Christian greetings! I trust everything is going well with you and your family. …Bro. Louis, Sir, last Thursday night, as we are having our Bible Study we came across to a question whether a believer can take the Lord’s Supper alone? Can he? If he can, what or where is the scriptural authority that one is allowed to perform the Lord’s Supper alone? Correct me if I am wrong, but I never came across in the Bible that one performed the Lord’s Supper alone. Christ for example did it with the apostles; in Acts 2, the brethren continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and in breaking of the bread and prayers, they are in the group; and in Acts 20:7, Paul while in Troas did it with other brethren; etc. What if, God willing, I decided to leave Saudi Arabia and wanting to start a church in my hometown in Philippines? For the meantime, I would be alone in the first Sunday for instance, can I take the Lord’s Supper? What about giving, another important part of the worship, isn’t it? Another instance, I am sure that a prisoner can worship God alone through singing, praying, and meditating the Word of God everyday including Sunday… but is that complete without performing the Lord’s Supper? What about giving? Concerning the giving, on the other hand, perhaps the question would be aside from performing it alone, is Sunday worship complete without performing one from among the five (5) acts of worship? I would appreciate your reply. God bless! Yours truly, [name withheld by Editor for his safety concerns]
You have essentially answered your own question when you wrote: “…is Sunday worship complete without performing one from among the five (5) acts of worship?” No, one’s Lord’s Day worship is incomplete if one or more of the five acts of worship prescribed in the New Testament is not practiced. While it is true that no example exists of a person taking the Lord’s Supper alone, none of the passages deals with a single worshipper on the Lord’s Day. Yet, that Christians are obligated to worship on the Lord’s Day is certain. Four of the five acts of worship appear in Acts 2:42 (singing appears elsewhere). Giving on the Lord’s Day was a command (1 Corinthians 16:1-2). The apostle Paul said respecting the observance of the Lord’s Supper: “For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come” (1 Corinthians 11:26). The example of the frequency of observing the Lord’s Supper, every first day of the week, appears in Acts 20:7. Nothing in the New Testament provides for an exemption for worshipping God if there is not a quorum. The writer of Hebrews enumerates severe penalties for not assembling (Hebrews 10:25-31). The fact that there is only one to assemble neither diminishes the responsibility to assemble for worship nor sets aside the punishment for not assembling to worship God.
Though no Scripture in the New Testament portrays a single Christian worshipping on the Lord’s Day, one Scripture implies the distinct possibility of that very scenario arising. The Ethiopian treasurer converted along a deserted highway between Palestine and Egypt may not have had anyone initially with whom to worship once he returned home (Acts 8:26-40). Further, some of the 3,000 converted on Pentecost, upon returning to their homes in distant lands may not have had any other Christians with whom to worship initially either (Acts 2:5-11). On occasion, the apostle Paul in his missionary journeys when separated from his traveling companions, as he sometimes was, may have had no one with whom to worship on the Lord’s Day. I am not aware of any biblical teaching that indicates the child of God’s compliance with God’s will is dependent upon the accompaniment of anyone else; Christians have personal responsibility and accountability before God (2 Corinthians 5:10). If we were not obligated to worship God in any certain way, etc. as long as we were not in the company of other Christians, those who by circumstance or choice were never in the company of other Christians would be free from worshipping God or practicing Christianity. What would be the difference between a Christian and anyone else in this sin-forlorn world?
