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Introduction: May we have an
alternate assembly on Saturday evening in which brethren take the
Lord’s Supper?
On November 5, in its weekly newsletter, LoveLines,
the Woodmont Hills Church of Christ announced its intention to
begin a weekly Saturday assembly in an article entitled
“Saturday-Night Assembly for 2004.” The same newsletter
presented another article entitled “The Lord’s Day”
attempting to provide biblical authority for such an assembly.
Someone has asked if such an assembly is authorized scripturally.
We will begin by reading the two articles. Then we will address
the question, demonstrating that this alternate assembly on
Saturday evening violates God’s pattern in two ways. (The
articles are attached to this outline.) Discussion: I.
The concept of divided and alternate assemblies violates
the biblical pattern. A.
Hebrews
10:25 says,
“Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the
manner of some is.” Further, we learn from I
Corinthians 5:4; 11:18; 14:23, that this concept of assembling
is not just the idea of having some kind of service on the
church’s property. The assembling that we are supposed to do is
a gathering of the whole church. In a system with four alternate
assembly times, when does the whole church gather? B.
According to the articles, the Woodmont church does not
have four different assemblies, but rather four alternate
occurrences of the same assembly from which the members choose a
convenient time to attend. “[The Saturday evening service] will
be programmed like the three that will follow on Sunday
morning—same themes, biblical texts, music, etc.” By design,
the whole church never comes together in one place. Rather,
different portions of the congregation come together at different
times. Certainly, it is not wrong to have classes or meetings in
which only portions of the congregation meet together. But if that
is all a congregation offers, then it has forsaken the assembling
of itself together because it does not have a time for the whole
church to come together. The fact that some may sinfully forsake
or that some may legitimately miss the assembly does not make it
any less the assembly of the church. But dividing the assembly and
cutting people out of it certainly does. C.
To drive this point home, notice two quotes from the
respective articles. The first article said, “Several of our key
volunteers in both teen and children’s ministry, for example,
are too frequently unable to make it to the Great Hall for worship
on Sunday mornings. The reason is not lack of desire on their part
but such heavy involvement with the needs of both groups and
individuals under their charge that they simply use up the entire
morning in ministry!” The second article said, “…we are
initiating a Saturday-night service for volunteers who staff
Sunday classes and who are ‘cut out of’ our assemblies …” D.
What has happened here? The Woodmont Hills church has set
up classes and “ministries” that cut some of their members out
of the assembly. Certainly other avenues of ministering to one
another aside from the congregational assembly can be established.
But why break up the God commanded assembly to establish these
other avenues. Instead of setting up alternate assembly times for
those who are staffing classes and “ministries,” why not let
the whole congregation minister to one another during the
assembly, as Hebrews
10:24-25 says, and set up a different time for those other
classes and ministries? II.
Taking the Lord’s Supper (and, presumably, a collection)
on Saturday violates the Lord’s pattern. A.
According to Acts
20:7
and I Corinthians 11:20; 16:2, we learn that these aspects of congregational
worship were authorized for the first day of the week—Sunday.
The two paragraphs with which Rubel Shelly attempts to “extend
the concept of the Lord’s Day from 24 to 36 hours” give a nod
and a wink to Acts 20:7,
but really fall short of providing biblical authority. Refer to
the second and third paragraphs of the article entitled “The
Lord’s Day.” B.
Instead of providing true biblical authorization for the
Saturday Lord’s Supper, the article actually appeals to the
teachings of men (“the majority of New Testament scholars”),
says the Bible is unclear (there are two options, either of which
challenges our modern concepts), presents a false dilemma (there
are two and only two options for when the Supper was eaten and we
have to choose one of the ones he presented) and concludes by
slanderously labeling everyone who disagrees with him (if we do
not agree, we are legalistic). C.
The crux of the problem lies in the false dilemma which
Shelly presents. He writes as though there are only two options
for us to consider. Either the disciples met on Saturday evening,
intending to take the Lord’s Supper then, but because of
Paul’s long sermon did not take it until Sunday, thus
authorizing Woodmont Hills’ new practice. Or the disciples did
in fact gather on Sunday but because of Paul’s sermon did not
actually eat the supper until early Monday morning. But these are
not the only options. There is another option. D.
First, we must clearly note that the disciples gathered on
the first day of the week in order to break bread (Acts
20:7). For all the rhetoric we put forth and for all the
confusion we might try to cause by talking about Jewish days vs.
Gentile days, we must still come back to this, the disciples
believed they were gathering on the first day of the week. If we
are going to follow their pattern, we also must gather on what we
believe is the first day of the week. E.
Further, note that Paul was planning on departing the next
day. This next day is set against their meeting on the first day
of the week. It refers to the second day of the week, not just the
idea of the next period of sunlight. The assembly of the church
continued on until midnight, then Paul spoke with the brethren
until daybreak and departed (vs.
11). If the disciples actually met on what we call Saturday
evening, believing that the first day of the week began that
sundown and continued until the following sundown, then Paul did
not depart on the next day, but on the same day. Thus, despite
what the majority of New Testament scholars say, the disciples
must not have gathered on Saturday evening believing it was the
first day of the week. That rules out the Saturday night option. F.
What about the second option? Did they actually eat the
supper early Monday morning? No. The disciples did exactly what
they intended to. They gathered on the first day of the week to
take the Lord’s Supper and they did exactly that. Pay careful
attention to the text and you will notice that the church did not
take the Lord’s Supper after midnight. In fact, their assembly
did not even continue past midnight. 1.
The disciples met to break bread together on the first day
of the week. Additionally, Paul “spoke (dialegomai)” and
“continued his message (logos)” until midnight (vs.
7). These terms together present a picture of an extended,
unified sermon. However, at about midnight, Eutychus fell asleep
and fell out of a window (vs. 9). This disrupted the assembly. Paul went down to Eutychus, and
raised him from the dead (vs.
10). In vs. 11, the
assembly is not continued, as some suppose, with the taking of the
Lord’s Supper and Paul preaching another sermon. Instead
something else takes place. 2.
Notice, in vs. 11,
the text says Paul “talked (homileo) a long while, even till
daybreak.” The term translated here is a word that indicates
conversation. Paul is no longer preaching; he is now having a
conversation with the brethren. The assembly was not continuing;
the brethren were simply visiting with Paul, just as we do after
our assemblies are over. Secondly, notice in vs.
11, only Paul broke bread and ate. Does that sound like the
Lord’s Supper? No, this is Paul eating a meal, not the church
eating the Lord’s Supper. When Paul left the brethren he was
going to make a 20 mile hike to Assos to meet his companions that
have already left (vs. 13).
The brethren were feeding Paul before he left. This is natural
considering where they were meeting. They had their assembly in
someone’s upper room, once the assembly was over, they lingered
on visiting with and feeding the preacher in preparation for his
trip. G.
Option two is ruled out, leaving us with exactly what we
ought to do today—take the Lord’s Supper on Sunday. Conclusion: We can have assemblies anytime we want to. The Jerusalem church had them every day according to Acts 2:46. We can have classes or meetings of different groups within the congregation any time we want to. But we have to have regular assemblies of the whole congregation together and we may only participate in the Lord’s Supper on Sunday. Our answer then is, “No, we may not have an alternate assembly on Saturday evening in which brethren take the Lord’s Supper.”
Glory
to God in the church by Christ Jesus
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