4/6/13 The Lord's Day

¹⁰ On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit (Rev. 1:10)

"And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached to them." (Acts 20:6-12).

Thoughts:  So when is the Lord's Day? Why is it described as that at the end of the book of Revelation?  The church at that time clearly met together at regular times: (1 Cor. 11:17,20; 14:23-26; Heb. 10:25).  It appears that time was Sunday, for Sunday is the day of Jesus' resurrection.  When did the Christian church start meeting on Sundays and why?  Christ was raised on the first day of the week (Luke 24:1; Mark 16:1,2; Matthew 28:1; John 20:1).  That became the day of worship and rest for the Christian church.  Paul urged the churches to take up an offering on the first day of the week (1 Cor. 16:1-3).
   The early church also bears a testimony of the first day of the week being The Lord's Day.     Ignatius- a friend of the apostles, and martyred in Rome said "Those who have come to the possession of new hope, no longer observe the Sabbath (seventh day), but living in observance of the Lord's day, on which also our life has sprung up again, by him and his death.  He calls the Lord's Day "the queen and chief of all the days."  (Epistle to the Magnesians 9).

    Epistle to St. Barnabas says, "We celebrate the eighth day with joy on which, too, Jesus rose from the dead."
    Justin Martyr (d. 140 AD)- "On the day called Sunday is an assembly of all who live either in cities or in the rural districts, and the memoirs of the apostles and the writings of the prophets are read, ...because it is the first day on which God dispelled the darkness and the original state of things and formed the world, and because Jesus Christ our Savior rose from the dead upon it." (Apologies 1:67 Dial. v. Tryph).  "Therefore it remains the chief and first of days.

    Tertullian writing at the close of the second century said, "On the Lord's day Christians in honor of the resurrection of the Lord...must avoid everything that would cause anxiety, and defer all worldly business, lest they should give place to the devil."
      In 321 Constantine made the edict declaring Sunday as a Sabbath: "All judges with the civic population, together with the workshops of artisans, should rest upon the venerable day of the sun."  Even today in America government offices and the mail does not run on Sunday.  

      In America, we can trace the demise of the church to the demise of the Sabbath.  During the French Revolution Voltaire was reported to have said that if he could eliminate the Sabbath he could eliminate Christianity.  He was wrong, but it certainly weakened the faith.  We need to take time for God and take time to breathe, think, pray, and do deeds of love and mercy jointly.  Many studies have shown that retail purchasing does not increase by opening seven days vs. six days of the week. Jesus said, "The Sabbath is made for man" it is a day of rest that we desperately need.  Many studies have shown that we work more efficiently if we take ten minute breaks every four hours, and also a day off.  

The Sabbath is not a curse.  It is a curse to be a slave to money, things, and work- that is what slavery is.  In Deuteronomy 5:15 the people were told to take a Sabbath to remember they are not slaves who do not have any time off.  The Lord's Day is a day of celebration- He is alive!  We are not slaves to sin or to death.  There is peace and rest with God.  It is not that we deserve a break today- but we need a break- and God offers us one.  We need this anew in our lives. 

Prayer:  Lord, let me listen to you and rest and find the peace you offer me.