The Lord's Day

By

Shelby G. Floyd

October 15, 2006

 

 

 

J. C. Penny and the Lord’s Day

 

J. C. Penney, founder of the J. C. Penney chain of retail clothing stores, is credited with the following statement:

 

“If a man’s business requires so much of his time that he cannot attend the Sunday morning and even­ing worship services, and Wednesday night prayer meet­ing, then that man has more business than God intended him to have.”

 

This is a true statement, for no man should have so much business that he cannot sanctify the Lord’s Day, in order to worship and study the Bible. There is no calling in life that is so important that it should take precedence over our appointments to serve the Lord.

 

President James A. Garfield

 

James Garfield, one of the presidents of the United States of America, is a good example of not having more business than God intended for him to have, in reference to keeping the Lord’s appointments. During the first week of Garfield’s presidency, a member of his cabinet insisted that he should attend the cabinet meeting which had been called for 10:00 A.M. on Sunday. It was a matter dealing with a national crisis, but President Garfield refused on the grounds that he had another appointment. The cabinet member insisted that he break his appointment since the appointment on Sunday was of national importance. Still, Garfield refused. Then the cabinet member remarked, “I should be interested to know with whom you could have an appointment so import­ant it cannot be broken?” But President Garfield replied: “I will be as frank as you are. My engagement is with the Lord, to meet him at his house, at his table, at 10:30 A.M. tomorrow, and I shall be there.” President Garfield sanctified the Lord’s Day; the crisis passed, and our nation survived.

 

Nothing is more important than serving God on the Lord’s Day. Every day of our existence belongs to God since he is Lord of heaven and earth. But there is one day, above all days, which has been marked out as a day to serve God in divine worship and work. It is the Lord’s Day, the first day of the week. If a coin was to be rendered to Caesar because it bore his super­scription, should not we render the first day of the week to Christ, because his name has been impressed upon it? We are to render unto Caesar the things that belong to Caesar, but we are also to render unto God the things that are God’s.

 

One way that we render unto God the things that belong to him is to keep the Lord’s Day, because it bears his name. The apostle John was a very old man when he was sent in exile to the island of Patmos, be­cause of defending the word of God, and presenting the testimony of Jesus Christ. He was not able to assemble together with his brethren who were on the mainland of Asia, but when the Lord’s Day rolled around, John said, “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day.” (Revelation 1:10.) This simply means that in sentiment and sympathy he was with his brethren who were worshiping God on the first day of the week.

 

Let us observe the Lord’s a day as his true birthday. In writing a letter to the Colossians, Paul stated that Christ was, “the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.” (Colossians 1:18.) He was the firstborn from the dead inasmuch as he is the first one to have been raised from the dead never to die again. That this is the true birthday of the Lord, we need only make reference to Paul’s sermon in Antioch of Pisidia, when he quoted the second Psalm where David said, “Thou art my Son, this day have I be­gotten thee” (Acts 13:33; Psalms 2:7) and applied it to the resurrection of Jesus Christ on the first day of the week. The true Christian then observes the birth­day of the Lord, his birth from the grave every first day of the week. It is the Lord’s Day; it belongs to him by virtue of his kingly majesty and wonderful power. Let us then use the Lord’s Day to meditate upon his word and to worship God in spirit and in truth.

 

The Division of Time

 

The division of time into days, months and years is based upon natural law; that is, it is decreed by the sun, moon and stars. The further division of time into hours, minutes and seconds is artificial, and is sanctioned by men. The division of time into seven days was ordained by God in the beginning. It is as old as time and as universal as the human race. The seven day week then takes its origin from the fact that in six days God created the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he ceased from all his labors, and he sancti­fied the seventh day. (Genesis 2:1-3.)

 

The Phenomenon of Weeks

 

In lecturing to the young men of Bethany College on the book of Genesis, Alexander Campbell had this to say concerning the origin of the week:

 

“These seven days constitute our week. Now, we desire you to con­centrate your minds upon the phenomenon of weeks. There is nothing in nature to suggest it. We know that the moon works out the months, and the sun rules the day, while for seasons are produced by the variations of the earth, revolving upon its axis, as affecting the rela­tive positions of the earth to the sun. Nature makes the day, the month, and the year; but what makes the week? This is a question of great importance—a question that staggers the boldness of infidels, and the most expert of theorists. The subject has developed much ingenious thought, and profound reasoning, but we affirm that nothing on earth or in heaven, can be assigned as an argument for the week, aside from the fact that the heavens and the earth were created in six days of twenty-four hours each. This ordinance of time, depends entirely upon the absolute will for its origin. The cessation of the creative labors of God on the se­venth day, gave rise to this division of time; for which there is no type in nature. There is a type, or some symbolic mark, for every cardinal institution of the divine economy, except the week, and that has none. We therefore designate this, in the category of positive institutions, and the fact of its being a positive insti­tution, places the explanation thereof, beyond the power of human reason. It cannot be accounted for by any Egyptian or any other scheme, which has been or may be concocted and digested in the human brain. The most careful skeptics have overlooked this in their inquiries; and when it is propounded to them for an explanation, it brings them to a full stop, and they are obliged to acknowledge themselves at a loss to account for this remarkable division of time. The creative drama culminated in a week; and, while the works of God are com­memorated by it, God himself commemorates the week as a positive institution.” (Alexander Campbell, Lectures On The Pentateuch, pp. 96-97.)

 

No infidel can answer this argument as to the divine origin of the division of time into seven day weeks.

 

The Seven Day Week is of Divine Origin

 

But just as the week is of divine origin; so, the first day of the week, as a day in which to worship the Lord of heaven and earth, is of divine origin. Near the end of the first century, John, the apostle said, “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day.” (Rev. 1: 10.) It was not necessary for John to further identify this day, it being a well established custom among the dis­ciples to meet upon the first day of every week to wor­ship God and remember the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord’s Day was then well understood by John’s readers.

 

Many important things happened on the first day of the week which concerns Christ and his church. The gates of Hades swung open on the first day of the week. The stone was rolled away from Joseph’s new tomb and Christ was raised from the dead, and angels conversed with the women. (cf. Luke 24:1-12; Mark 16:9.) Upon the first day of the week our Lord met twice with his apostles. (John 20:19-29.) The Holy Spirit came on the first day of the week or at the beginning to endue the apostles with the power of inspiration from on high. (cf. Acts 2:1-4; 1:8.) On this same day the apostles spoke in languages which they had never studied; they preached the gospel of Christ in its fullness, announcing the death, burial and resurrection of Christ, and also informing their hearers of the terms of admission into the church of Christ. On the first day of the week 3,000 souls gladly received the gospel word and were baptized, and on that same day the Lord added to the church those who had been saved.

 

The early church was steadfast in congregating to­gether on the first day of the week for worship and obedience to the will of God. The author of the book of Acts states: “And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.” (Acts 2:42.) They were steadfast in their breaking of bread along with the other ordinances concerning the Lord’s Day. We understand this to be on the first day of the week, for that is how often they met together to break bread.

 

The apostle Paul was in quite a hurry to go to Jerusalem in order to speak to the Jews that would he present at that particular time of the year. In route to Jerusalem, he stopped by Troas, but he was too late to meet with the brethren on Sunday or the first day of the week. Therefore, he waited seven whole days and when Sunday arrived, the first day of the week, the disciples came together to break bread and Paul preached unto them and continued his speech till midnight. (cf. Acts 20:7.)

 

           The disciples met upon the first day of the week. In other words, the first day of the week was a stated time of observing the Lord’s Supper and having prayer and singing and giving and teaching. Let each member of the Lord’s church sanctify the Lord’s Day and give it to him because it wears his name and belongs to him in special service.  Copyright © 2006 All Rights Reserved