Someone posed the question, “Would you please give me a Bible text that shows that Sunday is called the Lord’s Day? Do not use Revelation 1:10 since John did not specify what day he was alluding to when he said he was ‘in the Spirit on the Lord’s day.’” To my knowledge, the term “Lord’s day” only occurs one time in the Bible, and that is in Revelation 1:10. The reader is correct in his observation that John (the writer of Revelation) did not specify in that passage what day to which the Lord’s day referred. So, the real question is what is the Lord’s day – Saturday, the seventh day, or Sunday, the first day of the week? Certainly, we should all worship on the “Lord’s day,” but what day is that?
“Lord” here refers to Jesus and is used in the possessive case; therefore, this was His great day. What great events in Jesus’ life took place on the sabbath or the seventh day of the week? I don’t know. Yet, I do know that on Sunday, the first day of the week, our Lord was raised from the dead (Luke 24:1-9). In this He showed His power to conquer death, not only for himself but for us, too. It was and is truly the Lord’s Day, the first day of the week.
Also, the Lord’s church was established on Sunday, the first day of the week. We read about this in Acts 2. We know this took place on the first day of the week because Pentecost, the day on which this all occurred, always came on the first day of the week.
Further, we see that early Christians worshipped on the first day of the week after Christ’s church was established. “And upon the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread [the observance of the Lord’s Supper that Christ had instituted to be done in remembrance of him], Paul discoursed with them, intending to depart on the morrow; and prolonged his speech until midnight” (Acts 20:7). Here, we see a typical worship service on the first day of the week with preaching and the observance of the Lord’s Supper. Also note in 1 Corinthians 16:1-2, it was the first day of the week that the collection was taken for the needs of the church. “Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I gave order to the church of Galatia, as also do ye. Upon the first day of the week let each one of you lay by him in store, as he may prosper, that no collections be made when I come.”
These are my reasons for believing that the Lord’s Day is Sunday, the first day of the week, the day of Christian worship.
