I. General Assemblies

Apparently at any time, day or night, New Testament Christians (Acts 18:8; 11:26) assembled "together at the same place," sometimes the "whole congregation," to engage in three activities: singing, praying, and hearing one or more speakers build "up the congregation," encouraging and bringing "good cheer" (1 Corinthians 14:3, 15, 23, 27).

Their worship in singing was a "sacrifice of praise to God," the "fruit of" their "lips," a "plucking" of "the strings of their hearts "to the Lord" (Hebrews 13:15; Ephesians 5:19). At every service there was in the first century, and still today, an invisible singer, Jesus himself. A thousand years before he came to the earth he had planned to sing in every assembly, and he had David to announce it: "In the midst of the congregation I will praise you" (Psalm 22:22). By faith every Christian knows that the unseen singer is present, as Jesus sings to his Father according to his promise: "In the congregation I will sing hymns of praise to you" (Hebrews 2:12).

Similarly, when someone leads a prayer in the assembly, always "in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ" (Ephesians 5:20), that same invisible Jesus hears every word, and he too speaks up as an intercessor to the Father for his "brothers" of whom "he is not ashamed" (Hebrews 2:11; 1 John 2:1). What an experience every Christian has in general assemblies with Jesus always present, as they sing, pray, and hear lessons. These are divinely planned activities for Christians’ "upbuilding" (1 Corinthians 14:26).

II. Special Assemblies

In Addition to the singing, praying, and teaching in general assemblies, two other divinely planned activities for the edification of Christians are the Lord’s Supper and the giving of money, both apparently set for the first day of every week (Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:1-2).

Christians are taught not to forsake "the assembling of ourselves together," and to exhort one another, "and so much the more, as you see the day approaching" (Hebrews 10:25). What day of an assembly not to be forsaken could Christians (in the first century and now) see approaching?

Some have thought that the inspired author of the book of Hebrews was referring to the day of destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. But Christians were not to assemble when General Titus brought his army to Jerusalem. Forty years before 70 A.D. Jesus had advised "the ones living in Judea" to "escape to the mountains" and "Pray that your flight be not in winter neither on a sabbath" (Matthew 24:16-20). Forty years later some of Jesus’ followers remembered his advice and "fled to Pella across the Jordan" (Eusebius, CHURCH HISTORY, III, 5).

What day of assembly not to be forsaken could Christians (in the first century and now) see approaching? The marginal reference in the ASV of Hebrews 10:25 turns the reader to 1 Corinthians 3:13: "the day shall declare it, because it is revealed in fire; and the fire itself shall prove each man’s work of what sort it is." However, Christians have never seen that day of fire (2 Peter 3:10) approaching: "No one knows about that day and hour, neither the angels, nor the Son, but the Father only" (Matthew 24:36). Consequently, no Christian can see "the day of judgment" (Matthew 10:15) approaching.

What day of assembly not to be forsaken could Christians (in the first century and now) see approaching? The apostle Paul, though on a hurried journey "from Philippi" to get to "Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost" (Acts 20:6), "tarried seven days" in Troas, apparently waiting for "the first day of the week" when the Christians in Troas would not forsake their assembling "to break bread" (Acts 20:6-7).

The breaking of bread apparently refers to the "Lord’s Supper," a worship service not done "at home" (cf. 1 Corinthians 11:20, 34). Consequently, devoted Christians today, without a specific command, look back to the example set in Troas in 57 A.D., and from Monday on, through each week, can see the first day of the week, Sunday, approaching. In love and appreciation they never want to forsake that special assembly set for the day that they can see approaching.

Some early Christians, bond servants, had a non-Christian master who demanded that his slaves be at work in his fields seven days a week at sun up. The heart-felt devotion of his Christian slaves caused them to get out of bed on Sunday mornings before daylight and have the Lord’s Supper together, before reporting for work.

The first day of the week assembly at times may be only of two or more disciples, but they know that Jesus spiritually will be present, as he said, "where two or three have assembled in my name, I am in the midst of them" (Matthew 18:20).

Many congregations have started in somebody’s living room. Paul sent greetings to "Nympha and the congregation in her house" in Colosse (Colossians 4:15). Paul remembered that in that same city that a congregation assembled in the "house" of Philemon (Philemon 1-2). He also knew that his beloved friends "Acquila and Prisca" [Priscilla] started congregations "in their house" both in Ephesus and in Rome (1 Corinthians 16:19; Romans 16:3-5).

On Sunday, after L. L. Brigance baptized me in the city swimming pool in 1923 at Caruthersville, Mo., I first partook of the Lord’s Supper in the living room of a Christian widow (sister Hunt), where about ten Christians started the Caruthersville congregation. At that time I did not know that Jesus also was present spiritually, and that he, along with the ten, partook of the Lord’s Supper with us, just as he had promised: "I assure you, I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom" (Matthew 26:29).

The "Father’s kingdom" is Jesus "church" (Matthew 16:18), which was established on Sunday, May 28, A.D. 30, in Jerusalem. From that Lord’s day until now faithful Christians have "continued steadfastly" in the "breaking of bread" (Acts 2:42) on "the first day of the week" (Acts 20:7) with the happy assurance that an unseen Jesus spiritually partakes with them.

On a few occasions Lois (my late wife) and I have had the Lord’s Supper in a motel room. On Lord’s day, May 30, 1971, in a room at the airport hotel in Tel Aviv, Israel, the worship service included a sermon capably delivered by Gene Priest to three listeners, Joe and Harold Bryant and Hugo.

Also, on the first day of the week, faithful Christians, as they are financially able, bring contributions and put them into the common treasury of the congregation to be used in the Lord’s work.

THE LIVING ORACLES, a New Testament translation by Alexander Campbell in 1826 of 1 Corinthians 16:2, says:

III. A Supplement

Each Christian at Corinth was commanded to "lay aside" (titheto) a contribution, if he had earned anything, and at the assembly to put his contribution into the treasury (thesaurizon), so that there would be no collections (logeiai) when Paul arrived (1 Corinthians 16:2). The word thesaurizon, "store up, save, put aside," in the context has to refer to putting the contribution into the treasury.

The word thesaurizon literally has the same meaning as titheto, but in context thesaurizon refers to an action after the action of titheto, one action done at home, planning (2 Corinthians 9:7) how much to give, and another action at the assembly, putting the money into the treasury.

But if someone says both words must be literally translated, then there is no treasury, and each one hands his contribution to Paul, making many collections by him. The fact that Paul did not want many collections shows there was to be a treasury, from which one collection would be given to Paul.

The phrase "by himself," par’ heauto, is a repetition of "each one" (hekastos), and so is not needed for a clear English translation. If the action of titheto completes the idea of putting something aside "by himself," par’ heauto, "at his home" (Thayer, 477, and so B-G-D, 610), if he earns anything, then if thesaurizon is merely a repetition of the action of titheto, Paul would be collecting from each worshiper, something he did not want to do.

It follows then that thesaurizon must refer to putting each person’s contribution into a treasury, so that from it Paul would receive only one collection. If Paul meant for thesaurizon to be a repetition of titheto, there would be no treasury, and there would have been collections, plural (logeiai).

The 4th edition of my NT translation of 1 Corinthians 16:2 will be:

New to me is the teaching denying "that the early church had any formal worship assembly on Sundays, or that Sunday was even any more significant a day to them than any other day of the week." If there were no formal worship assemblies on Sundays, why were Christians commanded to lay by in store on Sunday? Why not any day?

It is true that Sunday, the first day of the week, in the early church was not a Jewish sabbath to be kept "holy" (Exodus 20:8; Colossians 2:16). It is true that some in the early church did hold "that a certain day is superior, while" others held "every day in esteem" (Romans 14:5). Such people were uninformed, probably new Christians, and in their situation, if they were "fully persuaded," having "conviction," Paul said it is wrong to "condemn" and "look down on" them (Romans 14:5, 10, 23).

Everything "which is not of conviction is sin" (Romans 14:23), but they had conviction, which means their observance of "a certain day" or "every day" was "for the Lord" (Romans 14:6). They were honestly wrong. In time they would learn that in Christianity no day is more sacred than another, and, being honest, they would change their conviction.

However, some Christians in the Galatian congregations (Iconium, Lystra, Derbe) were not keeping their opinion about special days to themselves. They were pushing their uninformed opinion about special days too far, and Paul had to rebuke them sharply: "You are observing days and months and seasons and years. I am afraid that I may have labored for you in vain" (Galatians 4:11).

All Christians know that Christ was raised from the dead on the first day of the week (Mark 16:9). Though all days are the Lord’s days by creation, Jesus’ resurrection makes Sunday, not a religious holy day, but one of happy memory. Surely John’s speaking of "the Lord’s day" (Revelation 1:10) was not to contradict Paul, but only as a joyous memory of what happened on the first day of the week.