Loading...
Loading...
By Joseph S. Exell · 1887 · 1,353 illustrations
The Biblical Illustrator is a 56-volume reference work compiled by Joseph S. Exell in the late 19th century. Each passage of Scripture is illuminated with historical anecdotes, biographical sketches, analogies from nature, and homiletical observations drawn from ancient and contemporary sources. These illustrations have been carefully restored from the original public-domain text and rewritten for clarity and accessibility — preserving the historical depth while removing Victorian OCR artifacts.
Its acquisition presents such difficulties that it is seldom truly found in our age.
The wisdom of Solomon stands in sharp contrast to our modern systems, which often direct men's attention everywhere but inward.
Because all members share identical stakes in eternity.
A great many cannot afford to have Christ.
Christ did not encourage this impetuous declaration but instead checked it—exposing the man's resolution as that of an unreflecting emotionalist and ambitious worldling.
This is not optical biology but moral vision.
First, He claims boundless power to satisfy human want and longing.
Here stands a paradox of human nature: those nearest to salvation often reject it most vehemently.
The abuses of the tongue are manifold, and malignity ranks foremost among them.
An able minister requires two foundational elements: natural endowments and spiritual qualities.
Paul renounced the "wisdom of words" because human eloquence veils the gospel's truth.
One seasoned traveler, having witnessed wonders across distant lands, told his friends: "There is something more wonderful than anything I have yet known, which I still have to experience." When pressed, he replied, "It is the first five minutes after...
So too the soul suffers from inherent liability to weakness, weariness, mistrust of God, and inability to rest upon His precious promises.
Temptation brings suffering to the regenerate soul in distinct ways.
The Greeks and Romans witnessed friendships that shaped both statecraft and individual virtue—Scipio and Laelius, Cicero and Atticus, Achilles and Patroclus.
This relationship unfolds across six essential dimensions: First, churches are **founded on Christ** (Matthew 16:18; 1 Corinthians 1:2)—built upon the rock of His person.
This covenant embraced three distinct circles of blessing.
The universality of Christianity proves its Divine origin, for it alone adapts itself to the condition and wants of all humanity, coming from Him who sustains, preserves, feeds, and blesses all.
First, the brotherhood of souls demands mutual burden-bearing.
On the night of Matthew 14:24, wind descended with such fury that experienced fishermen-apostles, after nine hours of *ponos* (toiling), had advanced merely three miles against it.
Nothing gives the believer such joy as fellowship with Christ.
The parable of the wheat and tares reveals a profound truth: the beauty of the righteous man remains hidden in the present age.
The tabernacle in which our soul dwells is a most frail and complicated machine.
First, Christ in us is the foundation of our hope, elected before the creation of the world (Ephesians 1:3–4; 1 Timothy 1:9).