“I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,” (Revelation 1:10).
The prophet John was in the Spirit of God on “the Lord’s Day.” This is actually the only text in the whole New Testament that uses the precise phrase, “the Lord’s Day.” It is the only one! But, what does it mean? Well, obviously, it means that the Lord had or has a special day! It must be a day that is considered above all others! Obviously, it’s “the Lord’s Day.” It’s not just any other day. It’s not just some common day. It’s an important day. It’s a distinguished day. It is different from every other day of the week because it is especially demarcated or delineated as “the Lord’s Day.” It is HIS Day and not another’s. It is one that can be noticed above all others and especially called “the Lord’s Day.” That carries real meaning. It belongs to the Lord and it is very special to the Lord’s heart above all other days. Is it not? Of course it is! That’s why it can be called the Lord’s Day and it is distinguished above and beyond every other day. The term certainly carries a great meaning!
Now the question is, what day is the Lord’s Day? I mean, if the Lord has a very special day (each week), then what day is it? Wouldn’t you like to know? If God has a special day every week, then shouldn’t we know it and even recognize it as special above all others, like the prophet and apostle John did? Of course we should!
So now, it falls upon us to find out just what is the Lord’s Day? When is His holy day? Well, the New Testament never actually says in any sort of direct terms. It doesn’t ever say anything like, “This certain day is ‘the Lord’s Day’ and we are to observe it especially as such.” We cannot find any such identifying text there….except for maybe a couple texts that seem to give us an idea of what day it is. We’re going to look at them too. The Old Testament, on the other hand, does make some extremely crystal clear remarks about which day is the Lord’s day. We’re going to look at them too. And we ought to keep in mind that “all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:15-17). Well, that’s what the Apostle Paul told young Timothy in his letter to him…and those word’s carried an extremely special application to the Old Testament Scriptures since that is what Paul and all the Jewish (and early Christian people) were using. The New Testament was still being written at that time. Also, that is what Timothy had “known from childhood” (v.15). If we want to have good sound Bible Doctrine then we must go to the Bible–BOTH Old and New Testaments! That’s clearly what the Apostle Paul says! So, if I believe Paul’s writings in the New Testament, then I better believe in using the Old Testament as well, because that is what Paul taught us in the New Testament. If you doubt using the Old then you must be doubting the use of the New as well (especially 2 Tim. 3:15-17). Well, enough said on that one!
It has been a long standing tradition for many Christian’s to call Sunday, the first day of the week, “the Lord’s Day.” We can trace back that tradition for many years. But is that really what the Bible says? Is that in the Bible? Well, first of all, let’s take a look at a historical reference from the Roman Church’s council of Laodicea in the 4th Century AD.
Council Laodicea – A.D.365
“Canon 16-On Saturday the Gospels and other portions of the Scripture shall be read aloud.” “Canon 29-Christians shall not Judaize and be idle on Saturday, but shall work on that day; but the Lord’s day they shall especially honor, and as being Christians, shall, if possible, do no work on that day.” Hefele’s “Councils,” Vol. 2, b. 6.
What does the counsel of Laodicea tell us about the Roman Church’s understanding of the Lord’s day, at that time, and also about the Sabbath day? Well, there are some major points and questions that arise from these counsel declarations. They are the following, (1) According to Canon 16 Saturday was a very important day to Christians for worship and for reading from the Scriptures (originally). (2) Canon 29 tells us that there came a change into the thinking and the doctrine of the large Roman church. (3) The large Roman church of this time had begun to make a distinction between Saturday, the Sabbath day, and Sunday, which they were now calling “the Lord’s Day.” (4) The church was commanding that Christians should rest from work on Sunday’s (which they were calling “the Lord’s Day”), and that they should not rest, but should instead work, on Saturdays. That tells us right there that many Christians were, at that time, and prior to it, still resting upon the Sabbath day, Saturday, the 7th day of the week. The Roman church leaders, from the counsel of Laodicea, were now trying to outlaw such rest on the Sabbath day, and were trying to get the Christian people to rest on Sunday, the first day. There was a change being made by the force of church law and by the combined power of the Roman state through Constantine. Any Christian who, at this time, did rest on Sabbath (Saturday, the 7th Day) they were now accusing of being “Jewish” (rather than Christian). The Roman church law commanded that all Christians should make every effort to now rest upon Sunday’s, “the Lord’s Day,” and to refrain from work.
Well, clearly, there were some major issues taking place in the church at that time. The large church in Rome was commanding that things be done a certain way, in fact a different way than many Christian’s had previously been doing. And were they appealing to the Scriptures for their authority? No. Not at all. They were simply appealing to the authority of man’s declaration and the fact that they were the earthly leaders of the Roman church. This declaration was built upon the church’s sense of her own power, not upon the express command or saying of God’s word.
So, what does the Bible really say about “the Lord’s Day?” Are there express commands or words in the Bible that tell us beyond any shadow of a doubt, what and when is the real Lord’s Day? Can we know? Yes. We can know. The Bible makes some crystal clear statements about which day is the true Lord’s Day. Why don’t we take a look?! And let’s get our religion and our doctrine from the Bible, not from the decrials and counsels of mere men. Amen?!
Let’s just start with Genesis and see if there is any evidence there for the Lord’s Day. Let’s read Genesis 2:1-3. “Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. 2 And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.”
Here the Bible presents to us a special day. It was a day that God—the LORD—rested on. It was a special day that God—the LORD—blessed. It was a day that God—the LORD—made holy. He made this special day for a Holy purpose. It was a day that was for resting and for worship. It was called the Sabbath day. The Hebrew word “Shabat” means rest, and therefore the day took that name, “Sabbath.” It was a rest and worship day. The “Lord’s Day” from the Creation in Genesis was the day on which He rested. It was the day which He blessed. It was the day which He made holy—which He set aside for a Holy purpose. It was the Sabbath day—the seventh day of the week. The reason for its specialness is given to us in these verses. It was “…because in it He rested from all His work…” of Creating and making the world and everything in it (v.3).
When we come to the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20, verses 10-11 tell us the following. “But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God: in it you shall not do any work,” or your son, daughter or anyone else, “For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day, and made it holy” (v.10-11). The Bible says, “…the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God.” It is His day of rest! He made this day holy and He blessed it. We should rest on this day from our labors because the it is the LORD’s Day of rest with His blessing and His holiness upon it—even from the time of Creation! It commemorates that and it also reminds us since the time of the cross that we are saved by what Jesus has done for us. We are to find our “rest” in Christ Jesus (Matthew 11:28) and also to depend upon the work for Salvation that He has done already, not our own works. We are to rest in His works (Ephesians 2:8,9). Every Sabbath day also reminds us of that today [ref. Hebrews 4:4,5,9-11].
Perhaps the most explicit and clearly stated texts regarding this matter are found in Isaiah 58:13,14. “…turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honorable; and shall honor him, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words: Then shall you delight yourself in the LORD…” Beyond any shadow of a doubt, the seventh day Sabbath is God’s Holy Day—the LORD’S Holy Day. It is the “Lord’s Day.”
The gospels also tell us that Jesus is “the LORD of the Sabbath” (Matthew 12:8; Mark 2:28; Luke 6:5).
With so much overwhelming evidence it is beyond any point of question that the Sabbath day (Saturday) is truly “the Lord’s Day” spoken of in Revelation 1:10. There is no other day that ever received such a title in the Bible or among God’s people even up through the days of Jesus and His apostles (including John—the last one to die, sometime after A.D. 90). If you can find even one Bible text that ever calls the first day of the week (or Sunday) “the Lord’s Day” then please write me at Clear Call Ministries with the evidence and I’ll give you 10,000 USD and will change my belief. But I already know you can’t find one because I’ve searched the whole Bible high and low to see if there was. It’s non-existent!
The habit of styling Sunday as “the Lord’s Day” was a habit entirely foreign to any of the Bible writers. It was a habit and tradition that began from the Church of Rome in the 4th Century especially. They thought they could redirect the worship and the rest of man to be placed upon an entirely different day than what God himself ever spoke of or commanded. Is this not a sign of their corruption? What man can presume to have authority to change the holy laws of Jehovah—the God of Heaven and Earth?!
Let us just now consider our life options in light of this truth. We have now a choice to make. Will we follow God’s laws or mans? Will we follow the Bible’s teaching—God’s Holy Word, or the traditions of men from the decrials of their various counsels? This choice is ours today. In the words of Joshua, “…as for me and my house, we will serve [follow] the Lord” (Joshua 24:15). How about you?
[originally posted on our CCM blog, 12-9-2012]