Rev  1:10, 11   "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, 11 Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea."

I have read and heard many thoughts as to what the "Lord's day" has reference to.  The most common idea is that it has reference to the first day of the week or to the Old Testament Sabbath Day (last day of the week).  The phrase, "Lord's day," is only found one time in the scriptures.  However, the word, "Lord's," is found several times in the scriptures and is used as to indicate that which the Lord owns and possesses.  It could be argued that everyday is the Lord's day, but while the Lord is the cause of every day, yet the phrase, "Lord's day," in v.10 indicates a specific day and not just a general everyday.  The key to that which the Lord owns and possesses in v.10 is in the phrase "in the Spirit." Anytime one of God's children is in the Spirit it is the Lord's day!  When we are in the Spirit our time is being owned and possessed by the Lord.  Please note the following verses of scripture:

          1.  Acts 18:5 "And when Silas and Timotheus were come from Macedonia, Paul was pressed in the spirit, and testified to the Jews that Jesus was Christ."

          2.  Acts 18:25 "This man was instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in the spirit, he spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of John."

          3.  Acts 19:21 "After these things were ended, Paul purposed in the spirit, when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, After I have been there, I must also see Rome."

          4.  Acts 20:22 "And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there:"

          5.  Rom. 8:9 "But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his."

          6.  Gal. 5:16 "This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh."

          7.  Gal. 5:25 "If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit."

          8.  Eph. 6:18 "Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;"

          9.  Col. 1:8 "Who also declared unto us your love in the Spirit."

In the above scriptures, whenever someone was in the spirit the Lord possessed their thoughts and actions.  This certainly fits my experiences as at times such as when I was meditating on the things of God or when I was trying to preach or pray or sing praises to God, that God possessed my thoughts and actions for that time that I was in the spirit.  Thus it is the Lord's day when we are in the Spirit.

John said he heard a great voice.  The word, "great," comes from the Greek word, "megas," meaning exceedingly great.  The Lord's voice is that great voice that John heard.  Psalms 29 is all about the voice of the Lord.  The Lord spoke in the beginning of time and immediately what he commanded came to pass.  Likewise, the Lord speaks to that which is dead in trespasses and sins and they that hear, live: John 5:25, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live."  Likewise the Lord will speak with his great voice in the end of time and those that are in the graves shall come forth: John 6:28, "Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation."

That great voice of the Lord spoke at the giving of the law covenant: Deu. 5:22 "These words the LORD spake unto all your assembly in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice: and he added no more. And he wrote them in two tables of stone, and delivered them unto me."

The trumpet is used in the scriptures primarily in the call to assembly and for the journeying of the camps: Num. 10:1 "And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 2 Make thee two trumpets of silver; of a whole piece shalt thou make them: that thou mayest use them for the calling of the assembly, and for the journeying of the camps. 3 And when they shall blow with them, all the assembly shall assemble themselves to thee at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. 4 And if they blow but with one trumpet, then the princes, which are heads of the thousands of Israel, shall gather themselves unto thee. 5 When ye blow an alarm, then the camps that lie on the east parts shall go forward. 6 When ye blow an alarm the second time, then the camps that lie on the south side shall take their journey: they shall blow an alarm for their journeys. 7 But when the congregation is to be gathered together, ye shall blow, but ye shall not sound an alarm." 

Thus the things that John was to write was for the purpose of giving to the people from the Lord's voice the instructions for assembly for worship and instructions for the journeying of the Lord's people in their particular lives and the journeys of the Lord's churches.  The reference to Alpha and Omega reiterates to us that God is both the initiator and completer of the word of God: it is all his.  The message was to go out to all seven churches of Asia.  While it was to go to the seven churches of Asia, it is for all the Lord's churches in all ages.

Rev 1:12, 13    "And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; 13 And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle."

In verse 20 the seven golden candlesticks are defined for us as the seven churches.  Thus the golden candlestick in the scriptures is a picture or representation of God's church.  In Ex. Chapter 25 the golden candlestick is introduced to us as one of the pieces of furniture found in the tabernacle.  It had six branches and a main stem.  Within these seven branches or stem were seven lamps.  Each branch had three bowls made like unto almonds and the main stem had four bowls.  This was a total of 22 bowls within the candlestick.  Each bowl had a knop and a flower.  To trim and clean the lamps there were tongs and snuffdishes.  All the candlestick was made out of beaten gold. 

Gold is the metal of royalty.  The church is made up of people who have been made kings unto God and over the church is the King of kings.  Beaten gold speaks to us of suffering in the trials and afflictions of life, as the scriptures teach us that we must thru much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.  The lamps give light in the tabernacle.  No man lighteth a candle and put it under a bushel, but put it upon a candlestick that it may give light unto all that are in the house.  So it is in God's church, the members of the church have been lighted by Jesus Christ (John 1:9) and they are to let their light so shine before men that they may see their good works and glorify God.  The church is also a place of spiritual growth as denoted by the knops, flowers, and almonds.  Tongs bring out the wick so that the candle will burn brighter and the snuffdishes are used to remove the refuse from the wick.  So it is that the gospel reproves, rebukes, and instructs us in the church. 

There are twenty two bowls and the bible number 22 is associated with the subject of the word of God.  Thus in the church we feed from the word of God which provides the oil for the lamp to burn brightly in the house.

John saw one standing in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks.  Christ is described to as being in the midst of several things: 

          1.  Matt. 18:20 "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them."

          2.  Luke 2:46 "And it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions."

           3.  Luke 24:36 "And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you."

           4.  John 19:18 "Where they crucified him, and two others with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst." 

          5.  John 20:19 "Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you."

           6.  Acts 2:22 "Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know:"

          7.  Heb. 2:12 "Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee." 

          8.  Rev. 4:6 "And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind."

           9.  Rev. 5:6 "And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth."

           10. Rev. 7:17 "For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes."

From the above verses we can conclude that Christ is situated in the midst of the church, in the midst of the disciples, in the midst of the redemption of God's elect, in the midst of the throne of God, in the midst of the people, in the midst of the discussions of the word of God, and in the midst of the church singing praises.  Thus Christ is not a bystander in the activities of his people, but is an active and leading participant in those activities.

John saw the Son of man.  There are many names given to the Son of God in the scriptures.  One of the names is the Son of man.  As the Son of man he is the representative of the elect.  He came to do for them what they could not do for themselves.  He came to keep the law unto perfection and to redeem the elect from their sins by being a perfect sacrifice for them.

He was clothed with a garment down to the foot.  That the garment went down to the foot indicates that it was a complete garment and a complete covering.  This garment is described to us in the following verses:

           1.  Matt. 17:2 "And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light." 

          2.  Mark 9:2 "And after six days Jesus taketh with him Peter, and James, and John, and leadeth them up into an high mountain apart by themselves: and he was transfigured before them. 3 And his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them."

White being the bible color for righteousness, this indicates that Christ was clothed completely with righteousness.   

He was girt about the paps with a golden girdle.  The girdle for a soldier went about his loins as he went forth to battle: 

          1.  2 Sam. 20:8 "When they were at the great stone which is in Gibeon, Amasa went before them. And Joab's garment that he had put on was girded unto him, and upon it a girdle with a sword fastened upon his loins in the sheath thereof; and as he went forth it fell out."

           2.  1 Kings 2:5 "Moreover thou knowest also what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, and what he did to the two captains of the hosts of Israel, unto Abner the son of Ner, and unto Amasa the son of Jether, whom he slew, and shed the blood of war in peace, and put the blood of war upon his girdle that was about his loins, and in his shoes that were on his feet."

           3.  Is. 11:5 "And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins."

          4.  Eph. 6:14 "Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;"

When the soldier returned victorious from battle then the girdle was moved up to his breast to indicate he had obtained the victory.  This is evidenced by the ordinance of the offering of the wave breast which is a symbol of sacrificial victory.  Thus the king thru righteousness had gotten the victory over sin as a representative of the elect.