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287 illustrations — Lessons from history, biography, and world events
William Hayley, M.A., observed that true and substantial happiness depends necessarily upon morality and religion.
SermonWise.ai generates complete sermon outlines for any passage across 17 theological traditions. Try it with Proverbs.
Judgment operates on three levels: discerning right from wrong, understanding the law and its manner, and executing consequences with authority.
Yet inevitably the accumulating pressure breaches the barrier, and the stream resumes its accustomed course with redoubled force.
While diligent hunters prepare their catch the same evening, this sluggard lacks the will to strip the hide or kindle the fire.
We are shaped irrevocably by our mothers in that far-off time of childhood—we become what our homes made us.
First, the public conscience is gratified by the prosperity of the righteous.
First, pride of station: the man in authority becomes "puffed up" with distinction, considering himself a being of higher order than his fellow sinners, looking with disdain upon those below him in society's scale.
As Joseph Exell clarifies in *The Biblical Illustrator* (1887), the proverb means: "Unsteady as the sparrow, as the flight of the swallow, is a causeless curse; it cometh not to pass." Exell identifies two categories of causeless imprecations.
A fear of Elohim for His own sake, and a fear of all things in reference to Him.
Solomon speaks of one "often reproved" yet stubbornly hardening his neck—the ancient metaphor for a beast refusing the yoke of obedience.
Man alone among creatures possesses articulate speech—the power to transmit thought from mind to mind.
Archbishop John Tillotson (D.D.) identifies two pillars supporting this claim.
In February 1869, Dmitri Mendeleev sat at his desk in St. Petersburg, surrounded by handwritten cards. Each card bore the name and atomic weight of...
Every passion of the soul serves beneficial purposes when rightly ordered, yet fear—perverted from its proper use—becomes a trap that destroys both wisdom and virtue.
Solomon commands: "Be not thou envious against evil men, neither desire to be with them." The wise are least likely to covet such company, yet this counsel applies universally.
Every season of life carries distinct duties and temptations.
Along the windswept shore of Lyme Regis, Dorset, twelve-year-old Mary Anning gripped her hammer against the cold limestone cliffs in 1811. Her brother Joseph had...
The river appears broad and deep enough for navigation—possessing all the physical requirements for commerce and transport.
On March 12, 1930, Mohandas Gandhi stepped out of Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad, India, and began walking. His destination was the coastal village of Dandi,...
Joseph Exell, resident in Jerusalem during the 1880s, discovered the answer through direct observation of Palestine's seasonal rhythms.
Delilah exemplifies this rottenness through calculated treachery masked as love.
The genuinely wise person possesses three defining characteristics: he pursues rational ends with deliberate purpose; he recognizes that true wisdom and moral goodness are inseparable; and he submits his pursuits to Divine direction rather than personal preference.
Richard Hooker, the great theologian, wrote that law's "seat is the bosom of God, her voice the harmony of the world." All creation—material and spiritual—moves according to divine law.