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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.
This image reveals two dimensions of His fastening hold upon humanity.
This is no mere sentiment, but the living testimony of regeneration itself.
This distinguishes His Church from every other society—without Christ present, there is no Church.
Exell's Victorian illustration captures this paradox through a striking nautical image: a boat that has sailed the salt ocean, battered by storms and half-filled with briny water, now navigates fresh river currents.
Christ lays His hand upon every form of human love—the family bond, the marriage covenant, and the precious thing of friendship itself.
Though he led the assembly, Peter assumed no priestly authority.
Christ is King in Zion—the sole Sovereign of His Church by the Father's appointment and ordination.
It is insufficient to cherish conviction privately or confess only to sympathetic friends.
The Ethiopian eunuch reading Isaiah aloud in his chariot (Acts 8:28) exemplifies Oriental custom that differs markedly from Western practice. As Professor I. H. Hall observed, Eastern peoples study sacred books aloud, rehearse lessons aloud, and read with continuous vocalization—a...
To apprehend God's loving-kindness means to duly perceive it, believe it with persuasion, esteem it above all treasures, and consider it with serious remembrance.
The devil seizes every advantage, working relentlessly through these vulnerabilities.
Exell's Victorian exposition illuminates two critical spiritual failures.
First, the *phobos* (fear) of preparation for judgment itself.
The striking agreement between Paul's report and the eyewitness accounts of those present stands as evidence of Scripture's truth.
Christian discipleship originates not in human preference but in Divine initiative.
Bishop Beveridge identifies the structure with precision: the apostle Paul establishes that holiness is lived *because we are saved*, not *in order to be saved*.
This verse captures the great change and its obligations.
This principle governs both body and spirit: we lose taste for what satisfies us to excess.
When Christ lived without sin, He exposed sin's nature.
In His humanity, Christ emerges as the Rod from Jesse's stem, the Branch from his roots (Jeremiah 23:5; Zechariah 3:8).
Jesus Christ proclaimed these words knowing the world's deepest moral condition.
Pilate acted with limited knowledge; we possess the full light of Christian revelation streaming upon that Divine face across two millennia.
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.
It is not a kingdom of earthly splendour.