Some churches have partaken of it only three or four times a year. It is only natural that this question would arise by those who sincerely want to know what the Bible teaches regarding this subject.

When one considers everything the Bible has to say about the Lord’s Supper, you will find no statement, example or implication that saints in apostolic times observed the communion on any day other than “the first day of the week” (Acts 20:7). By that same token, you will find no Bible authority for New Testament Christians today to observe the communion on any day other than “the first day of week.”

According to the New Testament, the early Christians met on the first day of each week, the Lord’s Day, and observed the Lord’s Supper. The Holy Spirit, through Luke, stated, “And on the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul {began} talking to them, intending to depart the next day, and he prolonged his message until midnight” (Acts 20:7 NAS). Notice, they met on the first day of the week to break bread. The early Christians were regular in meeting on the first day of the week to break bread—eat the Lord’s Supper (“And they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer” Acts 2:42 NAS).

But someone may suggest, “Did the early Christians meet on the first day of every week for the Lord’s Supper?” The answer is positively, yes. “The first day of the week” is the first day of every week. The Jews were commanded to “remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Ex. 20:8). Moses, giving instructions for laying up food for the Sabbath, said: “And Moses said, “Eat it today, for today is a Sabbath to the Lord; today you will not find it in the field. “Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, {the} Sabbath, there will be none” (Exod. 16:25-26 NAS).

Identifying the seventh day as the Sabbath is helpful in determining when to partake of the Lord’s Supper on the first day of every week.

The Corinthian brethren were told, “Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I directed the churches of Galatia, so do you also. On the first day of every week let each one of you put aside and save, as he may prosper, that no collections be made when I come” (I Cor. 16:1-2).

The “first day of the week” is our Sunday. The Sabbath and seventh day of the week was Saturday. The Bible says, “And on the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul {began} talking to them, intending to depart the next day, and he prolonged his message until midnight” (Acts 20:7 NAS).

Paul waited at Troas to assemble with the saints on the Lord’s Day. They broke bread (partook of the Lord’s Supper) on the first day of the week (Sunday) as the saints had done just after the church was established on Pentecost (Acts 2:42).

Bible scholars of all denominations are in agreement that the early Christians met every Lords’ Day for the Lord’s Supper:

“John Calvin, the great protestant reformer and founder of the Presbyterian Church, declared, “And that custom which enjoins believers to communicate only once a year, is unquestionably an invention of the devil, whoever were the persons by whom it was introduced.” In the same reference Calvin declared, “A very different practice ought to have been pursued. At least once in every week the table of the Lord ought to have been spread before each congregation of Christians, and the promises to have been declared for their spiritual nourishment.” (Calvin’s Institutes, Vol. 2, Chapter 4, Chapter 17, section 46, pages 580, 581).

John Wesley, a great reformer and founder of the Methodist Church, and Thomas Scott, of the Church of England, also agreed that the Lord’s Supper should be partaken of on the first day of every week.

Sacred history also bears out the fact that the early Christians ate the Lord’s Supper each Lord’s Day. Justin Martyr, Tertullian, Pliny and others tell us that the Supper was eaten weekly during the second century.

This weekly observance is a part of the truth into which the Holy Spirit guided the apostles. They, therefore, set the example of eating the Lord’s Supper on the first day of every week. Erskine’s Dissertations tell us that the Greek Church continued this weekly observance until the seventh century.

There can be no doubt about it. Annually, quarterly, monthly or some other day of the week beside Sunday is the invention of man and not approved by God for the partaking of the Lord’s Supper.

Would someone please explain why the churches that refuse to eat the Lord’s Supper on the first day of every week take up a collection on the first day of every week?