THE LORD'S DAY OF THE CHRISTIAN ERA
By A. G. D.
Does the Lord Claim a Day in the Christian Dispensation ? — May We Be Sure Which Day It Is? FOR centuries the Lord's day has been a subject of deep interest to the religious world. Many sermons have been preached, and many articles and books written, about it. There has been some difference of opinion, which has, no doubt, led to a more thorough investigation than there would have been, had all been of one mind. Viewed from a Scriptural standpoint alone, the subject is plain and simple, and free from difficulty. The historical part of the subject, however, has not always been so well understood as it is at present. What, then, we inquire, are some of the well-established facts respecting the Lord's day? In Rev. 1:10 we read, "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet." This scripture establishes beyond question the fact that the Lord has a special day in the Christian dispensation. The book of Revelation was written when well-nigh one hundred years of this dispensation had passed away; and at that time there was a day that was distinguished from the other days of the week by the sacred title "Lord's day." In the absence of proof to the contrary, it is but reasonable to suppose that whatever day of the week was the Lord's day when John was in the Spirit, is the Lord's day at the present time. But what day this was, John does not inform us. He does not enter into particulars, but calls the day of which he writes "the Lord's day." We are left, therefore, to other scriptures for a settlement of this point. Turning to Isa. 58:13, we get a little light: "If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on My holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable; and shalt honor Him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words." Here the Lord refers to a day which He calls His "holy day." From this we understand that the Lord's day is better than other days of the week; it is "holy." But we learn more from this verse,—that the Lord's holy day is His Sabbath day. His "holy day" and "Sabbath" are synonymous words, referring to one and the same day,—the Lord's day. THE COMMANDMENT AND A FORTY-YEAR TEST
By turning to Ex. 20:8, we get further information respecting this day. We read, "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy." That this scripture refers to the same Sabbath day which we have just examined in Isaiah is unquestionable. According to Isaiah, we are not to do our pleasure nor work, nor speak our own words, on the Lord's holy Sabbath day. The command is this: "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: in it thou shalt not do any work," etc. From this it is not difficult to determine which is the Lord's day. "The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God." Volumes could not make it plainer. The "seventh day" is the Lord's day. That the seventh day of the week is meant, is abundantly proved by the giving of the manna, as recorded in the sixteenth chapter of Exodus. Whoever will take the pains to examine this chapter will see that God proved and tested His people by the Sabbath; and that He gave them no manna on the seventh day of the week, and that for forty years He thus pointed out to His people the meaning of the fourth commandment, from which our last quotation is made. The latter part of the commandment assigns the following reason for which the Sabbath was given: "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 hallowed it." By this we are pointed to the origin of the Lord's day. It was at the close of creation week. Of its institution we read: "Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it He had rested from all His work which God created and made." Gen. 2:1-3. It can not be denied that God rested on the seventh day of the week. This is admitted by all. That He blessed and sanctified the day of the week on which He rested, the record plainly states. And inasmuch as the Sabbath of the fourth commandment is the rest day of the Lord, it follows that the commandment points out the seventh day of the week. THE FOUNDATION AND THE FACTS
On these plain scriptures are immovably founded the following facts: 1. God has a day in this dispensation (Rev. 1:10); 2. This day is the Sabbath, or rest day, of God, which He blessed and set apart for a holy use (Isa. 58:13); 3. And this was the seventh day of the week (Gen. 2:1-3). The proof is conclusive, therefore, that the Lord's day of Rev. 1:10 is the seventh day of the week. This is the only day He has ever claimed as His. But it may be asked, Does not the word "Lord" in Rev. 1:10 refer to Jesus, and not to God the Father? and if so, is there any evidence that Jesus was Lord of the Sabbath day of which the commandment speaks? That John in Rev. 1:10 may refer to Jesus we are quite willing to grant for argument's sake; and that this same Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath, the seventh day to which the fourth commandment points, is abundantly proved by our Saviour's own words. He says, "For the Son of man is Lord even of the Sabbath day." Matt. 12:8. Of what does this verse speak? —Of Jesus and the Sabbath day. What is said of them? Jesus Himself declares that He is the Lord, owner, possessor, of the Sabbath day. Now if He is Lord of that day, certainly it is His day. Let it be remembered that the apostle John was a disciple of our Lord, and heard Him make these claims. John was also familiar with the commandments of God, which enjoin the careful observance of this day of which Jesus claims to be Lord. From these considerations, we are forced to the conclusion that the Lord's day of Rev. 1:10 is the seventh day of the week, the Sabbath of the Decalogue. WOULD HAVE MENTIONED THE CHANGE
This conclusion is further strengthened by the fact that when John wrote his Gospel, a year or two after he wrote the book of Revelation, he used the same words in speaking of the first day of the week, that are found in the first chapter of Genesis, "the first day." Had there been any change of this day, it is but reasonable to suppose that John would have here pointed it out. This is also true of the other New Testament writers. They speak of the first day of the week eight times in all, and in no instance do they give it any sacred title whatever. On the other hand, they refer to the seventh day fifty-five times, and in every instance, without an exception, they designate it by the same sacred title the Lord used when He proclaimed His holy and perfect law. Thus we find that the Lord's day of the patriarchal and Mosaic9dispensations is also the Lord's day of the Christian dispensation. And finally, when this world of sin and death shall have given place to the glorious kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ, the same Sabbath will continue to be honored as the Lord's day through the ceaseless ages of eternity. "And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before Me, saith the Lord." Isa. 66:23.