Lord's Day Meeting

  The Lord’s Day is a day that is especially related to New Testament believers. Although the Bible does not speak of the Sabbath as having a special relationship to us, there are many portions that speak of our relationship to the Lord’s Day. We need to examine several aspects related to the Lord’s Day.

1. The first day of the week

   1. Being the day of the Lord’s resurrection

      1. “He had risen early on the first day of the week” (Mark 16:9, see also vv. 1-2; Matt. 28:1; Luke 24:1; John 20:1).

         1. The Lord’s Day in the New Testament is called the first day of the week in the Old Testament. The Sabbath in the Old Testament is the seventh day of the week. The first day of the week in the New Testament is called the Lord’s Day because it is the day of the Lord’s resurrection. The Lord rose from the dead on this day. When the Lord rose from the dead, following His death on the cross, all our problems related to sin, death, Satan, the world, and the flesh were solved. We were regenerated with God’s life (1 Pet. 1:3) and made a new creation on the day of His resurrection, which was a proof and an announcement of His satisfaction of God’s righteous requirement to God’s rebellious enemy. Therefore, this day is the Lord’s Day, and it should be a special day that has a special relationship to us in the New Testament. If the day on which God completed His creation had a special place in the Old Testament, the day on which the Lord accomplished redemption through His death and resurrection should have an even more special place in the New Testament. The seventh day signifies God’s creation. The Lord accomplished the redemption of His fallen creation on the first day of the week. Thus, the seventh day signifies God’s creation, and the first day signifies the Lord’s redemption. The rest given to man on the seventh day was merely created, natural, earthly, physical, and outward; the rest given to us on the first day is redeeming, resurrecting, heavenly, spiritual, and inward. Therefore, this day is a special day in the New Testament. The New Testament shows that the first day is not only the day of the Lord Jesus’ resurrection but also the day on which other great things occurred and the day on which several matters important to New Testament believers are practiced. We can say that God accomplished important things for the New Testament believers on this day and that New Testament believers participate in important practices on this day.

         2. The first day of the week is the beginning of the week, unlike the seventh day of the week, which is the end. The Lord’s Day is the beginning of the week, not the end of the week. We often have the mistaken thought that the Lord’s Day comes at the end of six days. This is the thought concerning the Sabbath in the Old Testament, but this thought is not consistent with the Lord’s Day in the New Testament. The Lord’s Day in the New Testament does not come at the end of the week; rather, the Lord’s Day comes at the beginning. The Lord’s Day does not follow Monday through Saturday; instead, Monday through Saturday follow the Lord’s Day. The Lord’s Day does not follow or belong to the preceding six days; rather, the six days that follow the Lord’s Day belong to it. Man’s thought is old, so people think the Lord’s Day follows the preceding six days. This is the reason that people on a Monday, when referring to the preceding day, say, “Last Sunday.” Actually, they should say, “This Lord’s Day.” When making announcements, the brothers often refer to the days following the Lord’s Day as occurring next week instead of saying, “This week.” This kind of thinking goes against God’s principle of redemption. God’s redemption brings man into everything that He has accomplished at the very beginning so that man can enjoy rest; then He causes man to live and work by relying on his enjoyment of what God has accomplished. If we use days to signify this, we would say that God brings us into the first day of the week and then sends us out for the other six. Spiritually speaking, every believer obtains God’s salvation first and then lives for God; he does not live for God first and then obtain God’s salvation. All believers must pass through the first day of the week before they pass through the next six days; they do not pass through six days and then arrive at the seventh day. The former is the principle of grace, and the latter is the principle of the law.

         3.  God’s Sabbath rest of creation was the first day for man, and it spoke forth God’s original intention to deal with man according to grace. After the fall God ordained under the law that man would labor for six days and rest on the seventh because man did not know God’s grace or himself. The principle of the law is that man must rely on his own works before he can obtain God’s rest. The age under law, which has passed, proved that man could not live up to this principle. Knowing this, God began to work after man’s fall and continued until the Lord said on the cross, “It is finished!” (John 19:30). He accomplished a rest that was given to man on the day of the Lord’s resurrection as a new beginning. Man can now rely on God’s accomplished redemption in order to live for the next six days, that is, for the rest of his life. The day we were saved was a “first day of the week” for us, because we entered into all that the Lord accomplished in order for us to enjoy these things. This is our portion for the remaining days of our lives. When a person is saved today, his salvation occurs on the first day of the week, the day of resurrection, and thereafter he should live in resurrection for the other “six days” of his life. The principle of grace is that we would live for six days based on what we obtained the first day; this is a living in resurrection. In this living, we first rest and then work, we first obtain and then apply what we have obtained, and we first enter in and then walk. We do not have to walk along the way before we can enter, nor do we have to work before we can rest.

   2. Being the day that the disciples met, the Lord appeared, and the Holy Spirit of life was received

      1. “When therefore it was evening on that day, the first day of the week...where the disciples were...Jesus came and stood in the midst and said to them...Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:19, 22).

         1. On the day of the Lord’s resurrection, the first day of the week, the disciples were gathered together in the evening, and the Lord came and appeared to them to breathe into them the Holy Spirit of life. On the first day of the week, the disciples were meeting after the Lord’s death and resurrection, and the Lord appeared to them. On this day the Holy Spirit of life was received. This shows that the Lord wants His disciples to meet together on the first day of the week because this day signifies His resurrection. It signifies that the old creation has passed away and that His resurrection is the beginning of the new creation. This principle tells us that when we meet, we must be in His resurrection in order to receive the Lord’s appearing and receive the Holy Spirit of life.

   3. Being the day that the disciples met again and the Lord appeared again

      1. “After eight days, His disciples were again within...Jesus came...and stood in the midst” (John 20:26).

         1. On the second first day of the week following the Lord’s resurrection, which is called the eighth day in John 20:26, the disciples were again gathered together, and the Lord again appeared to them. Thus, on the first day of the week, when the disciples were again gathered, the Lord again appeared to them. His appearing to them was a solid confirmation that He wanted them to meet on the day of His resurrection because it signifies the meaning of His redemption.

   4. Being the day that the Holy Spirit of power descended

      1. “As the day of Pentecost was being fulfilled, they were all together in the same place. And suddenly there was a sound out of heaven, as of a rushing violent wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting...And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:1-2, 4).

         1. The Holy Spirit of life was received on the day of the Lord’s resurrection; the Holy Spirit of power descended on the day of Pentecost. The day of the Lord’s resurrection was the first day of the week, and the day of Pentecost was also the first day of the week. It was the eighth first day of the week following the passage of seven weeks, meaning it was the first day of the eighth week following the completion of seven weeks. Thus, the Lord’s resurrection, the receiving of the Holy Spirit of life, and the descending of the Holy Spirit of power all occurred on the first day of the week. The receiving of the Holy Spirit of life on the day of the Lord’s resurrection and the descending of the Holy Spirit of power on the day of Pentecost indicate that the first day signifies God’s work in the New Testament age. The Lord’s resurrection brought all things into a new realm, a new beginning. The receiving of the Holy Spirit of life, which enabled believers to obtain the life of Christ so that they could become members of His Body, and the descending of the Holy Spirit of power, which produced the church as the Body of Christ, were new beginnings. These new beginnings are signified by the first day of the week. Therefore, this day is a special day in the New Testament.

   5. Being the day that the saints meet to break bread

      1. “On the first day of the week, when we gathered together to break bread” (Acts 20:7).

         1. According to Acts 20:6, Paul and those who were with him stayed in Troas for seven days. Although they stayed in Troas for seven days, they broke bread only on the first day of the week. This is very significant. Because the first day of the week is the day on which God completed, accomplished, His full redemption, the Holy Spirit led the New Testament saints to carry out their service and worship to Him on this day. The first item of service and worship to God is the breaking of bread. The New Testament saints met to break bread to show that they were redeemed, their sins were forgiven, they were joined to Christ, they were members of His Body, and they were one Body in Christ. The best day to signify these things was the first day of the week because Christ’s resurrection, the receiving of the Holy Spirit of life for people to become the members of His Body, and the descending of the Holy Spirit of power to produce the church as the Body of Christ were all accomplished on this day. Moreover, when the New Testament believers break bread, they are in resurrection, so breaking bread on the day of the Lord’s resurrection is most in accordance with the spiritual significance of resurrection.

   6. Being the day that the saints give their offerings

      1. “Concerning the collection for the saints, just as I directed the churches of Galatia, so you also do. On the first day of the week each one of you should lay aside in store to himself whatever he may have been prospered” (1 Cor. 16:1-2).

         1. The early saints also gave their offerings on the first day of the week. They met to break bread on this day, and they gave their offerings on this day. When God’s people worship Him, they must bring their offerings (Deut. 16:16-17). Just as the New Testament saints break bread in resurrection, they should also give their offerings in resurrection. If we give offerings in the old creation, we cannot please God; we must give our offerings in resurrection in order for them to be acceptable. Therefore, the saints made their offerings on the first day of the week because this day was also appropriate to the spiritual significance of their offerings.

   7. Being the day typified in the Old Testament

      1. “When you...reap its harvest, then you shall bring the sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest;...on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it” (Lev. 23:10-11).

         1. Although God wanted the children of Israel in the Old Testament to keep the Sabbath, there were several things that God ordained for the first day of the week. Thus, there are some types in the Old Testament that are related to the first day of the week. The first of these types involves the firstfruits. According to Leviticus, the firstfruits were offered on the day after the Sabbath. In the Old Testament the Sabbath was the seventh day of the week, so the day after the Sabbath was the first day of the week. Every year when the harvest ripened and the Israelites harvested the firstfruits, they would take a sheaf of the firstfruits and have the priest offer it to God on the first day of the week. First Corinthians 15:23 says that Christ is the firstfruits in resurrection. Therefore, this offering of the firstfruits of the harvest to God was a type of Christ in resurrection. Christ’s resurrection on the first day of the week fulfilled this Old Testament type.

      2. “You shall count fifty days until the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall present a new meal offering to Jehovah” (Lev. 23:16).

         1. The second Old Testament type concerning the first day of the week involves the Feast of Pentecost. According to Leviticus, the Feast of Pentecost occurred on the day after the seventh Sabbath, which is also the first day of the eighth week. In the Old Testament the Israelites began the count of fifty days on the first day of the week when they offered up the firstfruits. On the fiftieth day they offered up a new meal offering to God. This new meal offering was made up of fine flour with leaven, and it was baked into two loaves that were offered to God as the new meal offering. These two leavened loaves in the new meal offering typify the New Testament church made up of two sections, Jews and Gentiles, both of which had sins, signified by the leaven. The church is a kind of firstfruits (James 1:18; Rom. 8:23), and the day of Pentecost is fifty days after that first day of the week on which Christ (the firstfruits of the harvest) was resurrected. On the day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit descended to blend together and produce the church. When the Holy Spirit descended on the day of Pentecost, the Old Testament type of Pentecost was fulfilled exactly in the producing of the church.

      3. “He who is eight days old shall be circumcised”; “Your oxen and...sheep...on the eighth day you shall give it to Me”; “On the eighth day you shall have a holy convocation...You shall do no work of labor”; “On the eighth day shall be a complete rest” (Gen. 17:12; Exo. 22:30; Lev. 23:36, 39).

         1. The third type in the Old Testament concerning the first day of the week is the eighth day. The eighth day is another way of saying the first day of the week. The first day of the week signifies the beginning; the eighth day signifies another beginning because a week has passed, and now there is another beginning, a new beginning. Thus, it signifies resurrection. Resurrection is a new beginning in which old things have passed away.

      4. The Old Testament speaks of many things that should be done on the eighth day: (1) circumcision, (2) offering oxen and sheep to God, (3) having a holy convocation, and (4) keeping the day holy by not doing any work. These four things were done on the eighth day; therefore, they typify matters in resurrection. Being circumcised on the eighth day typifies the elimination of the flesh of the old creation and the beginning of the new creation in resurrection (Col. 2:11-12; Gal. 6:15). Offering oxen and sheep to God on the eighth day typifies that our offerings to God must be in resurrection (1 Cor. 16:1-2); God does not want us to offer something of the old creation. Having a holy convocation on the eighth day typifies that our meeting before God must also be in resurrection and cannot be in the old creation. Keeping the eighth day holy by not doing any work typifies our enjoyment of everything the Lord has done for us in resurrection without our exerting the slightest bit of effort; everything must be done in resurrection so that we can enjoy God’s rest. Thus, on the first day of the week, which is also the eighth day, the New Testament believers meet, make offerings, and serve the Lord; these are all typified in the Old Testament and are according to the New Testament principle of the new creation in resurrection. Because the Lord’s Day, or the eighth day, in the New Testament is the day of the Lord’s resurrection, it signifies a new beginning. The Sabbath day on the seventh day in the Old Testament was a day of the old creation, signifying the natural man. If New Testament believers still keep the Sabbath of the seventh day, they are keeping a day of the old creation. This is not compatible with our status as New Testament believers or with the fact that we are redeemed and regenerated and have become a new creation. We are people of the new creation, so we cannot keep a day of the old creation; rather, we must keep the day of the new creation. This day is the eighth day, the Lord’s Day, which signifies resurrection. This is a basic principle in the Bible. The principles in the Bible are very important. It is quite precious to find the principles in the Bible. In contrast to the basic principle of resurrection, Seventh-day Adventists want New Testament believers to keep the Sabbath of the old creation; this is a grave error. Because we are people of the new creation, we should keep the day of the new creation.

      5.  Thus, the Bible shows that the Lord’s resurrection, the beginning of the new creation, the receiving and descending of the Holy Spirit, the establishing of the Body of Christ, the believers’ meetings, the Lord’s appearing to them, the believers’ breaking bread, and the believers’ offerings all took place on the first day of the week, the day of the Lord’s resurrection. These are all matters of the new creation, so they must be done on the day of the new creation. Moreover, despite the fact that the day of resurrection had not yet come in the Old Testament, there are types in the Old Testament that signify that God wants His redeemed people to meet, make offerings, serve, and worship Him in resurrection on the day of the resurrection. Through these types He signifies that we should put off the old creation and do these things in the resurrected new creation. Therefore, the revelation of the New Testament and the types of the Old Testament both show that the New Testament believers should no longer keep the Sabbath. If we continue to keep the Sabbath, we are going against the principle of God’s redemption.

2. This day being called the Lord’s day

   1. “I was in spirit on the Lord’s Day” (Rev. 1:10).

      1. John spoke of the Lord’s Day while he was on the island of Patmos. His word shows that during the age of the apostles, the believers frequently met together on the first day of the week, the day of the Lord’s resurrection, and that they called it the Lord’s Day. It was called the Lord’s Day because it was the day of the Lord’s resurrection, and it was a day that particularly expressed the Lord and was for the Lord.

      2.  Some say that John’s use of the expression the Lord’s Day was in reference to the day of the Lord’s coming. If this were the case, then being in spirit, which John also spoke of, would only be for the day of the Lord’s coming. This does not make sense. Therefore, the Lord’s Day must refer to the first day of the week, the day of the Lord’s resurrection, the day on which the saints gathered together. John was exiled to the barren island of Patmos, and although there were no saints there who could meet with him on the Lord’s Day, he could still contact the Lord. While he was contacting the Lord, he was in spirit, and he saw heavenly visions concerning the church, the ages of the world, the kingdom, and eternity. In these visions the Lord showed him things from his time all the way to eternity. The things from his time until eternity were revealed to him on the Lord’s Day. Therefore, the Lord’s Day, the first day of the week, is a day for the Lord’s servants to see visions.

      3.  Sometimes on the Lord’s Day a store will display a sign, saying, “We are resting today because it is the Sabbath.” This is like me, Mr. Lee, wearing a sign that says, “Mr. Hwang.” The Lord’s Day is the first day of the week, and it has nothing to do with the Sabbath, the seventh day. We should not consider the Lord’s Day to be the Sabbath nor keep it like the Sabbath. We should not keep the Lord’s Day as if it were the Sabbath. This mixes up the New Testament and the Old Testament, the heavenly and the earthly, the resurrected new creation and the natural old creation. This is what the Roman Catholic Church does. This kind of mixture is condemned by the Lord; we must simply consider the Lord’s Day to be such, and we must not keep it as if it were the Sabbath. We must not mix the Lord’s Day with the Sabbath day.

3. How the believers should Act with respect to the Lord’s day

   1. “This is the day that Jehovah has made; / Let us exult and rejoice in it” (Psa. 118:24).

      1. Psalm 118:22 says, “The stone which the builders rejected / Has become the head of the corner.” In Acts 4:10-11 Peter says that this verse refers to the Lord’s resurrection. Therefore, “the day that Jehovah has made” must be the day of the Lord’s resurrection. The day of the Lord’s resurrection was not an accident but was made by Jehovah. In the Old Testament types and prophecies God told us about this day (Lev. 23:10-11; Hosea 6:2). Before the Lord died, He also spoke clearly about this day (John 2:19; Matt. 16:21). Thus, God specially ordained this day, and it is a day with special significance. On this day we should exult and rejoice in it because the Lord resurrected on this day. He began the new creation on this day, and He made us the new creation on this day. Therefore, this day is a day when we should exult and rejoice in order to testify of the Lord’s resurrection. We should not be quiet and sad with no resemblance to a person in the resurrected new creation.

   2. “On the first day of the week, when we gathered together to break bread, Paul conversed with them...and he extended his message” (Acts 20:7).

      1. Although we remember the Lord’s death by breaking the bread, we do this in resurrection. Because we are in resurrection, we have the life of Christ and are His Body; this is the only reason we are able to come together as one loaf to testify that we are one Body (1 Cor. 10:17). Thus, the day most appropriate to the significance of breaking bread is the day of the Lord’s resurrection, the Lord’s Day on the first day of the week. The early believers broke bread on this day.

      2. Acts 20:7 says that on that Lord’s Day in Troas, Paul not only broke bread with the believers in their meeting but also preached the word to them. Therefore, there should also be ministry of the Lord’s Word on the Lord’s Day; there should be preaching of the word to the believers.

   3. “On the first day of the week each one of you should lay aside in store to himself whatever he may have been prospered” (1 Cor. 16:2).

      1. Believers should also make their offerings on the Lord’s Day. The believers should meet on the Lord’s Day to break bread, worship the Lord, and make offerings to Him, because the Lord does not want His people to come empty-handed to worship Him. When His people worship and thank Him, the Lord wants them to also make an offering to Him in response to His grace (Deut. 16:16-17).

      2. Therefore, according to what we have seen in the Bible, the Lord wants us to exult and rejoice on the Lord’s Day. Besides wanting us to meet on the Lord’s Day to break bread and to give our offerings, there is nothing else He wants us to do. He does not want us to keep the Lord’s Day as the Old Testament Israelites kept the Sabbath. Therefore, it is best if we could stop our work on the Lord’s Day to wholly focus ourselves on worshipping and serving God, but if we cannot, we do not break any law. However, we must do our best to set aside a time when we can meet, break bread, worship the Lord, and make offerings. New Testament believers do not need to keep the Old Testament Sabbath, and we do not need to keep any regulations concerning the New Testament Lord’s Day. The Bible does not even require New Testament believers to keep the Lord’s Day. We should not keep the Lord’s Day according to the dead letter of the law; instead, we should live the Lord’s Day according to grace. This is not a matter of keeping the law but of living out grace.