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Joseph Exell

The Biblical Illustrator - Proverbs 14:2

Proverbs 14:2He that walketh in his uprightness feareth the Lord.Human conductI. Men differ widely in their daily conduct.1. Some men walk uprightly. Walking uprightly implies--(1) Moral strength. The man is not bent and crooked by the infirmities of sin or the weight of depravity.(2) Conscious rectitude. He does not bow down his head, as if ashamed to look his neighbour in the face. He is as open as the day, and as fearless as the sun.2. Some walk perversely. “They are perverse in their ways.”... read more

Joseph Exell

The Biblical Illustrator - Proverbs 14:4

Proverbs 14:4Where no oxen are, the crib is clean: but much increase is by the strength of the ox. The law of increaseThe illustration is drawn from husbandry, and in a country like Palestine, where the ox had such an important place in agricultural operations, it was peculiarly intelligible and peculiarly fit. “Where is the farmer,” says the wise man, “who, in order to preserve tidiness in his stalls, would forego the assistance of oxen in his fields?” Something he might secure, no doubt; a... read more

Joseph Exell

The Biblical Illustrator - Proverbs 14:5

Proverbs 14:5A faithful witness will not lie. A true witnessTruth is beautiful, as well as safe and mighty. In the incident related below a boy twelve years old, with only truth as a weapon, conquered a smart and shrewd lawyer, who was fighting for a bad cause. “Truth is the highest thing that man may keep,” and the noblest child or man is he that keeps the truth ever between his lips. Walter was the important witness in a lawsuit. One of the lawyers, after cross-questioning him severely, said,... read more

Joseph Exell

The Biblical Illustrator - Proverbs 14:6

Proverbs 14:6A scorner seeketh wisdom, and findeth it not. SecularismIt is the constant profession of those who reject the Bible that they are seeking truth. They seek wisdom and do not find it. They want the first qualification of a philosopher, a humble and teachable spirit. There is a race of men amongst us at the present day who scorn bitterly faith’s meek submission to God’s revealed will. They desire to be free from authority. The divinity, as they phrase it, is in every man. If men... read more

Joseph Exell

The Biblical Illustrator - Proverbs 14:7

Proverbs 14:7Go from the presence of a foolish man. The society to be shunnedMan is a social being. The text holds up the society which we should avoid--the society of the foolish.I. It is unprofitable. What you want in society is knowledge. True knowledge shall--1. Rightly guide.2. Truly comfort.3. Religiously inspire the soul.But such knowledge is not to be got from the foolish man. He has no power to help you, and therefore time spent in his society is waste.II. It is misleading. “The folly... read more

Joseph Exell

The Biblical Illustrator - Proverbs 14:9

Proverbs 14:9Fools make a mock at sin.Thinking lightly of sinBreathing an atmosphere tainted with moral evil, seeing and hearing sin in our daily walks, we are in no small danger of overlooking its malignity. The word “sin” is to many obscure. It is seldom used in common life. It belongs to theology and the pulpit. According to Scripture there is nothing so evil, so deformed, so ruinous, as sin. To do wrong is more pernicious than to incur all the calamities which nature or the evil the heart,... read more

Joseph Exell

The Biblical Illustrator - Proverbs 14:10

Proverbs 14:10The heart knoweth his own bitterness; and a stranger doth not intermeddle with his joy.Man unknown to manYou cannot completely know your fellow-man. Every man is, in a measure, self-contained. Alone are we born, one by one; alone do we die, one by one. It is not surprising that we must be, in a measure, unknown to others, since we do not even fully know ourselves. There are points of individuality in each man which render him distinct from every other. Men in their highest and... read more

Joseph Exell

The Biblical Illustrator - Proverbs 14:12

Proverbs 14:12There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. ForelookingsIt seems strange that all the dangers of this mortal state should be concentrated upon man. The dangers in all the realms below man are very few, and very simple, and very brief in their scope. Man, who is called the noblest of God’s creatures, is perpetually stumbling; is perpetually warped, biassed, perverted, tangled; is perpetually threatened with sudden destructions of every... read more

Joseph Exell

The Biblical Illustrator - Proverbs 14:13

Proverbs 14:13Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful; and the end of that mirth is heaviness.On a life of dissipation and pleasureWe have much reason to beware lest a rash and unwary pursuit of pleasure defeat its end, lest the attempt to carry pleasure too far tend, in the issue, to sink us into misery. It would be unjust to infer, from the serious admonition of Scripture, that religion is an enemy to all mirth and gaiety. It circumscribes our enjoyment, indeed, within the bounds of... read more

Joseph Exell

The Biblical Illustrator - Proverbs 14:14

Proverbs 14:14The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways.The back-slider in heartI. The general nature, symptoms, and progress of backsliding. The idea of backsliding is that of gradually receding from an object full in view. It is not the turning back as in the case of those who forsook the Saviour, it is rather like those who, moving against the stream, rest upon their oars. The backslider is one who has had some views and some experience, whether real or supposed, of true... read more

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