1. What does Christ say of the Sabbath?
“And He said unto them, the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath,” Mark 2:27.
2. What distinguishes the seventh day of the week from the six working days?
“And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made,” Genesis 2:2.
3. Besides resting on the seventh day, what did God pronounce upon it?
“And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it,” verse 3.
4. Why did God bless and sanctify this day?
“Because that in it He rested from all His work which God created and made,” verse 3.
NOTE: The Sabbath was a part of creation, by God Himself, blessing, sanctifying and resting upon this particular day, and it stands as a memorial of the great creative work of the first week of time. The only way to change the Sabbath day, is for the creation to be gone through again, and it is not likely that such will ever be the case.
5. Is it possible for anything to be added to, or for anything to be taken from what God has done?
“I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be forever: nothing can be put to it, nor anything taken from it: and God doeth it that men should fear before Him,” Ecclesiastes 3:14.
6. Have we any record where the Sabbath was ever kept prior to the giving of the law on Sinai?
“And Moses said, Eat that today; for today is a Sabbath unto the Lord; today ye shall not find it in the field. Six days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is the Sabbath, in it there shall be none. See, for that the Lord hath [in the past] given you the Sabbath, therefore He giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day,” Exodus 16:25, 26 and 29.
NOTE: These things happened several days prior to the giving of the law on Sinai, and it is a fact that cannot be denied.
7. What law did God give for its observance?
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord Thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it,” Exodus 20:8-11.
8. What statement is made herein, which has never been made of any other day?
“The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God,” verse 10.
9. In what way did the Lord require the Sabbath to be kept?
“Thus saith the Lord; take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the Sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem; neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath day, neither do ye any work, but hallow ye the Sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers,” Jeremiah 17:21, 22.
10. How does Isaiah tell us to keep the Sabbath?
“If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on My Holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable; and shalt honor Him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words,” Isaiah 58:13.
11. What is said of the person that keeps the Sabbath?
“Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold on it; that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil,” Isaiah 56:2.
12. What is said of the Gentiles that keep the Sabbath?
“Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the Lord, to serve Him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be His servants, every one that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of My covenant; Even them will I bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer,” Isaiah 56:6, 7.
13. What did the Lord say the Sabbath would be between Him and His people?
“I am the Lord your God; walk in My statues, and keep My judgments, and do them: and hallow My Sabbaths: and they shall be a sign between Me and you, that ye may know that I am the Lord your God,” Ezekiel 20:19, 20.
14. What was Christ’s attitude toward the Sabbath?
“And He came to Nazareth where He had been brought up: and, as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up for to read,” Luke 4:16.
15. How was Christ connected with the Sabbath day?
“Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath,” Mark 2:28.
16. What work is permissible on the Sabbath?
“And He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And, behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could in no wise lift up herself. And when Jesus saw her, he called her to Him, and said unto her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity; And He laid His hands on her: and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God,” Luke 13:10-13.
17. In Matthew, how does Christ express the same thought?
“And behold, there was a man which had his hand withered. it lawful to heal on the Sabbath days? that they might accuse Him. And they asked Him, saying, Is And He said unto them, What man shall there be among you that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the Sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out? How much then is a man better than a sheep? wherefore it is lawful to do well on the Sabbath days,” Matthew 12:10-12.
NOTE: Or in other words, it is right and proper to do works of charity to aid the sick and suffering, and even perform acts of mercy in relieving the suffering of animals on that day when necessity demands it.
Some day full soon, sweet Eden’s bowers;
May burst upon my raptured sight,
And I shall see the glory land:
Bathed in the Lamb’s eternal light.
For He who braved the storm king’s wrath;
And stilled the waves of Galilee;
Will safely guide my storm tossed bark,
Across life’s dark tempestuous sea.
And though it hath been well revealed;
Where heaven’s gold paved highways be;
I know that I shall one day dwell;
With Him whose blood was shed for me.
_ Elder Lewis Buchtel
I love the holy Sabbath day
It does me good to rest
I know I then my Lord obey
Because that day he blest.
And oh, the language is so plain
That all may understand,
Why is it people will not see
And keep this great command?
And Jesus taught the people once
That they should surely pray,
That their flight be not in winter
Neither on the Sabbath day;
For they must leave Jerusalem,
And to the mountains flee
When the cruel Roman army came
To take them all away.