Revelation 1:10 - The Time of Worship

Revelation 1:10 - I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet.

Message: The Time of Worship

Time: John mentions himself 4 times as author. It was written around the year 95 on John's exile to the island of Patmos after preaching the gospel to Asia. Revelation comes from the Greek word for apocalypse and refers to an unveiling. The book is about the tribulation period with symbolic language, giving us the end of the story -- Jesus will once and for all heal the wounds of sin, reign for a thousand years on earth, then re-create the world into a place that represents God's original design.

What the Lord is Saying: The previous lesson talked about place of worship and helped me see that worship can take place beyond church walls and even beyond a city such as Jerusalem. Jesus was speaking to the Samaritan woman and the Samaritans believed that Mount Gerizim rather than Jerusalem was the place that God needs to be worshiped. But with Jesus words that we are to worship in spirit and truth is the lesson to us today that place is not the issue, but rather the Spirit of God and God's truth is what is key. Now it seems funny to say that church is therefore confined to a day of the week. It seems rather the lesson is to set aside one day, a Sabbath day for Him, as a day that is different from other days to corporately worship. 

And so today's lesson wonders if that day to either Saturday or Sunday or can it be any day. Once again, the words from the Westminster Confession of Faith (WCF) seem necessary to review. I really enjoy the summary of the WCF and what it says. Can't believe I've never really studied these words before. WCF 1.6 

6. The whole counsel of God, concerning all things necessary for his own glory, man’s salvation, faith, and life, is either expressly set down in Scripture, or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from Scripture: unto which nothing at any time is to be added, whether by new revelations of the Spirit, or traditions of men. Nevertheless we acknowledge the inward illumination of the Spirit of God to be necessary for the saving understanding of such things as are revealed in the Word; and that there are some circumstances concerning the worship of God, and government of the Church, common to human actions and societies, which are to be ordered by the light of nature and Christian prudence, according to the general rules of the Word, which are always to be observed.

What this says is there are specifics and there are concluding thoughts that can be seen from all of Scripture as it pertains to salvation, faith, life, worship and government of the Church. 

The Seventh-day Adventists believe that God instituted the Sabbath as the seventh day and this has never been changed in Scripture and so this is what should remain. There are a few instances in which Jesus mentions the Sabbath but it is in the context of speaking of the Law of Moses. Colossians 2:16 Paul mentions the Sabbath in reference to a teaching. Most every other church practices that since Christ's resurrection occurred on the first day of the week, we seem to have Apostolic precedent for changing the Sabbath from the 7th day to the 1st day. 

Acts 20:7 - And on the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talking to them, intending to depart the next day, and he prolonged his message until midnight.  

I Corinthians 16:2 - On the first day of the week let each of you put aside and save, as he may prosper, that no collections be made when I come. 

And then also today's passage which speaks of the Lord's day, the only mention of the Lord's day in Scripture. In other words, there are some sort of references. And yet it seems that we focus on Sunday's more because of the resurrection and historically it seems there was a desire to shed the custom's of the Jews and be different and distinct. 

Summary: Christ's resurrection took place on the first day of the week and so there is ample warrant for setting aside Sunday as the time of obligatory Christian worship. 

Promise: Let us take our responsibility to worship and rest on the Lord's day seriously and make the most of our corporate gatherings every week. 

Prayer: Lord, you are good and desire us to worship and know you through our service at church. Lord, it is hard to deal with all of the differences between Christians even today. I pray we can celebrate these differences and be more focused not on who is right but that we are desiring to know You and worship You.