Introduction. Outside of Jesus instituting the Lord’s Supper and promising He would drink it new with them in His Father’s kingdom (Mt. 26:26-30; Mk. 14:22-26; Lk. 22:14-23), Paul’s rebuke of Corinth for not taking it in a worthy manner (1Cor. 11: 17-34), and an example in Troas (Acts 20:7) we have very little information about the Lord’s Supper. In addition, outside of the few passages scattered throughout the New Testament (1Tim. 2:8; Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16; 1Cor. 14:15-17; 2Tim. 4:1-4) and a few other principles of worship (Jn. 4:23-24), we have very little to describe or understand their gatherings. We know they came together on the first day of the week to break bread and in that same gathering they gave a contribution; sang psalms, hymns and spiritual songs; men prayed in every place; and they heard a sermon about the Scriptures.
Since there is so little written about the first day of the week, one of the best points of references is the Sabbath it replaced. Sabbaths were a “type and shadow of good things to come” (Col 2:16-17), revealing many things about the true spiritual realities of the first day of the week. Remember that those in Israel who had kept the Sabbath holy as part of the 10 commandments were the first converts to enter the church. This Sabbath was a holy day upon which no work was to be done. From their infancy, they had been trained that this was a precious day to the Lord. All God had to do was reveal the true spiritual realities of the first day of the week. The awe, reverence and respect for the day had already been prepared and revealed
Since there is so little written about the first day of the week, one of the best points of references is the Sabbath it replaced. Sabbaths were a “type and shadow of good things to come” (Col 2:16-17), revealing many things about the true spiritual realities of the first day of the week. Remember that those in Israel who had kept the Sabbath holy as part of the 10 commandments were the first converts to enter the church. This Sabbath was a holy day upon which no work was to be done. From their infancy, they had been trained that this was a precious day to the Lord. All God had to do was reveal the true spiritual realities of the first day of the week. The awe, reverence and respect for the day had already been prepared and revealed
So, what was the Sabbath and what did it convey as a type and shadow of heavenly things? Under the Old Covenant, God had made it very clear that all Israel was to set aside the seventh day as holy. God had hallowed this day and blessed it as the day He rested. He wanted His people to rest and remember Him as Creator. He carefully trained and warned them of the sanctity of this day. When God gave them the manna to eat in the wilderness, He used the manner in which He gave it as a training exercise for the Sabbath (Ex. 16:22-30). Then from the moment He gave the Ten Commandments, He made it an absolute law. You don’t have to read every word, but just looking at the following bolded words reveals that God had a lot to say about the Sabbath and that most of them can easily be understood regarding the spiritual realities of the first day of the week.
All of these commands came to an end after the cross: “taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths which are a shadow of things to come.” (Col. 2:14-17). Once the law was nailed to the cross, it was taken out of the way (removed Heb 8:7-13). Yet the Sabbaths as a “a shadow of the things to come” are still important today. God often used types and shadows to reveal and expand our understanding of the spiritual realities that would come. God revealed the entire tabernacle and priesthood were a “type and shadow of the heavenly things.” (Heb. 8-10; 8:5; 10:1).
When Israel entered the new kingdom and the new covenant, all they had learned about the sanctity of the seventh day and all of the remembering they had done regarding the creation and being freed from Egypt came to an end also. It was “a better covenant, which was established on better promises.” (Heb 8:6) Yet all that training regarding the Sabbath had prepared them. The types and shadows gave way to the spiritual and eternal reality of the Word who become flesh, dwelling among us and shedding His blood for the remission of our sins. From that time forward, everyone who was baptized and entered the kingdom of the New Covenant learned that all the zeal, love, devotion and reverence they had once placed into the Sabbath day was now to be focused on the first day of the week.
The first day of the week is no less holy as a day of worship than the Sabbath. From the penalties of violating the first day of the week as we’ll see later, it appears to be even more holy and sacred with our minds and hearts more closely monitored. When Jesus revealed “the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father.” He was speaking of worship under the New Covenant. When He said, “the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth,” He was speaking of the first day of the week, when all His disciples would follow the example of Troas: “Now, on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread.” (Jn. 4:21-24; Acts 20:7). We must develop the same reverence, awe and respect for this day that Israel had for their Sabbaths.
Paul described that this had been delivered unto Him, as part of Jesus’ charge to teach “them to observe all things that I have commanded you.” (Mt. 28:20). Paul told them, what “I received from the Lord,” “I also delivered to you.” He then reminded them that Jesus had commanded this “on the same night He was betrayed.” As He “took bread” He “said, ‘Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’ In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.’” (1Cor. 11:23-25). Since Paul had already delivered it, there can be no doubt this was an established practice in all the churches. Paul had already told them that Timothy had been sent to “remind you of my ways which are in Christ, just as I teach everywhere in every church.” (1Cor 4:17). Paul was not teaching them something they did not know, but reminding them of what he “taught in every church.”
Many of the disciples in Corinth were violating and profaning what is referred to as the Lord’s day (Rev. 1:10). Although Paul always sought to praise and strengthen (exhort) the disciples in his letters, in this case he needed to strongly rebuke them: “Now in giving these instructions I do not praise you, since you come together not for the better but for the worse.” Corinth had a problem that was hindering their worship. “For first of all, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you,” This is why Paul could not praise them. What they should have been doing they were not doing. “Therefore when you come together in one place, it is not to eat the Lord's Supper.”
Corinth was going through the motions. They had come together as a church in one place, just as they were commanded, but after they arrived they were more concerned about their ways than in “worshiping God in spirit and truth.” Because of this Paul rebuked them saying, “when you come together in one place, it is not to eat the Lord's Supper.” Thus, we learn that there is a “worthy manner” when we do everything God revealed with reverence, awe and fear, and an “unworthy manner” if we come together and partake of the Lord’s Supper without the proper spiritual and emotional attitude and thoughts. Those who are doing it in “a worthy manner” are honoring Christ, pleasing God and worshiping in spirit and truth.” In contrast “whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.” What does it mean to be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord?
When we compare this with the condemnation and punishment for those who completely forsake the assembly, thus going far beyond eating and drinking in an unworthy manner, we see more clearly what Paul revealed here. Anyone who selfishly chooses not to come together as the church to take the Lord’s Supper is thus forsaking the assembling of ourselves to together. God sees anyone who does this as one “who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace” (Heb. 10:29-30). As we compare being “guilty of the body and the blood” with “trampling the Son of God underfoot,” we see the same guilty set forth in different words.
When disciples don’t regard the time when a church has come together in one place on the first day of the week to partake of Lord’s supper in communion with Jesus, they are doing something far worse than those who violated the Sabbath. Those who violated the Sabbath, “died without compassion on the mouth of two or three witnesses.” After speaking of the type and shadow, he concluded: “how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy?” (Heb. 10:29).
There should be a holy awe and a sacred reverence for this part of our worship. It is far more holy and sacred than the Sabbath. In one of His last requests before He died, Jesus promised to draw near to us on this day and partake of it with us. If we treat it with disrespect or put something ahead of it by not coming at all, God considers it a personal insult to His Son and plans on severe retribution, punishing those who are guilty. They will be considered among those who were guilty of the body and blood and those trampling the Son of God underfoot.
Just as a single act of eating the Lord’s Supper in an unworthy manner brings this guilt, so also would a single forsaking of the assembly for selfish reasons. Jesus warned that if we want to be worthy we must never place anyone or anything above Him (Mt. 10:37-39). To willfully place anything ahead of honoring Jesus’ death either while in the assembly or by forsaking it is a terrible sin. Though only God sees it, “vengeance is mine, I will repay.” Paul didn’t stop there, repeating himself for emphasis: “For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.” Truly, such a Christian, “has insulted the Spirit of grace.” Just as Jesus had promised, it was the Holy Spirit who “taught them all things.” Since He also taught them this, they were insulting Him and His revelations! Paul and all other inspired men wrote these things, “not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches!” Thus, as a direct revelation of the Holy Spirit that this Lord’s Day is sanctified, it must be treated with the utmost respect and submission. What could be more insulting to Him than to treat it lightly and irreverently, or choosing to give some other activity a higher priority by forsaking it? (Jn. 14:26; 1Cor. 2:9).
Conclusion. There are two ways to violate and treat with contempt and irreverence the first day of the week. The first is the manner in which we partake of the Lord’s supper (1Cor. 11:17-34) and the second is to ignore the command, forsake the day completely, and thereby “… trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace.” By their own actions, those who do such things are “weak and sick among you, and many sleep.”
- Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. (Ex 20:8-11)
- And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 13 "Speak also to the children of Israel, saying: 'Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you. 14 You shall keep the Sabbath, therefore, for it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people. 15 Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. 16 Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. 17 It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.'" (Ex 31:12-17)
- Then Moses gathered all the congregation of the children of Israel together, and said to them, "These are the words which the Lord has commanded you to do: 2 Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh day shall be a holy day for you, a Sabbath of rest to the Lord. Whoever does any work on it shall be put to death. 3 You shall kindle no fire throughout your dwellings on the Sabbath day." (Ex. 35:1-3)
- Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work on it; it is the Sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings. (Lev. 23:3)
- Now while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath day. 33 And those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses and Aaron, and to all the congregation. 34 They put him under guard, because it had not been explained what should be done to him. 35 Then the Lord said to Moses, "The man must surely be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp." (Num. 15:32-36)
- 'Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. 13 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 14 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor any of your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. 15 And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day. (Deut 5:12-15)
All of these commands came to an end after the cross: “taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths which are a shadow of things to come.” (Col. 2:14-17). Once the law was nailed to the cross, it was taken out of the way (removed Heb 8:7-13). Yet the Sabbaths as a “a shadow of the things to come” are still important today. God often used types and shadows to reveal and expand our understanding of the spiritual realities that would come. God revealed the entire tabernacle and priesthood were a “type and shadow of the heavenly things.” (Heb. 8-10; 8:5; 10:1).
When Israel entered the new kingdom and the new covenant, all they had learned about the sanctity of the seventh day and all of the remembering they had done regarding the creation and being freed from Egypt came to an end also. It was “a better covenant, which was established on better promises.” (Heb 8:6) Yet all that training regarding the Sabbath had prepared them. The types and shadows gave way to the spiritual and eternal reality of the Word who become flesh, dwelling among us and shedding His blood for the remission of our sins. From that time forward, everyone who was baptized and entered the kingdom of the New Covenant learned that all the zeal, love, devotion and reverence they had once placed into the Sabbath day was now to be focused on the first day of the week.
The first day of the week is no less holy as a day of worship than the Sabbath. From the penalties of violating the first day of the week as we’ll see later, it appears to be even more holy and sacred with our minds and hearts more closely monitored. When Jesus revealed “the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father.” He was speaking of worship under the New Covenant. When He said, “the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth,” He was speaking of the first day of the week, when all His disciples would follow the example of Troas: “Now, on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread.” (Jn. 4:21-24; Acts 20:7). We must develop the same reverence, awe and respect for this day that Israel had for their Sabbaths.
Paul described that this had been delivered unto Him, as part of Jesus’ charge to teach “them to observe all things that I have commanded you.” (Mt. 28:20). Paul told them, what “I received from the Lord,” “I also delivered to you.” He then reminded them that Jesus had commanded this “on the same night He was betrayed.” As He “took bread” He “said, ‘Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’ In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.’” (1Cor. 11:23-25). Since Paul had already delivered it, there can be no doubt this was an established practice in all the churches. Paul had already told them that Timothy had been sent to “remind you of my ways which are in Christ, just as I teach everywhere in every church.” (1Cor 4:17). Paul was not teaching them something they did not know, but reminding them of what he “taught in every church.”
Many of the disciples in Corinth were violating and profaning what is referred to as the Lord’s day (Rev. 1:10). Although Paul always sought to praise and strengthen (exhort) the disciples in his letters, in this case he needed to strongly rebuke them: “Now in giving these instructions I do not praise you, since you come together not for the better but for the worse.” Corinth had a problem that was hindering their worship. “For first of all, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you,” This is why Paul could not praise them. What they should have been doing they were not doing. “Therefore when you come together in one place, it is not to eat the Lord's Supper.”
Corinth was going through the motions. They had come together as a church in one place, just as they were commanded, but after they arrived they were more concerned about their ways than in “worshiping God in spirit and truth.” Because of this Paul rebuked them saying, “when you come together in one place, it is not to eat the Lord's Supper.” Thus, we learn that there is a “worthy manner” when we do everything God revealed with reverence, awe and fear, and an “unworthy manner” if we come together and partake of the Lord’s Supper without the proper spiritual and emotional attitude and thoughts. Those who are doing it in “a worthy manner” are honoring Christ, pleasing God and worshiping in spirit and truth.” In contrast “whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.” What does it mean to be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord?
When we compare this with the condemnation and punishment for those who completely forsake the assembly, thus going far beyond eating and drinking in an unworthy manner, we see more clearly what Paul revealed here. Anyone who selfishly chooses not to come together as the church to take the Lord’s Supper is thus forsaking the assembling of ourselves to together. God sees anyone who does this as one “who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace” (Heb. 10:29-30). As we compare being “guilty of the body and the blood” with “trampling the Son of God underfoot,” we see the same guilty set forth in different words.
When disciples don’t regard the time when a church has come together in one place on the first day of the week to partake of Lord’s supper in communion with Jesus, they are doing something far worse than those who violated the Sabbath. Those who violated the Sabbath, “died without compassion on the mouth of two or three witnesses.” After speaking of the type and shadow, he concluded: “how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy?” (Heb. 10:29).
There should be a holy awe and a sacred reverence for this part of our worship. It is far more holy and sacred than the Sabbath. In one of His last requests before He died, Jesus promised to draw near to us on this day and partake of it with us. If we treat it with disrespect or put something ahead of it by not coming at all, God considers it a personal insult to His Son and plans on severe retribution, punishing those who are guilty. They will be considered among those who were guilty of the body and blood and those trampling the Son of God underfoot.
Just as a single act of eating the Lord’s Supper in an unworthy manner brings this guilt, so also would a single forsaking of the assembly for selfish reasons. Jesus warned that if we want to be worthy we must never place anyone or anything above Him (Mt. 10:37-39). To willfully place anything ahead of honoring Jesus’ death either while in the assembly or by forsaking it is a terrible sin. Though only God sees it, “vengeance is mine, I will repay.” Paul didn’t stop there, repeating himself for emphasis: “For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.” Truly, such a Christian, “has insulted the Spirit of grace.” Just as Jesus had promised, it was the Holy Spirit who “taught them all things.” Since He also taught them this, they were insulting Him and His revelations! Paul and all other inspired men wrote these things, “not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches!” Thus, as a direct revelation of the Holy Spirit that this Lord’s Day is sanctified, it must be treated with the utmost respect and submission. What could be more insulting to Him than to treat it lightly and irreverently, or choosing to give some other activity a higher priority by forsaking it? (Jn. 14:26; 1Cor. 2:9).
Conclusion. There are two ways to violate and treat with contempt and irreverence the first day of the week. The first is the manner in which we partake of the Lord’s supper (1Cor. 11:17-34) and the second is to ignore the command, forsake the day completely, and thereby “… trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace.” By their own actions, those who do such things are “weak and sick among you, and many sleep.”