“I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet…“
I was in the Spirit
The word “was” means to come to be. John entered a state where the Holy Spirit could reveal Scripture to Him. He was in a state characterized by the Holy Spirit’s control over him.
“In the Spirit” means that John was in an attitude of worship, not in a state of ecstasy. He was in a state of honoring God by thinking about Him, His majesty and power. This phrase may mean that he was filled with the Spirit. He may have been out of fellowship with the Lord and came into fellowship on this Sunday. We should never go to church without being filled with the Spirit. Otherwise, we will not benefit from the service.
“God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:24).
John was in a condition where God could give him the visions of Revelation. As an apostle, he had the authority to write Scripture.
on the Lord’s Day,
The only occurrence of the “Lord’s Day” in the Bible is found here. The word “Lord’s” means belonging to the Lord, as in the Lord’s Supper (1 Corinthians 11:20).
The “Lord’s Day” here is Sunday, not the Sabbath. Sabbath means seven and that is Saturday, the seventh day. The Jews worshipped on Saturday. That never changed. The Sabbath was a commemoration of creation.
Sunday is not a day of rest. Sunday is a day we set aside for the Lord Himself. Christians worship on Sunday, and that has never changed. The work of salvation is different from the work of creation. As we do not bring lambs to slaughter in church, neither do we worship on Saturday. Saturday is passé to the New Testament Christian.
The day Jesus rose from the dead is referred to as the first day of the week (Matthew 28:1; Mark 16:2,9; Luke 24:1; John 20:1,19; Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:1,2). The Lord’s Supper was normally observed on the first day of the week. The only time the New Testament uses the term “Lord’s” is for the Lord’s Supper (1 Corinthians 11:20).
Some people make the Sabbath the day of worship; by this, they mean Sunday is a holy day. These same people support blue laws. This obscures the work of grace in Christ.
and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet
John heard a voice behind him like a blaring military trumpet. This is the voice of the Lord Jesus.
Principle:
The Christian worships on Sunday because of the work of grace in Christ.
Application:
The mature believer regards every day alike (Romans 14). There is no difference between Sunday and any other day (Colossians 3). Some people feel it is a sin to go to a professional baseball game on Sunday. Sunday is different in one sense only — that is the day for assembly worship.
We need to be careful about how we handle the idea of Sunday. We should not make rules about what we do on Sunday. Some people love to make Sunday a miserable day. They drive young people away from the Lord by their legalism.
Some people legalistically worship on Sunday but act differently all week long. Sunday is not a day “to make it up to God.” Sunday is just another day except for worship.
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.
How can you state-
“Sunday is not a day of rest. Sunday is a day we set aside for the Lord Himself. Christians worship on Sunday and that has never changed. The work of salvation is different from the work of creation. As we do not bring lambs to slaughter in church, neither do we worship on Saturday. Saturday is passé to the New Testament Christian.
When Catholics havr admitted they changed saturday worship to sunday because of hatred of Jews..
God’s commandments His word can only be chnaged by Him
Bepeaceful, The biblical terms for “Sabbath” (sab′ath (שַׁבָּת, shabbāth, שַׁבִּתוֹן, shabbāthōn; σάββατον, sábbaton, τὰ σάββατα tá sábbata; means seventh, that is the seventh day, seventh year or a sabbath celebration. Sunday is the first day of the week and Saturday is the seventh day of the week. Christians in the New Testament worshiped on the first day of the week (1 Co 16:1-2).
Only God can change His system of dealing with people. In the Old Testament He dealt primarily with Israel as a nation. In the New Testament God changed the way he deals with the Christian. Note these studies: https://versebyversecommentary.com/colossians/colossians-216/ and start that this study and following: https://versebyversecommentary.com/romans/romans-145/
Note this study on the “Lord’s Day”: . Post Apostolic
“Lord’s day” in the NT occurs only in Rev 1:10, but in the post-apostolic literature we have the following references: Ignatius, Ad Mag., ix.1, “No longer keeping the Sabbath but living according to the Lord’s day, on which also our Light arose”; Ev. Pet., ver 35, “The Lord’s day began to dawn” (cf Mt 28:1); ver 50, “early on the Lord’s day” (cf Lk 24:1); Barn 15:9, “We keep the eighth day with gladness,” on which Jesus arose from the dead.” I.e. Sunday, as the day of Christ’s resurrection, was kept as a Christian feast and called “the Lord’s day,” a title fixed so definitely as to be introduced by the author of Ev. Pet. Into phrases from the canonical Gospels. Its appropriateness in Rev 1:10 is obvious, as St. John received his vision of the exalted Lord when all Christians had their minds directed toward His entrance into glory through the resurrection. Easton, B. S. (1915). Lord’s, Day. In J. Orr, J. L. Nuelsen, E. Y. Mullins, & M. O. Evans (Eds.), The International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia (Vol. 1–5, p. 1919). Chicago: The Howard-Severance Company.
No where else in scripture is Sunday referred to the Lord’s day. I believe John was transported to the beginning of what is termed the Day of the Lord that Old Testament prophets speak of.
Bruce, the Day of the Lord does not seem to fit the context here. The immediate context is a vision given to the apostle John.
The Bible uses the words ” day of the Lord”, not “Lord’s day”to refer to the tribulation. The Bible uses the words “first day of the week” to refer to Sunday, not Lord’s day. The Bible uses the words seventh day or sabbath to refer to Saturday, not Lord’s day.
“Lord’s day” in Roman history refers to the day on which the wicked Roman Emperor , Domitian commanded everybody to worship him , calling him “Lord”. And anyone refusing to do that suffered persecution, even death. John was one of those victims. It was on this day thatJohn was in the Spirit. We can be sure John refused to worship Domitian on this “Day of the Lord”. John’s Lord was Jesus Christ, no one else.
Patrick, your interpretation may be right, but it rests in its entirety on the reading of culture into Scripture. It appears to me that other biblical factors are necessary for an adequate interpretation of this particular passage, especially since this is the only occurrence of the term “Lord’s day” in Scripture.