Why Do Christians Worship on Sunday?

It’s good to be back with you on this wonderful Lord’s Day. And we had, a few weeks back, some questions asked in one of our Bible classes about why we worship on Sunday. And so I would just like to take that question and to answer it from the Scriptures this morning as we think about what God has said in His Holy Word And the relationship between the Old Testament and the New Testament, and His Son Jesus Christ, and how Christ changed things when He came to this world.

You know, there are those in the religious world today who worship on Saturday. And some take the commandment from the Old Testament about the Sabbath, and they think, you know what, we need to honor the Sabbath. So they worship on Saturday, and Saturday was always the Sabbath day under the Old Covenant, but now, under Christ, we worship on Sunday. And why is that? Why the change? And what is it that we need to recognize about that?

Let’s think about this question this morning. Why do Christians worship on Sunday? Let’s begin with Acts chapter 20 and verses 6 and 7, because there we see that the Apostle Paul had departed Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread, which is the Passover, and in five days joined them, a group of men who were trapped, He joined them at Troas. And then the Apostle Paul and these other men, Christian men, they stayed in Troas seven days.

And then it says this, Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight. And so there’s a focus on time here and specifically on the fact that the Apostle Paul and these other Christian men waited for seven days because they knew that in seven days the church would meet upon the first day.

The first day of the week, and then they could gather with the disciples to break bread, that is to observe the Lord’s Supper. And so we are given this information here in Acts chapter 20, verse 7, to show that the apostles understood and taught that the church was to meet upon the first day of the week.

Now, how did we get there? How did we go from the Sabbath, observing the Sabbath day, to observing the first day of the week? And so let’s talk about that this morning. First of all, we want to note this, that the Sabbath was not intended for Christians.

Now, when we think about worshiping on the first day of the week, as Christians do, and we ask the question, well, why don’t we worship on Saturday like the Jews did? After all, it was part of the law of Moses that we’re supposed to remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy, one of the Ten Commandments, in fact. And we observe all the other nine commandments, so why don’t we observe this commandment?

And that’s a good question. Let’s remember that the law of Moses did say that. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy, Exodus 20, verse 8, and Deuteronomy 5, verse 12. Observe the Sabbath day to keep it holy as the Lord your God commanded you.

But this is the law of Moses. And the law of Moses was only given to the Jewish people. Specifically, the physical descendants of Jacob or Israel. Not even the physical descendants of, all the physical descendants of Abraham were given the law of Moses. It was just for Israel, the nation of Israel alone.

So look at Exodus 34 and verses 27 through 28. Then the Lord said to Moses, write these words, for according to the tenor of these words, I have made a covenant with you and with Israel. Now that’s very specific because God was being specific. This covenant, the covenant that He gave to Moses on Mount Sinai, was intended for Israel, the nation of Israel. And so it says, so He was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights. He neither ate bread nor drank water, and He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.

And so the Ten Commandments were part of that covenant that was given to physical national Israel, and it was given by God to them and only to them. It wasn’t given to all the other nations surrounding them. It was only given to that one nation.

Now look at Deuteronomy 5 and verses 1 through 3. And this, the setting of Deuteronomy is that Moses has taken the children of Israel through the wilderness and now they’re on the brink of entering into the land of Canaan to possess the land that God has promised them.

And so Moses is gathering them all together, and he’s giving them the law once again. Again, that law was given to Moses, it was intended to be given to the nation of Israel, and now he’s doing it again to this new generation of people in the nation of Israel.

It says, “…And Moses called all Israel and said to them, Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your hearing today, that you may learn them and be careful to observe them. The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. The Lord did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, those who are here today, all of us who are alive.”

God didn’t give the law of Moses to Abraham. He didn’t give the law of Moses to Isaac. He didn’t even give the law of Moses to Jacob or even the 12 sons of Jacob per se. He gave it to Moses and the children of Israel who were living during the time of Moses.

And so the law of Moses was for the nation of Israel. Not even for those who were before Moses and the nation of Israel in his day. So that’s a very important thing to understand. The law of Moses was limited. And the limits of it were for national Israel.

Deuteronomy 31, verse 9 says, “…So Moses wrote this law and delivered it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the elders of Israel.” Again, it is limited just to this nation and this nation alone.

And so the law of Moses, of which observing the Sabbath was part, was only given to the children of Israel. Christians do not need to observe the Sabbath day because the law of Moses was not given to Christians. And that’s a very important point to understand.

In Colossians 2, in verses 16 and 17, the Apostle Paul explicitly writes to let no one judge you in food or drink or regarding a festival or a new moon or Sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.

So here, it’s explicitly said in the New Testament by the Apostle Paul in writing to the church in Colossae that no one is to judge you in regard to observing Sabbaths, and that would include, as one of the Sabbaths, the Saturday, worshiping on Saturday.

And so Christians were told, you don’t have to worship on Saturday. It’s not part of what constitutes Christian worship. In Galatians 4 and verses 9 and 10, in dealings very specifically with the idea that Christians were no longer under the law of Moses and were not bound to the law of Moses and did not need to observe the law of Moses, The Apostle Paul says this, “…but now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements to which you desire again to be in bondage? You observe days and months and seasons and years.”

What were those days and months and seasons and years? They were the days under the law of Moses, that those who were bringing in the teaching that they had to observe the law of Moses were telling the Gentiles that they needed to observe those days and months and seasons and years.

And Paul says, you don’t need to do that. You don’t need to worship on the Sabbath day. You don’t need to worship on the new moon. You don’t need to worship during Passover or during the time of year that is called the Pentecost or the Day of Atonement.

None of those things mean anything anymore because they’ve all been fulfilled in Christ. And that’s the point that he made in the book of Colossians, is that Christ is the substance. And so these days and months and seasons and years that were observed under the law of Moses, no longer apply.

And why is that? Because, point number two, Christ is the end of the law of Moses. Christ is the end of the law of Moses. Now let’s look at Matthew chapter 5 and verses 17 and 18, because here Jesus says these words. Do not think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets. I did not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law, till or until all is fulfilled.

Now, we know that Jesus fulfilled the law of Moses, and when He fulfilled the law of Moses, all of those things passed away. They wouldn’t pass away until He fulfilled them, but once He did fulfill them, they were no longer.

And so, the Apostle Paul says in Romans chapter 10, in verse 4, that Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. Christ is the end of the law. And why is He the end of the law? Because He fulfilled the law. There was no purpose for the law anymore once Christ fulfilled it.

And now, in Galatians chapter 5, verse 4, the Apostle Paul tells those Christians there who were being taught to obey the law of Moses, he said, If you go back to the law of Moses, you are abandoning Christ. He says, You have become estranged from Christ. You would attempt to be justified by law. You have fallen from grace.

So there’s no going back. We can’t hold on to Christ and hold on to the law of Moses at the same time. It’s one or the other, not both. Christ fulfilled it. He ended it, and now we need to accept it. And that’s what Galatians 5, verse 4 is all about.

Colossians 2 and verse 14 puts it like this, that Christ wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us, and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.

Now, the law of Moses was nailed to the cross, and it died when Christ died. And now, it is not something that we need to observe anymore. And so, Christ is the end of the law. He didn’t come to destroy the law, but to fulfill it, and He did fulfill it.

He is the end of the law for righteousness, Romans 10, verse 4. He nailed it to the cross, and those who attempt to observe it become estranged from Him when they so try. And so Christ is the end of the law.

But then point number three is this. The Apostles observed the first day of the week. So what have we established so far in going back and looking at these things? First of all, that the Sabbath was not intended for Christians. Why did Christians worship on Sunday and not on Saturday? Because, well, Saturday was not intended for Christians. It was only for the Jews, only for the nation of Israel.

Secondly, we don’t worship on Saturday because Christ is the end of the law. He nailed the law to the cross and it’s not in effect anymore. And third, Christ taught the apostles to build His church, Matthew 16 and verse 18.

And when the apostles went out and preached Christ, they preached that the church needs to assemble on the first day of the week, which is Sunday, and to remember in the Lord’s Supper on Sunday, the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Christ.

Now, this is the point, the first point that we’re going to make about this. Why did the apostles observe the first day of the week? First of all, because that’s the day on which Jesus rose from the dead. Now, just think about that for a minute before we look into the specifics. Think about that for a minute. We wouldn’t worship on Saturday because Jesus was in the tomb on Saturday. We wouldn’t worship on Friday because that was the day that Jesus was crucified. But we gathered together on the first day of the week Because that’s the day on which Jesus rose from the dead and God gave Him power. And in giving Him that power, He was able then to establish the church.

And the church was established on the first day of the week, we’re going to see in just a moment. Now, let’s think. Matthew 28, verse 1. After the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn. Mark 16, 2. Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week. Mark 16, verse 9. Now, when He rose early on the first day of the week. Luke 24, verse 1. Now, on the first day of the week. Very early in the morning. John 20, verse 1. Now, the first day of the week. 20, verse 19.

Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week. John 20, 26. And after eight days, His disciples were again inside. What day was that? The first day of the week. And what is the first day of the week? Sunday. That’s right. Who said that? Good answer. That’s it. The first day of the week is Sunday.

And we don’t count days the same way as they did under the law of Moses. They counted the days from the Sabbath day. And so the Sabbath day was the seventh day, but then they would say the first after the Sabbath, the second after the Sabbath, the third after the Sabbath, the fourth after the Sabbath. That’s how they counted the days.

We have names for our days of the week, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, etc., but they didn’t. They named their days based upon the Sabbath day. And so, the first day after the Sabbath was Sunday, and that’s the first day of the week.

And that’s the day that Jesus rose from the dead, and that’s the day that the Apostles gathered together after He rose from the dead. Now let’s look at Acts chapter 2 and verse 1 and think about this verse for a minute. Because in Acts chapter 2 and verse 1, it is the day of Pentecost, and the day of Pentecost was on a Sunday.

And that’s important to remember, because what happened on the day of Pentecost? First of all, the apostles had already gathered together because they had been in practice of gathering together on the first day of the week, after Jesus had risen from the dead. They were together, they were all with one accord in one place.

And we know the day of Pentecost was a Sunday because of the time that the day of Pentecost was supposed to happen under the law of Moses was 49 days plus one from the Sabbath of the Passover. And that’s the Passover is on a Saturday. If you say 49 weeks, that’s another Saturday. If you add one day, that’s Sunday.

And so we know that the first day of the week or that the day of Pentecost was Sunday and they were gathered together there. What happened on that day? Jesus Christ from His throne in heaven sent the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit came upon the apostles. They began preaching to all the people who were gathered there. And what happened? They established the church on that day. Many people responded to the message of the gospel and were baptized.

Baptized, and the Lord added to the church daily, such as were being saved, it says. But that started on the first day of the week. In Acts chapter 2, verses 41 and 42, this is what it says. Then those who gladly received His word were baptized. Now, this is still the first day of the week, Sunday, the day of Pentecost. And that day, about 3,000 souls were added to them. And what did they do on that first day of the week?

Number one, they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine. That’s the teaching and the preaching. Number two, in fellowship or koinonia. Sometimes giving is referred to as koinonia. And so there’s giving. In the breaking of bread, that’s the Lord’s Supper. And in prayers. And prayers would be lifting up prayers to God.

And maybe even singing prayers on that particular day. And so all of the elements of worship that we participate in, studying the Word of God, praying, singing, giving, and partaking of the Lord’s Supper, all of the elements were here in this day in Acts chapter 2.

And that was the first day of the week. Now, in 1 Corinthians 11 and verses 18 and 20 and 33, the Apostle Paul makes reference to the church at Corinth’s coming together. When you come together. And he mentions this several times because it was the practice of the church to come together.

One day out of the seven days in the week. And what day was it that they came together? It was on Sunday or the first day of the week. And we know that they came together for the purpose of observing the Lord’s Supper, as we noted in Acts chapter 20 and verses 6 and 7.

And Paul and his companions waited for seven days so that they could be with the church when the church came together to observe the Lord’s Supper. And when he was there, he spoke to them just like we do. We have preaching and teaching that goes on the first day of the week, and they observed the Lord’s Supper. No doubt they did some praying, some singing, and some giving as well. We know they did the giving Because 1 Corinthians 16, 1 and 2 says, that’s the day on which we’re supposed to take up the offering, right? On the first day of the week, let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper. And so there was giving as well on the first day of the week. And this was the day. Why did Paul say, do it on the first day of the week? Because they were already in the practice.

They were already in the habit of assembling on the first day of the week in order to worship God through His Son, Jesus Christ. They did this so much that by the time the Apostle John wrote the book of Revelation, he called that day, Sunday, the first day of the week, the Lord’s Day.

And that’s what it is. Sunday is the Lord’s Day. It’s the day the church gathers together to worship. And we do it on the first day of the week because we are Christians. Why do Christians worship on Sunday? First of all, because the Sabbath was not intended for Christians.

It was given to the physical, national group of people known as Israel. It wasn’t even given to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. It was given to Moses and to his children, or to his group of people, the Israelites. And secondly, because Christ is the end of the law. When Christ died on the cross, He fulfilled the law, that was the end of the law, and He nailed the law to the cross. And observing the Sabbath was part of the law of Moses.

Well, somebody might ask at this point, well, what about the rest of the Ten Commandments? Why do we obey them? And the answer is because the rest of the Ten Commandments are reiterated in Christianity. But the Sabbath is not. That’s the only one that’s not reiterated in Christianity. And so we’re not going to worship on the Sabbath day because that was something that only was done by the Jewish people.

And then finally, why do Christians worship on Sunday? Because the first day of the week, or Sunday, is the day that the apostles observed. They began meeting on that day after Jesus was raised from the dead, and they met again the next week, and they kept meeting, and they were meeting on the day of Pentecost because it was Sunday, the first day of the week, and that’s when the church was established.

That’s when the worship of the church began, and that practice was followed by all the churches. The church at Corinth, the churches of Galatia, the church at Troas, the church at Philippi, all the churches followed that practice thereafter because it was the day the apostles observed for Christian worship.

Are you worshipping God this morning like God wants you to through His Son, Jesus Christ? Maybe that’s something you could improve upon in your life. I know it’s something that I work on every week, trying to focus on the worship of God and His Son, Jesus Christ.

We don’t worship according to the law of Moses anymore. We’re not offering animal sacrifices up here every week. No, we don’t do that. But we do remember the death of Jesus on the cross. We remember His burial and His resurrection as we observe the Lord’s Supper on every first day of the week.

Do you need to be qualified to do that? Become a Christian by hearing His Word and believing it, repenting of your sin, confessing Jesus as Lord and being baptized. Or if you need the prayers of the church, we’ll be happy to help you at this time. If there’s something that we can help you with to help you worship God, you can make it known now while together we stand and while we sing.

End of transcript. Thank you for reading along!