, and a great hindrance to our profiting by it. We must be afraid of it,
do what we can to prevent our being sleepy, not compose ourselves to sleep, but
get our hearts affected with the word we hear to such a degree as may drive
sleep far enough. Let us watch and pray, that we enter not into this
temptation, and by it into worse. Let the punishment of Eutychus strike an awe
upon us, and show us how jealous God is in the matters of his worship; Be not
deceived, God is not mocked. See how severely God visited an iniquity that
seemed little, and but in a youth, and say, who is able to stand before this
holy Lord God? Apply to this story that lamentation (Jer. 9:20, 21), Hear the
word of the Lord, for death is come up into our windows, to cut off the
children from without and the young men from the streets.
The miraculous mercy shown him in his recovery
to life again, v. 10. It gave a present distraction to the assembly, and an
interruption to Paul's preaching; but it proved an occasion of that which was a
great confirmation to his preaching, and helped to set it home and make it
effectual. Paul fell on the dead body, and embraced it, thereby expressing a
great compassion to, and an affectionate concern for, this young man, so far
was he from saying, "He was well enough served for minding so little what
I said!'' Such tender spirits as Paul had are much affected with sad accidents
of this kind, and are far from judging and censuring those that fall under
them, as if those on whom the tower of Siloam fell were sinners above all that
dwelt at Jerusalem; I tell you, nay. But this was not all; his falling on him
and embracing him were in imitation of Elijah (1 Ki. 17:21), and Elisha (2 Ki.
4:34), in order to the raising of him to life again; not that this could as a
means contribute anything to it, but as a sign it represented the descent of
that divine power upon the dead body, for the putting of life into it again,
which at the same time he inwardly, earnestly, and in faith prayed for. He
assured them that he had returned to life, and it would appear presently.
Various speculations, we may suppose, this ill accident had occasioned in the
congregation, but Paul puts an end to them all: "Trouble not yourselves,
be not in any disorder about it, let it not put you into any hurry, for his life
is in him; he is not dead, but sleepeth: lay him awhile upon a bed, and he will
come to himself, for he is now alive.'' Thus, when Christ raised Lazarus, he
said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. He returned to his work
immediately after this interruption (v. 11): He came up again to the meeting,
they broke bread together in a love-feast, which usually attended the Eucharist,
in token of their communion with each other, and for the confirmation of
friendship among them; and they talked a long while, even till break of day.
Paul did not now go on in a continued discourse, as before, but he and his
friends fell into a free conversation, the subject of which, no doubt, was
good, and to the use of edifying. Christian conference is an excellent means of
promoting holiness, comfort, and Christian love. They knew not when they should
have Paul's company again, and therefore made the best use they could of it
when they had it, and reckoned a night's sleep well lost for that purpose.
Before they parted they brought the young man alive into the congregation,
every one congratulating him upon his return to life from the dead, and they
were not a little comforted, v. 12. It was matter of great rejoicing among
them, not only to the relations of the young man, but to the whole society, as
it not only prevented the reproach that would otherwise have been cast upon
them, but contributed very much to the credit of the gospel.
Geneva Bible Notes:
Act 20:7 (1) And upon
the (2) 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. Assemblies in the night-time cannot be justly condemned,
neither should they be, when the cause is good. Literally, "the first day
of the Sabbath", that is, upon the Lord's Day: so that by this place, and
by <1Co 16:2> we properly understand that in those days the Christians
habitually assembled themselves solemnly together upon that day. Based on these quotations, Christ did not asked His
followers to remember Him with the day of His resurrection or the day of the
out pouring of the Holy Spirit “And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for
you: this do in remembrance of me. (1Co 11:24 KJV), After the same
manner also he took the cup,
when he had supped, saying, this cup is the new testament in my blood: this do you,
as oft as ye drink it, in
remembrance of me.” (1Co 11:25 KJV)Looking at these, Christians are
to remember the Lord their God with the Lord’s super not the day of His
resurrection nor the day of the out pouring of the Holy Spirit (Sunday) as some
Christians do. God in His own wisdom chose His day after creation that human
beings are to remember and worship Him. It is stated in the scriptures that the seventh day is the “Lord’s day” and
according to the creation account, the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord
God. The following quotations testify that the seventh day is for the Lord God
and needs to be observed by all Christians as the apostles observed during
their time(Acts 13:14,42-44), Exodus 20:10 But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work,
thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor
thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within
thy gates: (Exo 20:10 KJV), For thus saith the LORD unto the eunuchs
that keep my Sabbaths, and choose the
things that please me, and take hold of my covenant;
(Isa 56:4 KJV), If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy
day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and
shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor
speaking thine own words:(Isa 58:13 KJV),
Luke 23:56 Then they went back to the city and prepared spices and perfumes.
But on the day of worship they rested according to the commandment.
Luke makes it clear that “Very early on Sunday morning the women went to
the tomb. They were carrying the spices that they had prepared. They found that
the stone had been rolled away from the tomb. When they went in, they did not
find the body of the Lord Jesus.” (Luke 24:1-3 GWN)
In
conclusion, Paul and the Christians in Troas have Sabbath or Saturday service
on the day of worship from morning till sunset entering the new day which
begins with the evening as genesis teaches us.
And because he was departing from them after the Sabbath day the last
day of his stay, he continue from the first days evening till midnight in the first
day. Note that Paul could not have
spoken from morning till midnight because it is impossible for any
man.therefore Acts 20:7 does not teach us that Sunday is the lords’ day or the
day of worship as some scholars are saying and preachers preaching in the
pulpit.
