Lesson No. 5. Is Sunday the Lord's Day, Holy Day or Holiday, Which?

Our Text--Isaiah 58:1,13,14.
"Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shewmy people their transgressions, and the house of Jacob theirs sins. 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, honourable; and shalt honor Him, not doing thine own ways . . . then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord . . . ."
  QUESTION NO. 1: Did Jesus change the Sabbath from the seventh day (Saturday) to the first day of the week (now called Sunday)?
  QUESTION NO. 2: Was the Sabbath abolished by Jesus Christ, and did He set apart the first day of the week (Sunday) as the weekly day of worship for Christians?
  QUESTION NO. 3: Is Sunday "the Lord's Day" of Revelation 1:10?
  ANSWER NO. 1: Jesus did not change the Sabbath day from the seventh to the first day of the week. There is absolutely no mention of such a change in the entire New Testament record. On the contrary, Jesus kept the seventh-day Sabbath and taught His disciples to follow His example. He kept all the Ten Commandments and the seventh-day Sabbath is in the center of that perfect Law (see Exodus 20:8-11). Jesus did not change one word of God's perfect Law, the Ten Commandments. By precept and example, He taught obedience to all ten Precepts, including the seventh day, God's holy day.
  ANSWER NO. 2: The Sabbath was not abolished by Jesus Christ. He did not abolish the Ten Commandments, which define sin. We have given proof in other lessons that Jesus did not abolish, nor did He change one single word in that perfect Law, the Ten Commandments.
  Jesus did not abolish the seventh-day Sabbath and He most certainly did not set apart Sunday, the first day of the week, as the day for Christian worship. There is absolutely no Bible authority for such a change. There are eight texts in the New Testament Scriptures that mention the first day of the week and not once are we commanded to meet for worship on that day--not once is it spoken of as a holy day--not once did Jesus mention it in all the Inspired Record of His teachings.
  ANSWER NO. 3: Sunday is not the Lord's Day of Revelation 1:10. Any day that is holy to the Lord has been sanctified, or set apart, by the Lord. If Sunday is the Lord's Day, it is a holy day, set apart by the Lord Jesus. Where is there one single text that tells us that Jesus (or His Apostles) set apart the first day of the week for Christian worship, or for any other purpose?
  We read in Genesis 2:1-3 that God blessed and sanctified the seventh day. The Fourth Commandment in the Ten Commandments commands us to "remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy," and it tells us that the seventh day is the Sabbath, telling us why this certain day is the Sabbath. The reason is "the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it" (Exodus 20:8-11). Surely if Sunday, the first day of the week, is the Lord's Day, we can find in the Bible the record telling us that it was  sanctified or set apart and also telling us how to keep it. Where do we find the text, my dear friends? I have been asking for one single text of Holy Scripture for Sunday observance for the past 50 years. No one has given me the Scripture! Why? There is a reason. It is not in the Bible.
  Why do preachers insist on calling Sunday the Lord's Day without one single Bible text to prove it? Again, I ask why? I am still asking for that one Bible text. It it isn't in the Bible, then many teachers and leaders are going to answer before God for a human substitution for God's holy day! Can man make a day holy? Can the Church set aside the day God blessed and the day Jesus kept and adopt another day without any divine authority, and still claim to be Christian? Can man change God's law and be guiltless? (Matthew 7:21-23; read Mark 7:7-10).

The True Lord's Day

  Now, let us examine Revelation 1:10, "I was in the spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet."
  John is speaking in this verse, and he plainly says, "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day." Some believe that this "Lord's day" is the same as the "Day of the Lord" and refers to the time of the end. There are others (the majority) that believe that this Lord's day was a certain day of the week. Most of those who hold with this second group believe that Sunday, the first day of the week, is the Lord's day of this text.
  With due respect to those of the first group, I believe that this "Lord's day" was a  given day of the week that was being recognized by John. However, I do not believe that the Lord's day of Revelation 1:10 was Sunday, the first day of the week. Why don't I believe this text referred to our Sunday?
  John says, "I was in the spirit on the Lord's day," but he did not say that the Lord's day was, or is, the first day of the week. In fact, he did not say which day was the Lord's Day. Taking this text alone, we have as much authority for Monday as there is for Sunday. Let us not guess about such an important matter. This text does not tell which is the Lord's Day.
  Points for us to consider:
  First, that in A.D. 96, over 60 years this side of Calvary, there was a day that was holy to the Lord--a day which had been sanctified, or set apart, as a holy day.
  Second, John was observing that holy day while he was in exile on Patmos and speaks of it as "the Lord's day."
  Third, since this was over 60 years this side of the time when the law of Moses ended at the Cross, we shall conclude that the day John was observing is the day that all Christians must observe.
  Now we come to the question: What day is the "Lord's day" of Revelation 1:10 according to the second group? Since John did not explain which is the Lord's day, let us obey the Lord and rightly divide the Word of Truth (2 Timothy 2:15). Let us look in other parts of God's Word for the answer. We are not disappointed in our search.
  In the New Testament Scriptures Jesus said, "The Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath" (Luke 6:5), and in Mark 2:28, "Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath." This point is very plain, my dear friends. If Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath day, then the Sabbath is the Lord's Day.
  In Isaiah 58:13 God said, "If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day." What is the difference in John's saying, "The Lord's day?" There is no difference. God's holy day is the Lord's Day. The Sabbath is God's holy day. Therefore the Sabbath is the Lord's Day of both Old and New Testament Scriptures. Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath day. Can you find any such statement about the first day of the week? Is there a hint in any of the New Testament Scriptures that it is a holy day and should be called God's holy day or Christ's holy day?
  Throughout the entire New Testament Record the seventh day is recognized as "the Sabbath." The Gospel writers and the "Acts of the Apostles" all speak of the seventh day as "the Sabbath."
  The Acts record some 32 years of church history and always speak of the seventh day as "the Sabbath." In one place only is the "first day of the week" mentioned (Acts 20:7), and there it is called "the first day of the week." It is neither called Sabbath nor Lord's Day. Neither are we told that it was the "custom" or "manner" of the disciples to meet on that day. Why did Luke fail to record such a custom--if it were the custom? It was not the custom of Christians to meet on Sunday, but it was their custom to observe the true Lord's Day, or Sabbath, the seventh day of the week.

The True Lord's Day

  We have shown that the Sabbath day is the Lord's holy day. The seventh day was sanctified and made holy by Almighty God (Genesis 2:1-3). He commanded all men to observe that day as a holy day (Exodus 20:8-11). Jesus Christ is Lord of the Sabbath day which is not Sunday (Mark 2:28).
  Did Jesus teach us to keep the Sabbath day? Did He keep it? The answer to both questions is "Yes." For proof, let us look at some Bible texts. First, Jesus said, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath" (Mark 2:27). This text forever sets aside the belief that the Sabbath was for the Israelites alone and not for Gentiles to keep. Jesus said, "The Sabbath was made for man." This refers us back to the very time that God blessed and sanctified the seventh day, thus making it "the Sabbath day." This also gives us the purpose of the Sabbath: its observance and benefits were for man--not just the Jew, but for all mankind. If the Sabbath was made for all mankind, then all men are required by God to remember it and keep it holy. Even in the days of Isaiah, God let it be known that the "sons of the stranger," or Gentiles, that joined themselves to the Lord, to be His servants, would keep the Sabbath from polluting it (Isaiah 56:6).
  Jesus kept the Sabbath day. It was His "custom" to go into the synagogue and teach on the Sabbath days. Luke says so. Read Luke 4:16 and 6:1,6. The Pharisees found fault with His manner of keeping the Sabbath day, but Jesus rebuked them for their traditions and taught them how to keep the Sabbath day. Read carefully Matthew 12:1-12. Jesus also said, "I have kept my Father's Commandments" (John 15:10). He commands us to follow Him (John 8:12).
  The holy women who followed Jesus, "rested the Sabbath day according to the Commandment" (Luke 23:56). They were obeying the command to follow the example and teachings of Jesus Christ. Can we follow Him and refuse to keep the Sabbath day? Better read 1 John 2:4,6; 1 Peter 2:21,22.
  Jesus prophesied the fall of Jerusalem and commanded His disciples to pray that "your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day" (Matthew 24:15-20). This great disaster took place A.D. 70, over 30 years after Jesus ascended to Heaven. If the Sabbath ended at the Cross, why did Jesus command the disciples to pray that they would not have to flee on the Sabbath day? If the Sabbath were abolished at the Cross, there would be no Sabbath for them to pray about, nor would there be any Sabbath for them to flee upon. This text proves that the Sabbath was not abolished on the Cross and that it would still be in existence for Christians to keep in A.D. 70. Jesus knew that He did not come to abolish or change the Sabbath, and therefore He commanded His disciples to pray that they would not have to flee on that day. Not all would be in the city, but all would have to flee. See verses 16 and 17.

DID PAUL KEEP THE SABBATH?

  Yes, Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles, kept the Sabbath day and commanded the Corinthian Church to follow him as he followed Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1,2). Read it.
  First turn to Acts 17:1,2: "And Paul as his manner was, went in unto them, and three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the Scriptures." It was Paul's manner or custom to meet with the people on the Sabbath days and teach them the Word of God. A "custom" or "manner" is a habit. We have found that both Christ and Paul had a habit of attending worship on the Sabbath day. May I also ask why Luke, in the Book of Acts, continued to call the seventh day, "the Sabbath" if it had been abolished?
  Now, let us go back to the custom of Paul. In Acts 18:1-11 (read it please) Paul came to Corinth and abode with Aquila and Priscilla and wrought (made) tents during the six working days (Ezekiel 46:1). "And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks" (verse 4). Verse 11 tells us that he continued there a year and six months. Just how many Sabbaths would that be? Remember, he reasoned with the Jew and the Greeks (Gentiles) every Sabbath. There would be 78 Sabbath-day meetings at this one time in Corinth. Many believed on the Lord and were baptized, but Paul never changed his custom of the Sabbath-day meeting. Why didn't he instruct those converts to keep Sunday as their day of worship, if that is the Christian Lord's Day? Paul knew nothing about keeping Sunday (Acts 20:27).
  In Acts 13:42-44, Paul was preaching at Antioch and the Gentiles asked that he preach to them the next Sabbath day. He preached to them the next Sabbath day. Why didn't he tell those Gentiles to come on the first day of the week if that was really the day to meet for worship? It is clearly evident that no such custom was known to Paul.
  At Philippi, Paul went out for a riverside meeting on the Sabbath day. Now we have found that Jesus kept the Sabbath day--so did His followers--and the Apostle Paul's manner was to reason in the synagogue every Sabbath day.
  God commands us to keep the Sabbath holy. Will you obey? (Matthew 7:21-23).
  Paul did not shun to declare all the council of God (Acts 20:20-27). In Hebrews 4:4-9, speaking of the Creation rest or Sabbath, he says, "There remaineth therefore a rest [margin: keeping of a Sabbath] to the people of God." Anything that remains had to be there before. And if it remains, it was not taken away. Do you believe this? He was talking of the seventh-day Sabbath, or holy rest day, sanctified at Creation.