Skip to main contentSearch Illustrations
753 results found
Christ's Resolute Ascent: The Heroic, Self-Sacrificing, Suffering Saviour
Our Lord moves far in advance of His followers, His fixed purpose stamped upon His face, a strange haste in His stride that casts astonishment and awe over the silent, uncomprehending disciples.
Mark 5:32-34UniversalChrist's voluntary self-sacrificeresolved obedience to the Father's will
Glorifying the Lord in the Fires of Affliction
The same Almighty One who fed Elijah in the terrible days of dearth, and who delivered Daniel from the power of the lions, still watches over and provides for His people.
Isaiah 24:15UniversalGod's faithfulness in affliction
The Boy and the Dictionary: Growth Through Christ's Absence
Yet the most penetrating insight concerns what seems like deprivation—that He shall depart.
John 16:23-24
Public Confession of Christ: Nature, Advantages, and Duty
It is insufficient to cherish conviction privately or confess only to sympathetic friends.
John 9:22Universalpublic witness
God's Judgment Upon Persecutors of His People
Consider Pharaoh—his wise men, his armies, his chariots—plunging into the Red Sea like lead, sinking beneath the waters.
Psalms 2:5
When All the Disciples Forsook Him and Fled
The Biblical Illustrator identifies four root causes of such backsliding: opposition and fear from religion's enemies; worldly conformity that erodes conviction; self-confidence in spiritual attainments; and neglect of private devotional duties.
Matthew 26:56Universal
Setting Your Heart Upon God's Defenses
The margin reads, "Set your heart to her bulwarks." This is no passing glance or negligent inspection; it demands wholehearted attention and deliberate investigation.
Psalms 47:13
Servants Pass Away; The Master Continues Forever
Maracleren observes that all earthly teachers—however towering—accomplish limited, transient work.
Acts 13:36-37
The Christian's Threefold Battle: Conflict, Victory, White Raiment
Exell identifies three distinct enemies arrayed against the believer's sanctification.
Revelation 1:5Universalspiritual warfare
When Obedience to God Demands Disobedience to Men
The warm-hearted, impulsive fisherman who once denied knowing Jesus now speaks with 'calm, fixed determination, which wastes no words, but in its very brevity impresses the hearers as being immovable.' Maclaren observes that this man—once prone to wrong-headedness—has laid down...
The Martyr's Fire Lights Others to Martyrdom
Among those who reverently buried the martyr were devout men—not disciples, but Hellenistic Jews, perhaps from the very synagogue whose members had disputed with Stephen and dragged him before the council.
Acts 8:1-17
Faith as the Mainspring of Prophetic Speech
Consider any discipline of human knowledge: a man who disbelieves the principles of astronomy or geology yet pretends to teach these sciences will find his teaching rendered useless by his own heartlessness.
2 Corinthians 4:13Universalfaith precedes witness
Peter's Courage Undone by Cold and Isolation
Maclaren captures the precise moment when courage evaporates: Peter had already 'repented now of, and alarmed for what might happen to him on account of, his ill-aimed blow at Malchus,' compounded by 'the nipping cold' that 'had taken all his...
John 18:15-27
The Cowardice of Silent Disciples and Too-Late Confession
Christ's death, which scattered His avowed disciples, paradoxically shamed these secret believers into action.
John 19:38-39
The Paraclete: Champion Summoned to Our Side
The Greek word *parakletos* means 'one who is summoned to the side of another'—a Champion clad in celestial armour, dispatched directly from God's throne.
John 15:26-27
Scattered Coals: Unnamed Men Who Changed Church History
These unnamed men, bearing no vision, no command from Jerusalem, no precedent to guide them—only truth in their minds and the impulses of Christ's love in their hearts—solved the question that had vexed the apostles: whether salvation belonged to Gentiles.
Is the Lord's Hand Shortened? God's Challenge to Faith
God's purpose is explicit: "God hath sent His Son into the world, that the world through Him might be saved." Yet formidable obstacles obscure this gracious design.
Leviticus 10:23
Jealousy Masquerading as Zeal for Truth
The Sanhedrin spoke solemnly of 'putting down error' and maintaining doctrinal purity, yet their true motive was *zelos*—jealousy, not genuine zeal.
Acts 5:17-32
The Tent-Maker's Unostentatious Power in Corinth
Yet Maclaren observes that this solitude, rather than paralyzing the Apostle, clarified his method.
Acts 18:1-11
The Two Peaces: From Fear to Commission
When Jesus enters the locked room where the disciples huddled 'for fear of the Jews,' He greets them: 'Peace be unto you!' This first peace addresses their terror—the dread that what they witnessed was mere phantom, a ghostly visitation.
John 20:21-23
The Prophet's Weeping: When Foresight Reveals Future Sin
Years before, Elijah had anointed him king over Syria—a word that had festered in his ambitious heart while the decrepit Ben-hadad still nominally held the throne.
2 Kings 8:9-15
Christ's Sword: The Conflict Within Christian Discipleship
Yet Christ Himself declared He came not with peace, but with a sword.
Matthew 10:84
The Able Minister: Natural Gifts and Spiritual Qualifications
An able minister requires two foundational elements: natural endowments and spiritual qualities.
2 Corinthians 1:6Universalministerial calling
False Brethren Who Creep Into the Church Undetected
In Adam's family stood Cain; in Christ's family, Judas; in the earliest Church, deceivers.
Galatians 1:4Universaldiscernment of false teaching
Purification through trials
Universal
spiritual maturity through loss
growth in absence
Alexander Maclaren263 words
costly obedience
Universal
divine judgment
protection of believers
Charles H. Spurgeon227 words
apostasy and restoration
shallow versus committed faith
Universal
God's sovereignty
spiritual defense
Charles H. Spurgeon211 words
Universal
mortality versus eternity
human limitation versus divine permanence
Alexander Maclaren235 words
victory through Christ
Acts 4:19-31
Universal
conscience and authority
limits of civil power
Alexander Maclaren239 words
Universal
persecution as providence
witnessing through martyrdom
Alexander Maclaren238 words
obligation to proclaim truth
Universal
isolation and abandonment
fear overcoming conviction
Alexander Maclaren225 words
Universal
the cost of discipleship
fear versus conviction
Alexander Maclaren244 words
Universal
divine protection
the Holy Spirit
Alexander Maclaren250 words
Acts 11:20-21
Universal
unknown faithfulness
providential history
Alexander Maclaren239 words
Universal
God's power and purpose
human doubt versus divine sufficiency
Universal
the church's conflict with earthly power
true versus false zeal
Alexander Maclaren253 words
Universal
faithful labor in obscurity
self-sufficiency in ministry
Alexander Maclaren223 words
Universal
resurrection reality
progression to service
Alexander Maclaren239 words
Universal
God's omniscience and human responsibility
The progression of evil in the human heart
Alexander Maclaren262 words
Universal
spiritual conflict
moral transformation through struggle
spiritual qualifications
apostolic authority