A Scriptural Argument for Evening Worship
Do the Scriptures Mandate an Evening Worship Service on the Lord's Day?
Intentionally, I gave some time for the heated social media debate surrounding Evening Worship Services to settle down before publishing my thoughts on the subject. As we know, reformed Twitter and certain PCA Facebook groups can become whirlwinds of illogical debate depending on who is talking about what, and this proved to be accurate as many confessionally-minded Presbyterians began posting about recently published data regarding the practice of Evening Worship Services in our denomination. Immediately, the conversation turned sour. Instead of a good-faith discussion regarding the benefits of an Evening Worship Service, many began posting mind-numbing excuses for not having them. I saw many tweets and posts that left me frustrated. Let me rattle off a few:
One PCA TE stated that it was impossible for a pastor to preach two good sermons each Lord’s Day due to the time it takes to prepare sermons.
Another stated that if a minister was taking the time to prepare two Lord’s Day sermons, he was neglecting his other pastoral duties.
A handful of PCA TE’s stated that an Evening Worship Service did not fit into their “philosophy of ministry.”
Others lamented that an Evening Worship Service would deter their small group Bible studies and fellowship time.
Finally, I engaged with one PCA TE who said that an Evening Worship Service did not help us fulfill our denomination’s missional statement: to be “faithful to the scriptures, true to the reformed faith, and obedient to the Great Commission.”
Admittedly, it’s not my intention to address these troubling claims (even though I would like to). However, I noticed that in these online interactions, very little was said about whether or not the scriptures argue for an Evening Service on the Lord’s Day. Therefore, that is going to be my focus. I want to present a simple and Biblical argument for the practice of Morning and Evening Worship on the Lord’s Day.
The Lord’s Day
To do this, we must ask, “What is the Lord’s Day?”
The Lord’s Day is the Sabbath Day. One day out of seven is to be set aside for the worship of God and rest for His people. The Sabbath Day is a creation ordinance, which means that it was a day that the Lord set aside as He created the cosmos. The Lord created the heavens and the earth in six days, and on the seventh day, He rested. This language is directly from Genesis 2: 1-3, which states,
1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2 And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. 3 So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.
According to this creation mandate, and further emphasized in the ceremonial laws of the Old Testament, the Sabbath Day was the last day of the week. However, the proper observance of the Lord’s Day was not just found in the ceremonies of God’s Old Testament people, but in the Moral Law laid out for us in the Ten Commandments. The moral law, which has not been laid aside through the person and work of Christ, is still binding for all people. As God, the Creator of the heavens and the earth, set aside a day for His rest and enjoyment, He has also commanded that His creation do so for their good.
Of course, at the resurrection of Christ, the Lord’s Day changed from the last day of the week to the first day of the week. As the Westminster Confession of Faith sets out clearly,
As it is of the law of nature that, in general, a due proportion of time be set apart for the worship of God, so, in his Word, by a positive, moral, and perpetual commandment, binding all men in all ages, he hath particularly appointed one day in seven for a Sabbath, to be kept holy unto him: which, from the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ, was the last day of the week; and, from the resurrection of Christ, was changed into the first day of the week, which in Scripture is called the Lord’s day, and is to be continued to the end of the world, as the Christian Sabbath. 1
Therefore, the first day of the week is the Lord’s Day, and it is a creation mandate and part of our Moral Law. For it to be both means that our Creator knows what we need, a day of rest and worship. Furthermore, as we keep it and honor it, the Lord promises that He will bless us for our obedience. The prophet, Isaiah, speaking on behalf of the LORD as He calls His people to repentance for not observing the Sabbath as they ought, records these blessings for us,
13 “If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath,
from doing your pleasure on my holy day,
and call the Sabbath a delight
and the holy day of the Lord honorable;
if you honor it, not going your own ways,
or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly;
14 then you shall take delight in the Lord,
and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth;
I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
The Worship of God on the Lord’s Day
How great is that last line? The prophet Isaiah reminds his hearers that the promises of blessings in observing the Sabbath are directly from the mouth of the Lord. He is swearing by His name that honoring His day will benefit us. The well-known hymn, O Day of Rest and Gladness, speaks of these blessings in the first stanza:
O day of rest and gladness,
O day of joy and light,
O balm of care and sadness,
most beautiful, most bright;
on you the high and lowly,
through ages joined in tune,
sing "Holy, holy, holy,"
to the great God triune
A day of rest, gladness, and a most beautiful and bright day. What imagery! At the same time, what a promise - the observance of the Sabbath Day is a balm for our souls. Why would that be? Because the Lord’s Day is the day where Christians rest in their salvation in Christ and worship our Lord, the Risen King, together! The hymn stanza above alludes to this as it recites the angels’ heavenly worship, singing, “Holy, holy, holy” to our great and triune God.
Worshipping on the Lord’s Day is the pleasurable duty of God’s children. We must observe and honor the Sabbath, but it is also our pleasure to meet with God to worship Him in the splendor of holiness (Ps. 29:2). As reformed believers, we have a high view of worship, and rightly so! We understand that God promises to especially meet with us on His day in His house as we gather with His people. My friend, Jonathan Cruse, so helpfully writes,
“In something that seems as mundane as a church service, we are actually given the opportunity to come before the living God, the Creator of the universe, the holy, self-sufficient, transcendent God. We meet Him, really and truly. If it weren’t for this, Christian worship would be quite meaningless.” 2
Knowing this, we must confess that something entirely supernatural is happening in Lord’s Day worship. Yes, we believe in the omnipresence of God, but we also believe that God is especially with His people as we gather in spirit and truth to worship Him. In corporate worship on the Lord’s Day, we can know for sure that God will meet with us, and as we come into His presence, we never leave the same way in which we came. Through our corporate worship, as the ordinary means of grace are practiced, believers are sanctified and sinners are saved. Our God has promised to do this!
So Do We Have to Worship Both Morning and Evening?
So Do We Have to Worship Both Morning and Evening? If this is our next question, our hearts are not in the right place, and we do not understand Lord’s Day worship properly. Instead of asking, “Do we have to…” we should be exclaiming, “We get to…!” When we understand the absolute beauties of corporate worship, we will have a fundamental longing to be in the courts of our Lord, especially on the Lord’s Day. However, realizing the recent controversy, let me briefly walk us through the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments and show why I believe that Morning and Evening Worship is the proper way to honor the Sabbath Day. The pattern of meeting with God, both morning and evening, is throughout our Bibles.
In the Creation Narrative
Interestingly, as the creation narrative unfolds in Genesis 1, God defines a day. The Hebrew word is “יום” or “yom,” and much ink has been spilled attempting to exhaustively define how this term ought to be defined throughout the Old Testament. However, you cannot ignore the text. In this regard, it clearly says, “And there was evening and there was morning” (Gen. 1: 4, 8, 13, 19, 23, 31). Therefore, when we consider the Lord’s Day, we maintain His definition of a day consists of morning and evening.
Furthermore, in Genesis 3, after Adam and Eve eat the forbidden fruit and realize their nakedness, it says that they heard the Lord searching for them in the “cool of the day” (Gen. 3:8). Admittedly, we do not know exactly what time this refers to. Still, both morning and evening could be argued. The morning and evening are typically the coolest times of the day. Therefore, as we understand that Adam and Eve met with God normally in the cool of the day, it is easy to presuppose that the Lord met (showing their unhindered communion and fellowship) with them in the mornings and evenings of each day. Likewise, our Lord meets with us, showing our restored communion and fellowship with Him through Christ in Lord’s Day worship, both morning and evening.
In the Worship of the Old Testament People
The Song of the Sabbath, Psalm 92, speaks of the morning and evening worship of God’s people as it declares,
1 It is good to give thanks to the Lord,
to sing praises to your name, O Most High;
2 to declare your steadfast love in the morning,
and your faithfulness by night,
In this Psalm, the songwriter is meditating upon the goodness of Lord’s Day worship. It is a pure delight for him to think of the beauty of the Old Testament liturgies that proclaim the salvation that belongs to his Lord and the assurances of his salvation from his God’s almighty hand. He declares and sings the gospel promises alongside the people of God both day and night as they gather for the lawful burnt offerings (1 Chron. 16:40).
This observance of both morning and evening sacrifices is found repeatedly throughout the many narratives of the Old Testament. In 1 Chronicles 23:30, God’s people are expected to stand and praise God in morning and evening worship. In Leviticus 6, Aaron and his sons were to present sacrifices on the people’s behalf both morning and evening. Furthermore in Ezra 3:3, as God’s covenant people returned to the Promised Land, they immediately began to set up altars so that they might worship both morning and evening.
So, it is clear that the Old Testament people of God followed creation’s pattern on the Sabbath Day. They met with God in the mornings and evenings of each Lord’s Day to worship their Lord corporately.
In the Post-Resurrection Ministry of Christ
Throughout Christ’s earthly ministry, we are told that he met with God in prayer both morning and evening (Mk. 1:35; 6:46; 14:23). Yet, more attention is given to this morning and evening pattern after Christ’s resurrection from the grave. In John 20, the Apostle reminds us that Mary Magdalene went to the tomb in the early morning “on the first day of the week.” Of course, remembering our confessional standards, this “first day of the week” is now the Lord’s Day. And on this first new Lord’s Day, Mary meets with the resurrected Jesus in the morning. Then, a few verses later, we see the resurrected Jesus meeting with the rest of his disciples. To draw even more of an emphasis on this morning and evening pattern, the gospel states that this meeting with Jesus happened “On the evening of that day, the first day of the week” (Jn. 20:19).
In the “Road to Emmaus” account in Luke 24, this same pattern of morning and evening is used by this gospel writer. The travelers speak of Jesus’ meeting with his people in the morning, and then their eyes are opened to their meeting the resurrected Christ in the evening as they are communing together. This encounter also occurs on the “first day of the week,” as we understand that this scene occurs on that first Resurrection Sunday.
In the Worship of the New Testament People
As the New Testament Church is established, sent by Christ, and filled with His Spirit, we see the same “Lord’s Day” pattern used to speak of their worship. To pull the continued thread, this means that we are to read a worshipful habit of both morning and evening worship. Therefore, as we come to Acts 2 and the devotion of the early church to the ordinary means, we see an intentional gathering on the “first day of the week.” Furthermore, these meetings on the Lord’s Day would be both morning and evening, further revealing the intentional pattern that God’s people kept the Sabbath Day according to the design set forth at creation and by the saints in the faith that came before them.
This is explicitly shown to us in Acts 20 and 28. Both scenes are of the Apostle Paul preaching on the “first day of the week.” As the people gathered to hear the Word preached and commune together, they were meeting and communing with one another and the Lord Himself. During these Lord’s Day worship services, in Acts 20 and 28, the scriptures speak of Paul preaching to the gathered believers into the night.
“From morning till evening [Paul] expounded to them, testifying to the kingdom of God and trying to convince them about Jesus both from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets.” (Acts 28:23b)
A thorough examination of the original Greek, ἀπὸ πρωὶ ἕως ἑσπέρας (from morning till evening), sees the preposition carrying a robust understanding. The reader is supposed to know not only the congregation’s love for the preached Word but also a distinction between the morning and evening. This distinction means that we are to see the congregation gathering to hear the Apostle Paul teach for a full Lord’s Day. Again, keeping with the pattern, this simply presupposes that they met for two worship services - Morning and Evening Worship - on the “first day of the week” to devote themselves to the Apostle’s teaching.
In the Glories of Heaven
As we move into the glories of the New Heavens and the New Earth, as revealed in the book of Revelation, we must understand that we are entering the eternal Sabbath rest and the perfectly unhindered worship of our almighty God. However, as we glean from the worship scenes throughout this book, our pattern continues to reveal itself.
8 And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say,
“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty,
who was and is and is to come!” (Rev. 4:8)
This “day and night” carries the same implication as Genesis 1. It is the totality of the Lord’s Day, which again, in Heaven, will be eternal and unhindered.
Conclusion
Examining these scriptural proofs shows us a pattern that the Lord has established. Throughout the scriptures, God’s people honored this pattern, and ultimately, forever, we will enjoy meeting with God to worship Him in the splendor of holiness. There, we will join the angelic choruses who sing, both morning and evening, praises to the One who sits upon the throne.
From creation, the Sabbath Day has been a God-ordained day of rest and gladness. According to the Law, this day is to be honored and enjoyed by the people of God. Since our Lord Jesus’s resurrection, the “first day of the week” has been observed as the Christian Sabbath - the Lord’s Day. A “day,” as defined by our God, is an intentional pattern of both morning and evening. This signifies that the totality of the day belongs to Him.
So, to answer our initial question, “Does scripture mandate an Evening Worship Service?” No, we might not be able to say that it is an absolute mandate. Still, I am thoroughly convinced that the scriptures set forth a pattern that argues that the best way to honor the totality of the Lord’s Day is for local churches to have morning and evening worship services. This gives the people of God the opportunity to bookend each Sunday with public worship. Maybe what I’m trying to say, remembering the online engagement with one PCA TE, is that the practice of morning and evening worship in the local church is the best way to be “faithful to the scriptures” in our observance of the Sabbath. This statement is not meant to be legalistic nor purposely offensive. Still, as a student of the scriptures, I see an intentional pattern established by the God whom we worship on “the first day of the week.” He sets aside both morning and evening to show us that the totality of this day is His Furthermore, I see a deep devotion from God’s people, throughout the scriptures, honoring this pattern by meeting with their God both morning and evening on the Lord’s Day for worship.
May we be so devoted as well, knowing that there is nothing better for our congregations than to meet with the Living God. Knowing that, why would we not want to gather for worship both morning and evening each Sabbath Day?
Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 21.7
Cruse, Jonathan. What Happens When We Worship, Grand Rapids, MI: Reformation Heritage Books, 43