10 August 2008

Why Sunday Night And Wednesday Night Services Are Important

(Kent Heaton)

The Apostle Peter admonished the early Christians to speak with the authority of the Lord and establish all things by the oracles of God. He writes in 1 Peter 4:11, “If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God gives: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion forever and ever.” The burden of forth telling the word of God is upon the one who speaks. If anything is to be established as the word of God, it must come from the mouth of God. The chain of evidence must lead back to the throne of God unpolluted by man’s interpretation and opinions and traditions. The purpose of this purity of word is that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ.

James declares the penalty for taking lightly the burden of forth telling as he writes, “Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, for you know that we who teach shall be judged with greater strictness” (James 3:1). It is here that we find the heart of responsibility to trust the pure seed of truth and to establish all things with the courage of the knowledge for the consequence to neglect teaching the whole counsel of the Lord. Truth must be established upon truth as the prophet Isaiah declared: "Whom will he teach knowledge, and to whom will he explain the message? Those who are weaned from the milk, those taken from the breast? For it is precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little" (Isaiah 28:9-10). All things must be established upon the foundation of “what saith the scripture?”

From the beginning of time man has been faced with the challenge to the word of God. Satan asks Eve in the Garden, “Has God indeed said?” From this time until the present men search for truth to the answer to the eternal question, “Has God indeed said?” Often they have answered it as Eve and turn from the holy word to an answer that is born upon wings of rebellion and self-will. Holy men and holy women have risen through the generations to answer the call of the Lord to say they will find no path and hear no truth unless it comes from the mouth of God. As people of God we must declare the same devotion as the early apostles who withstood the council of Jews in declaring, "Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge; for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:19-20). We must follow the same course in speaking only where the Bible speaks and remaining silent when the mouth of God refrains from giving further revelation.

It is not uncharacteristic for man to devise certain patterns to help facilitate the commands God has directed for him to do. Noah was told the build the ark out of gopher wood which was a specific command that could not be varied. The manner that Noah was to carry out that command is referred to as generic authority which allowed him to use whatever means was necessary to complete the task. He employed various means to harvest the wood, shape the wood and secure the wood to the frame of the ark. He kept the commands of the Lord by making the ark the correct dimensions as prescribed by the law and to cover the ark inside and out with pitch.

Today, the people of God are commanded to worship the Lord in spirit and truth. There are certain commands God has given to man that cannot be changed without the transgressing of God’s law. We are commanded to follow the pattern of obedience to become a Christian and unless this pattern is followed, salvation is denied. As a body of people making up a local congregation, we have a pattern of organization that cannot be changed at the whims of man. The only organization prescribed by the Lord in scripture is a plurality of men serving as elders who shepherd, feed and tend the flock of God in a given location; autonomous in the action of authority and oversight. The pattern of the work of the church is clearly defined in scripture as evangelism, benevolence and discipline (positive and negative). The message of the church is singular in its mission of teaching and preaching only the gospel of Jesus Christ untainted by the doctrines of men.

The worship of the church must also follow the pattern established in the New Testament. Some commands are specific in their nature regarding time and place while others are not so restrictive. The early church was made up of those whom the Lord added daily those who were being saved (Acts 2:47). The pattern of the NT church is realized first in Acts 2:42 when the early church “continued steadfastly in the apostle’s doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.” This communion was the public worship of the church assembled together for the work of the church. Further admonitions were found as the church shared their possessions with one another and daily gathered in the temple and breaking bread from house to house, eating their food with gladness and simplicity in their hearts. This action was a daily pattern of fellowship outside the bounds of public worship. The breaking of bread in verse 42 refers to the supper of the Lord and the breaking of bread in v46 refers to the common meal.

The early church struggled in their infancy and yet abounded in spirit and number. The scriptures show a pattern of the early church as they gathered for public worship and fulfilled the commands of the Lord. The apostle Paul remained in Troas seven days to assemble with the saints on the first day of the week when the disciples came together to break bread (Acts 20:7). The pattern of the early church sets forth the necessity of the assembly where saints come together to remember the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Jesus instituted the supper with His disciples exhorting them to continue this memorial in the future (Luke 22:14-20).

When Paul wrote to the church at Corinth he reminded them with chastising words the importance of the Lord’s Supper and how they were bringing shame to the purpose of the supper. The pattern of the early church sets forth the necessity of the assembly where saints come together to remember the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The partaking of the supper was a specific command and in the partaking specific elements of the supper must be observed (1 Corinthians 11:17-34). Failure to assemble on the first day of the week was a failure to discern the Lord’s body and brings judgment upon that person.

The Hebrew Christians were in grave danger and the writer of Hebrews exhorted them to remain faithful to the faith for which they had suffered much. Part of that exhortation was not to forsake the assembling of the church on the first day of the week. This text is found in Hebrews 10:24,25 where they are exhorted to not forsake the assembly. This assembly is measured by the next six verses that show the consequence of failing to assemble on the first day of the week (Hebrews 10:26-31). This passage is the mirror of 1 Corinthians 11 for condemnation awaits all those who would deny the remembrance of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

While the Law of Moses is no longer in effect, the principles of the Law show the manner that God views those who would trespass His law. The law of the Sabbath was established in Exodus 16:23 in connection with the manna God sent to feed the children of Israel while they journeyed from Egypt to Canaan. The command to keep the Sabbath was one of the Ten Commandments as found in Exodus 20:8. The keeping of the Sabbath was a weekly occurrence that demanded strict adherence. In Numbers 16 a man was found picking up sticks on the Sabbath and stoned to death for his disobedience to the Law of Moses. This illustrates the teaching of Hebrews 10 and 1 Corinthians 11 that failure to remember the sacrifice of Jesus Christ will bring dire consequences upon those who do not assemble on the first day of the week. This command is specific and cannot be changed or modified by man. The means of carrying out that command is generic and is left to the desire of man to carry that out.

The assembly is not restricted in time of day nor frequency. Whether disciples meet in the morning, afternoon or evening is not specified but only the day is commanded. The frequency of meeting is relative to the social opportunities available and the desires of the people. In many places in our world today it is difficult for saints to meet once a day but every effort is made to do so. In our country, with the ease of transportation, comfort, availability and opportunity; we are blessed to have numerous times we can meet and exhort one another.

There are numerous commands of exhortation that we are enjoined to be a part of as an assembly of people (Ephesians 5:17-21; Colossians 3:15-17; 1 Corinthians 14:3-5; 15,16; 1 Corinthians 16:1,2). With all these opportunities we find that God has designed the church to be a whole of one that enjoys unity and growth (Ephesians 4:11-16). The key to this unity is found in what every part does its share. People of God are not seeking to do as little as they can but asking God, “What more can I do?” No one should ever look upon their service to the Lord as doing as little as they can to just get by and expect the Lord to find this pleasing. The parable of the talents in Matthew 25 is about doing what we can do with what we have. The failure of the one talent man was not his gaining five more talents or two more talents but his failure to just do anything. He did nothing and while not guilty of any adverse crime was cast into outer darkness because he did nothing.

The Lord expects His children to do more than the minimal. With so many opportunities to do more for the Lord why are so many doing so little? The attendance on Sunday night and Wednesday night drops dramatically because of many who fail to see the worth and value of the work of the church. We must be careful in establishing doctrines and traditions of men that have served to further the work of the church to teach, admonish and exhort the brethren and impose a system of righteousness based upon attendance. Jesus rebuked the religious leaders of His day for focusing on the wrong things in exclusion of the true nature of worship. "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others” (Matthew 23:23).

He further warned of the dangers of tradition in Matthew 15:1-9. The doctrines of men are not wrong as long as they are not imposed as requirements for salvation or faithfulness. Often, while they serve as helps to the growth of the people of God, through time traditions take on a life of their own as a law of faithfulness where God has not prescribed.

When asked if a person is a faithful Christian the answer most often given is based upon whether or not they are in attendance when the doors of the church are open. God never intended for attendance to be a measure of faithfulness but the attendance of the heart to the will of love of God. There is a lesson of fruit bearing that shows a manner of faithfulness when the individual is involved in the work of the church and what is being sought through the leadership of the elders to be accomplished.

In our culture, we have extended the services of the Lord to include a period of Bible study on Sunday morning and to continue the lessons on Wednesday night. This has evolved over the past 100 years into a Bible class system. This is a very helpful tool the church uses to instruct the people of God. To avail one self of these opportunities is invaluable to the spiritual growth of the family. However, these are programs that help to build up the faith of those who attend and the elders encourage everyone to be a part of this program.

In the last 100 years, the church has also taken on an additional opportunity to meet as the assembly on Sunday evening. This came in large part to the shift in the work force of America that required families to work on Sunday morning. The Sunday evening assembly is a wonderful opportunity for the saints to gather to worship the Lord as it is the first day of the week. The Lord’s Supper is offered in accordance with the pattern of the NT church and the admonitions of Paul from 1 Corinthians 11 should be heeded during this time as being just as valid as in the morning. The Sunday evening service should never become an orphaned child of the morning service if we are to be consistent with the word of God.

How are we to view the Sunday morning Bible class, the additional service on Sunday and the Wednesday night Bible study? This answer must be given in accordance with the work of the church that seeks to build up the church through the work of evangelism and exhortation. The church is involved in many programs that seek to help the members grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ. Why should these programs be important to me as a member of the Trenton Church of Christ? The assemblies of the saints: whether Bible class, group meetings, gospel meetings, home studies, lectures, etc., show important characteristics of my faith. I show that God is first in my life (Matthew 6:33); Christ is first in my life (Luke 9:26); The Holy Spirit is first in my life (Romans 8:16,17). I show the world that God is first in my life (Matthew 5:13-16). I show my family that God is first in my life (Ephesians 6:1-4). I show my heart that God is first in my life (Matthew 6:19-34). I tell the church that God is first in my life (Ephesians 4:16).

What is the measure of a man? Ephesians 4:13 says, “Until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13). When you stay home on Sunday night and Wednesday night and have little to do with the work of the church (when you are able to do so); what is the measure of your stature that belongs to the fullness of Christ? Will you one day wish you had one more opportunity to do more for the work of the Lord? Can you do so little and find satisfaction?

We must all have the mind of Isaiah who when called with these words from the Lord "Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?" said, "Here am I. Send me!" (Isaiah 6:8). Why is Sunday night and Wednesday night important?