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54 illustrations
Some preach, "He has done all; therefore we do nothing." The Bible contradicts this sharply.
Proverbs 13:22 reveals that human happiness depends far less upon external conditions than upon personal virtues.
Exell observes three dimensions of Elohim's redundant blessing: First, natural blessing exceeds mere utility.
First, its nature: mercy operates as a *diatheke* (covenant disposition)—a temper of the soul independent of written law, wherein the merciful person grieves not for injuries received but for the corrupted heart of the injurer.
The structure of this obligation reveals three essential truths.
They "belong" to Christ—they are peculiarly and emphatically His.
Rather, we are cautioned against over-valuing earthly possessions.
This remarkable scene illustrates a profound truth: the miracles of Christ and His apostles were chiefly miracles of healing.
By 1944, Eric Liddell — the Scottish sprinter who electrified the world by winning gold in the 400 meters at the 1924 Paris Olympics —...
In the spring of 1944, behind the concrete walls of the Weihsien internment camp in Weifang, China, a gaunt Scottish missionary noticed a barefoot Chinese...
If only we possessed unbounded wealth, we imagine, how generously we would serve mankind.
We must distinguish between the purpose for which property is sought and the moral purpose answered by the process itself.
It was "the tillage of the poor"—the careful, diligent husbandry of the man with only a small patch of land—that filled the storehouses of the Holy Land.
William Hayley, M.A., observed that true and substantial happiness depends necessarily upon morality and religion.
By 1944, the Weihsien internment camp near Weifang, China, had stripped its prisoners down to almost nothing. Among the roughly 1,800 Allied civilians held by...
The Phoenician city distributed crowns to her colonies like a cupboard dispensing royal insignia—a satire on false authority.
Naomi's question to Ruth—"Where hast thou gleaned to-day?"—invites us into three vital truths about our stewardship before Yahweh. First, the *sphere* of life's opportunities. Labour is the law of life itself. The Lord has "set before thee an open door"...
Poverty strikes those whose circumstances lie beyond their control—infirmity, disease, social oppression, misfortune—often accompanied by virtue and piety.
Mark's Gospel reveals something crucial through a single Greek word: *kline* (bed), specifically a *grabatus*—the pallet or camp-bed of the poor, not the soft couch of the wealthy.
With the remaining timber, he carves a god and falls before it in worship.
Exell reminds us that our differences—intellectual, artistic, moral—are not occasions for despair or pride, but invitations to humility.
The way of genuine beneficence unfolds in three movements: first, we give bountifully, not grudgingly.
Joseph Exell preserved two Victorian illustrations of this principle in action.
Property exists for four essential purposes: to increase the earth's produce; to preserve that produce to maturity; to cultivate and develop human nature; and to advance intellectual development.