The Lord's Day and the Lord of the Sabbath
WHEN the apostle John was imprisoned on the Isle of Patmos, in about A.D. 96, he says of himself, "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet saying, What thou seest, write in a book and send it to the seven churches." Rev. 1:10, 11. The foregoing text makes the clear statement that the Lord has a day, for John was in the Spirit on that day. It is further clear that it is the New Testament and new dispensation Lord's day that the apostle is talking about; for when he made the foregoing declaration, he was ninety-six years this side the beginning of the Christian era, and some sixty-five years this side the cross. The text, then, shows that we have a Lord's day in this dispensation, but it does not tell what day it is. The text simply speaks of the Lord's day in a matter-of-fact way, the same as we in America would speak of the Fourth of July, taking for granted that we were speaking of something so well known that any one would understand that to which we referred. The foregoing text expressly says that it is addressed to the churches. Furthermore, the first verse of the book of Revelation reads, "The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show unto His servants, even the things which must shortly come to pass." And again and again in this book of Revelation is it stated that the book is particularly addressed to the church. And being thus addressed to the church, it is taken for granted that the church, above all people, would know God's Word, and would know, from that Word, which is the Lord's day. Hence the prophet-apostle speaks of being in the Spirit on the Lord's day, without giving any explanation of which day that is; for he is talking to a people who know God's Word, and who well know, from that Word, its teaching concerning the Lord's day. This may bring us to inquire what that teaching is. There are many who claim that Sunday is the Lord's day. But such a claim is based wholly on assumption. There is absolutely no warrant in the Scriptures anywhere for calling Sunday the Lord's day. Sunday, or the first day of the week, is never spoken of as the Sabbath, and there is absolutely no hint that it was ever to become the Sabbath by divine appointment. The Lord foreknew the attempts that would be made to put the Sunday in the place of His divinely appointed Sabbath, and it would seem that He purposely almost ignored even the mention of the day in the Sacred Book. The first day of the week is mentioned but once in the Old Testament, and that where the statement is made, in the first chapter of Genesis, that "the evening and the morning were the first day" of our planet's existence. The first day of the week is mentioned but eight times in the New Testament, and six of those eight refer to the same identical first day—the one on which Christ rose from the dead. And none of these eight texts even hint at the idea that Sunday is to be the Sabbath of the new dispensation. Therefore we repeat that there is absolutely no warrant in the Word anywhere for calling the Sunday either the Lord's day or the Sabbath day. But when we come to another day of the week, we find the Bible in numerous texts speaking in no uncertain way in regard to the day that the Lord claims as His. Note the following text: "And He said unto them, The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath: so that the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath." Mark 2:27, 28. This text explicitly states that the Son of Man lays claim to being "Lord" of the "Sabbath." There is no text that makes the assertion that He is Lord of any other day besides the Sabbath day. But there are other texts upon the subject: "If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on My holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight," etc. Isa. 58:13. This text calls the Sabbath "My holy day." Such an expression is equivalent to calling the Sabbath the "Lord's day." But read this statement from the commandment itself: "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God." Ex. 20:8-10. "The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God." Then the seventh day, commonly called Saturday, is the day the Lord lays claim to. It is the one day of the seven that He has reserved to Himself for an exclusive day of rest and worship. Now in view of the fact that the Master calls Himself Lord of the Sabbath, and in view of the fact that Isaiah speaks of the Sabbath as Jehovah's holy day, and in view of the further fact that the commandment itself tells us that the seventh day is the Lord's own Sabbath,—in view of these things, and in further view of all that the Word says, from beginning to end, concerning the Sabbath, ought there to be any difficulty in determining which is the Lord's day? And ought it not to be plain which day of the week it was when John was taken into the holy visions of prophecy on the isle that is called Patmos? If sentiment and prejudice are to control us, we can not vouch for the conclusions that may be reached; but if we are to be governed by the evidence from God's Word, we should not take very long to decide in favor of the truth in the matter. For the case stands thus: There is absolutely no evidence anywhere that Sunday is the Lord's day, but on the other hand there is clear Scripture statement in favor of the fact that the Lord's day is the one which the apostate customs of the world have led men to call Saturday. It is well to stand with the law and the testimony. There is indescribable blessing and joy in observing the day that Jehovah has specifically blessed. It is the true Bible Sabbath. It is the true Lord's day. All the evidence is on the one side. There is none whatever on the other.