The Lord’s Day Confusion: A Reproach to the Slumbering Church
The Great Error: Confusing a Calendar Day with Christ’s Return
The church has been lulled into a dangerous complacency, and the error may begin with a single, crucial misunderstanding of Scripture. We have taken the prophetic vision of the end of the age and reduced it to a weekly church meeting.
The Apostle John, exiled for the Gospel, writes: “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,” (Revelation 1:10, KJV).
The overwhelming assumption is that “the Lord’s day” means Sunday. This is an error of laziness, one that has weakened the urgency of the entire prophetic message of Revelation.
The Rebuke is Simple: By labeling our weekly service day as “the Lord’s Day,” we have inadvertently substituted a comforting calendar ritual for the terrifying, glorious, and immediate expectation of The Day of the Lord—the ultimate time of God’s intervention.
The Scriptural Case Against Comfort
We must call out this faulty interpretation by using the precise language of the King James Bible.
We are Rebuked by Consistency: Every other New Testament reference to Sunday calls it “the first day of the week.” Why is the church so eager to cling to a non-existent scriptural definition for the phrase “the Lord’s day” when John could have easily used the common term? Because the common term would have instantly shattered the tradition.
We are Rebuked by Context: The book of Revelation is given for one purpose: “to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass” (Revelation 1:1, KJV).
John was not recording his diary; he was having a prophetic vision. Does it not make more sense—is it not a more stern warning—that John was transported to see the future “Day of the Lord” (The Judgment Day) that the rest of the Bible constantly warns us about?
If John was merely noting the day he wrote down the vision, it dilutes the divine power of the text. He was not just on a day; he was seeing The Day when Christ returns to judge.
The Prophetic Indictment
The church is rebuked for transforming a promise of Christ’s Return with Judgment into a reminder for Sunday Attendance.
When we equate “the Lord’s day” with Sunday, we allow ourselves to forget the true meaning of Christ’s sovereignty. The Bible tells us that Christ is the ultimate authority over time itself: “For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day,” (Matthew 12:8, KJV).
This ambiguity leaves us without excuse. The phrase either points to the Sabbath which Christ claimed Lordship over, or it points to the great Prophetic Epoch that the entire vision concerns. It does not point to Sunday.
The Return Question for the Watchful
The time for easy interpretation is past. We stand on the precipice of the end times.
Have we, by embracing the Sunday-as-Lord’s-Day tradition, traded prophetic clarity for calendar comfort, thus making ourselves less prepared for the literal and imminent Day of the Lord?
Let the Discussion Begin: If John was truly “in the Spirit” on the Day of the Lord, what specific aspect of the church’s readiness does this traditional error most powerfully expose and condemn? Answer with conviction and KJV Scripture!