1. “I was in spirit on the Lord’s Day” (Rev. 1:10).
John spoke of the Lord’s Day while he was on the island of Patmos. His word shows that during the age of the apostles, the believers frequently met together on the first day of the week, the day of the Lord’s resurrection, and that they called it the Lord’s Day. It was called the Lord’s Day because it was the day of the Lord’s resurrection, and it was a day that particularly expressed the Lord and was for the Lord.
Some say that John’s use of the expression the Lord’s Day was in reference to the day of the Lord’s coming. If this were the case, then being in spirit, which John also spoke of, would only be for the day of the Lord’s coming. This does not make sense. Therefore, the Lord’s Day must refer to the first day of the week, the day of the Lord’s resurrection, the day on which the saints gathered together. John was exiled to the barren island of Patmos, and although there were no saints there who could meet with him on the Lord’s Day, he could still contact the Lord. While he was contacting the Lord, he was in spirit, and he saw heavenly visions concerning the church, the ages of the world, the kingdom, and eternity. In these visions the Lord showed him things from his time all the way to eternity. The things from his time until eternity were revealed to him on the Lord’s Day. Therefore, the Lord’s Day, the first day of the week, is a day for the Lord’s servants to see visions.
Sometimes on the Lord’s Day a store will display a sign, saying, “We are resting today because it is the Sabbath.” This is like me, Mr. Lee, wearing a sign that says, “Mr. Hwang.” The Lord’s Day is the first day of the week, and it has nothing to do with the Sabbath, the seventh day. We should not consider the Lord’s Day to be the Sabbath nor keep it like the Sabbath. We should not keep the Lord’s Day as if it were the Sabbath. This mixes up the New Testament and the Old Testament, the heavenly and the earthly, the resurrected new creation and the natural old creation. This is what the Roman Catholic Church does. This kind of mixture is condemned by the Lord; we must simply consider the Lord’s Day to be such, and we must not keep it as if it were the Sabbath. We must not mix the Lord’s Day with the Sabbath day.
1. “This is the day that Jehovah has made; / Let us exult and rejoice in it” (Psa. 118:24).
Psalm 118:22 says, “The stone which the builders rejected / Has become the head of the corner.” In Acts 4:10-11 Peter said that this verse refers to the Lord’s resurrection. Therefore, “the day that Jehovah has made” must be the day of the Lord’s resurrection. The day of the Lord’s resurrection was not an accident but was made by Jehovah. In the Old Testament types and prophecies God told us about this day (Lev. 23:10-11; Hosea 6:2). Before the Lord died, He also spoke clearly about this day (John 2:19; Matt. 16:21). Thus, God specially ordained this day, and it is a day with special significance. On this day we should exult and rejoice in it because the Lord resurrected on this day. He began the new creation on this day, and He made us the new creation on this day. Therefore, this day is a day when we should exult and rejoice in order to testify of the Lord’s resurrection. We should not be quiet and sad with no resemblance to a person in the resurrected new creation.
2. “On the first day of the week, when we gathered together to break bread, Paul conversed with them... and he extended his message” (Acts 20:7).
Although we remember the Lord’s death by breaking the bread, we do this in resurrection. Because we are in resurrection, we have the life of Christ and are His Body; this is the only reason we are able to come together as one loaf to testify that we are one Body (1 Cor. 10:17). Thus, the day most appropriate to the significance of breaking bread is the day of the Lord’s resurrection, the Lord’s Day on the first day of the week. The early believers broke bread on this day.
Acts 20:7 says that on that Lord’s Day in Troas, Paul not only broke bread with the believers in their meeting but also preached the word to them. Therefore, there should also be ministry of the Lord’s Word on the Lord’s Day; there should be preaching of the Word to the believers.
3. “On the first day of the week each one of you should lay aside in store to himself whatever he may have been prospered” (1 Cor. 16:2).
Believers should also make their offerings on the Lord’s Day. The believers should meet on the Lord’s Day to break bread, worship the Lord, and make offerings to Him, because the Lord does not want His people to come empty-handed to worship Him. When His people worship and thank Him, the Lord wants them to also make an offering to Him in response to His grace (Deut. 16:16-17).
Therefore, according to what we have seen in the Bible, the Lord wants us to exult and rejoice on the Lord’s Day. Besides wanting us to meet on the Lord’s Day to break bread and to give our offerings, there is nothing else He wants us to do. He does not want us to keep the Lord’s Day as the Old Testament Israelites kept the Sabbath. Therefore, it is best if we could stop our work on the Lord’s Day to wholly focus ourselves on worshipping and serving God, but if we cannot, we do not break any law. However, we must do our best to set aside a time when we can meet, break bread, worship the Lord, and make offerings. New Testament believers do not need to keep the Old Testament Sabbath, and we do not need to keep any regulations concerning the New Testament Lord’s Day. The Bible does not even require New Testament believers to keep the Lord’s Day. We should not keep the Lord’s Day according to the dead letter of the law; instead, we should live the Lord’s Day according to grace. This is not a matter of keeping the law but of living out grace.