The Sabbath was divinely ordained as a day of cessation from labor. In the Jewish Church, the restrictions were most rigid and profanation of the day was severely punished. It was a day. of rest, reconciliation, worship and religious festivity. (See Is. 58:13,14.) Christian Sabbath observance recognizes the same general obligation to abstain from regular vocations and to devote the day largely to rest and worship. Jesus himself rebuked the slavish Sabbatic restrictions of the Scribes and Pharisees, and showed them that the Sabbath was made for man, meaning that it was designed and instituted for our common humanity, and to conduce to our highest good. He pointed out that there were various acts which in themselves were not sinful, but meritorious, and such as might be done on the Sabbath. These were the works of necessity or of mercy. This is the attitude of the Christian Church of today on Sabbath observance (Col. 2:16). It may be briefly said that no labor should be performed on that day which can be done on secular days, and that works of charity and mercy are justified on that day. We have the divine example for abstention in Gen. 2:2,3.
