Pod Prep: 4-13-18
What is the Real “Day of the Lord' or Lord's Day” ?
THE WORLDS DESPERATE SEARCH FOR THE SABBATH CHANGING SCRIPTURE
The world does not want to admit that they inherited Sunday from the Roman Catholic Church. The Roman Catholic Church copied it from the Roman Empire and Sun worship. The Catholics boldly state that Protestants are following Papal authority when they accept Sunday for the Sabbath. Many have combed the Bible for evidence of the authority to alter the Sabbath. They cannot find it. What they do find is the New Testament Church arguing over whether to make an EXCEPTION of the Gentiles for circumcision. Not a change of the circumcision law, just whether to make exceptions for gentiles who would all be adults. Obviously adult circumcision was much more difficult than infant circumcision.
No debate of any kind over altering the Sabbath Law can be found. It is like looking for the missing link in evolution. They can make up something without any solid evidence. What is the best they can come up with in the New Testament? It is the 'Lords Day'. It is not the real evidence they are seeking. They willfully misunderstand it.
Rev 1:10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet, (NKJV)
Note that no discussion of the change in the Sabbath law is involved. They just assume it means a change existed. They assume the terms 'Day of the Lord or Lord's Day' means Sunday. But do the Old and New Testament scriptures support this assumption? They clearly do not. Remember both the conference in Acts 15 and Paul's final visit to Jerusalem that the brethren were zealous for the law. We do not mean Jewish oral law or all of their traditions which Christ criticized. But the written law which surely would have included all of the Ten Commandments.
Ac 21:20 And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord. And they said to him, "You see, brother, how many myriads of Jews there are who have believed, and they are all zealous for the law; 21 "but they have been informed about you that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs. 22 "What then? The assembly must certainly meet, for they will hear that you have come. 23 "Therefore do what we tell you: We have four men who have taken a vow. 24 "Take them and be purified with them, and pay their expenses so that they may shave their heads, and that all may know that those things of which they were informed concerning you ARE NOTHING, but that you yourself also walk orderly and keep the law. (NKJV)
The rumors about Paul were based on envy and ethnic bias over the many gentiles he was converting from raw paganism to worship of the true God. Those rumors were nothing. They were nothing but lies. Paul preached that the purpose of the law was to guide us but not to save us. The law defines right behavior and wrong sinful behavior. Some of the Jewish critics misunderstood Paul and the Gospel. You cannot earn salvation but a person could be disqualified by not repenting of sinful works.
Ro 3:20 Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. (NKJV)
Ro 3:31 Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law. (NKJV)
One establishes the law by admitting having made an error in conduct that requires repentance. The Church and Paul clearly believed in the law which includes the Sabbath, right in the middle or heart of the Ten Commandments.
WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY ABOUT THE DAY OF THE LORD OR LORD'S DAY ?
One should use the entire Bible to define and better understand terms used in the Bible. After reviewing a number of these verses we will see the true meaning of the term. A review of all scriptures reveals:
Jer 46:10 For this is the day of the Lord GOD of hosts, A day of vengeance, That He may avenge Himself on His adversaries. The sword shall devour; It shall be satiated and made drunk with their blood; For the Lord GOD of hosts has a sacrifice In the north country by the River Euphrates.
Joe 2:31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD.
1Co 5:5 deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. 2Co 1:14 (as also you have understood us in part), that we are your boast as you also are ours, in the day of the Lord Jesus.
1Th 5:2 For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. 2Th 2:2 not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come.
Without question the 'Day of the Lord and Lord's Day' refers to the cataclysmic events at end of this age when Jesus comes back to take this world by force. It is the Day of the Lord's vengeance the Day of the Lord's victory over evil. It is also associated with the expression 'that day'. One key to understanding these terms is to remember that they are always associated with the span of time during which God personally intervenes in history to accomplish his plan.
WHAT DID THE APOSTLE JOHN REALLY MEAN BY THE TERM?
THE BOOK OF REVELATION is about the vengeance of God and The end of the age events. John was writing material revealed to him about this day of God's vengeance. He, in his spirit saw the ' Day of the Lord or Lord's Day'.
THE THEME OF THE BOOK OF REVELATION IS GOD'S VENGEANCE ON SATAN'S SOCIETY FULFILLED ON THE LORD'S DAY ! THIS DAY IS THE SECOND COMING OF THE MESSIAH!
The events of the Day of the Lord will represent the end of the age of mankind's self rule. It is the end of the age of mankind's defiance toward God allowed by God. It is the end of the current age. The millennium of God ruled paradise will begin with Christ return. It will be a wonderful day for God's people and the Jews as well.
Zec 8:3 "Thus says the LORD: 'I will return to Zion, And dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Jerusalem shall be called the City of Truth, The Mountain of the LORD of hosts, The Holy Mountain.'
Zec 8:23 "Thus says the LORD of hosts: 'In those days ten men from every language of the nations shall grasp the sleeve of a Jewish man, saying, "Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you."'" (NKJV)
Jesus second coming will be joyous for the people of God, the physical people of God. They will be rescued from the satanic oppression of Babylon. It will be even more glorious for the spiritual sons of God. We will be born into the family of God. Wow!
Ro 8:16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs--heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. 18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 19 For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. (NKJV)
The Day of the Lord Jesus Christ will be a happy day for the people of God after the violent things settle down.
IS THE DAY OF THE LORD A PARTICULAR DAY OF THE WEEK?
Sunday, as the Day of the Lord, or the Lord's Day, was not ratified by the Catholic Church until the council of Laodicea (363-364 A.D.) several centuries later. The council forbade keeping of the Sabbath any longer. This was the result of an obvious apostasy from the original gospel. Like the apostasy in our day ,1995. The Apostle John was like others a Sabbath keeper in the first century when he wrote the Book of Revelation. Further it does not matter on which day of the week John saw his vision. It could have been any day of the week. What is important is that John was taken in the Spirit to be shown what the Day of the Lord, at the end of the world, would be like so that he could provide a warning message. The Book of Revelation is both a warning, and as such, is also a blessing to all believers.
Rev 1:3 Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near. (NKJV)
It is easy to misread Rev. 1:10 if one already has a Sunday bias, or the ”Sabbath law is revoked bias”. “I was in the spirit on the Lord's Day, and heard behind me a great voice as of a trumpet.” But the day mentioned in Revelation is an enormous turning point in all mankind's history. We believe we are now living very close to the time referred to in those apocalyptic prophecies.
