The most wonderful time of the week, fifty-two times a year, for the Christian, is Sunday. It is the day that God had ordained as the day that His people would come together as an assembly of called out people to give honor and glory to Him. We get to, we are blessed to, come together every first day of the week to remember the Lord’s sacrifice for us so that we could have the hope of everlasting life. When we also add to that every opportunity we have to come together for the study of God’s word on Sundays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays, we really exemplify the love of being with one another that the New Testament teaches (cf. Hebrews 10:24, 25; Romans 12:10; Acts 2:46, 47).
Of course, of all the opportunities we have to be together, it is Sunday that is the truly special day. Look at all we read of Sunday in the New Testament:
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The Lord rose from the tomb on Sunday (Matthew 28:1; Mark 16:2; Luke 24:1; John 20:1). All four Gospel accounts make specific mention of the day Jesus rose as being “the first day of the week.” In John 20, John puts a great deal of emphasis on Sunday. He not only says that Jesus rose on “the first day of the week” (John 20:1, 19), but says that Jesus appeared to them again the following Sunday (John 20:26, “after eight days”). “Eight days” would include the current day in the counting. That is, they would have counted from Sunday to Sunday to get eight days where we would count from the next day – Monday to Sunday – to get seven days. So, when Jesus appeared and made Himself known to Thomas it was Sunday, not Monday.
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The Lord’s church was established on Sunday (Acts 2:1, 41, 47). The day of Pentecost was exactly fifty days from the Passover. They were to count “seven
sabbaths” (Deuteronomy 16:9-12) and have “the Feast of Weeks” (Deuteronomy 16:16). That feast is called “Pentecost” in the New Testament which basically means “the feast of the fiftieth day.” If they were to count “seven sabbaths” and have the Feast of Weeks on the day after of the seventh sabbath then that would make the feast occur always on a Sunday. So, of the three Jewish feast days that required all Jewish males worldwide to appear in Jerusalem, God chose Pentecost – the one that always fell on a Sunday – to establish the church of Christ! -
The New Testament church gathered for worship on Sunday (Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 11:18, 20, 33; 1 Corinthians 16:2). We’ve already noted that the church was established on Sunday. Immediately following the first additions to the church (Acts 20:41) we have the first reference to the worship of the assembled church (Acts 2:42). The New Testament pattern for the day when “we come together as a church” is clearly Sunday! We are blessed to come together to remember the body and blood of Christ shed for us, to sing praise to God, to pray together, study together, and give together, as an expression of our love and devotion to God.
What a wonderful day Sunday is! Why would I want to spend it on the trivial things of the world? I want to be with my brethren, those who love and honor God, as much as I can to be edified by them and to be an edification to them. But I especially want to be with them on the most wonderful time of the week – Sunday!
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