proverbs-3

The Biblical Illustrator - Proverbs 3:21-23

Proverbs 3:21-23My son, let not them depart from thine eyes: keep sound wisdom and discretion. Fidelity to principleThe advantages connected with fidelity to the ethics of godliness are here sketched.I. Life. The principles of heavenly wisdom--1. Originate spiritual life.2. Nurture spiritual life.II. Ornament. “Grace to thy neck.”1. This gracefulness of soul is an ornamental. Becoming to all.2. Within the reach of every man.3. Admired by the highest intelligences.4. Imperishable in its... read more

Joseph Exell

The Biblical Illustrator - Proverbs 3:24

Proverbs 3:24Yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet.The peaceful slumbers of the righteousSlumber is the common privilege of thousands undistinguished by any great virtue. But slumber may be the ordinary effect of nature. While there is no physical ailment or deep sorrow to hinder it; it is the natural result of weariness and daily toil. The slumbers of the text are those which come through freedom from fear.I. The security of a good man’s rest. The body demands rest. To... read more

Joseph Exell

The Biblical Illustrator - Proverbs 3:25-26

Proverbs 3:25-26Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it cometh.For the Lord shall be thy confidence. Confident attitude of God’s peopleWhen God is abroad in judgments, He would not have His people alarmed. He has not come forth to harm, but to defend the righteous.I. He would have them manifest courage. We who enjoy the presence of God ought to display presence of mind. Since the Lord Himself may suddenly come, we ought not to be surprised at anything... read more

Joseph Exell

The Biblical Illustrator - Proverbs 3:27

Proverbs 3:27Withhold not good from them to whom it is due.A plea for the shop-menWhen the first man had fallen into sin labour was imposed upon him as a punishment. And yet there was mercy mingled with the judgment. That stern necessity which forced man to eat bread in the sweat of his brow became one of his purest and sweetest sources of enjoyment. What would the world be without labour? Do we not owe to it the occupation of time which otherwise would be a burden too heavy to bear? Is it not... read more

Joseph Exell

The Biblical Illustrator - Proverbs 3:28-35

Proverbs 3:28-35Say not unto thy neighbour, Go, and come again, and to-morrow I will give. NeighbourlinessI. What is due to others? (Proverbs 3:27). There is a sense in which debt should be avoided, and a sense in which all men must be always over head and ears in it (Romans 13:8). Love is a debt that can never be discharged. As followers of Christ we must love always and love all. Some men are neighbours because they reside in the same street, and all men are neighbours because they reside on... read more

Joseph Exell

The Biblical Illustrator - Proverbs 3:30

Proverbs 3:30Strive not with a man without a cause. StrifeI. As a principle inherent in the soul. There is a battling instinct in every human mind. Man is made to antagonise. The principle is intended to put us into antagonism--1. Not against existence, but against the evils of existence.2. Not against God, but against the enemies of God.II. As a principle liable to perversion. (D. Thomas, D.D.)Negative goodnessHere we are called to do good negatively. The strife-loving disposition is fatal to... read more

Joseph Exell

The Biblical Illustrator - Proverbs 3:31

Proverbs 3:31Envy thou not the oppressor.The oppressorHe is a common character. There is the political oppressor, the social oppressor, the ecclesiastical oppressor.I. His character is not to be envied.1. Because envy is in itself an evil.2. Because there is nothing in the oppressor to be desired.II. His conduct is not to be followed. Stand aloof (Psalms 37:1). (D. Thomas, D. D.)The oppressor not to be enviedWhether public or private, the man who “grinds the faces of the poor” by severity and... read more

Joseph Exell

The Biblical Illustrator - Proverbs 3:33

Proverbs 3:33The curse of the Lord is in the house of the wicked.In what sense, and in what cases, a curse may still extend to ChristiansI. Christians are most certainly exposed to the Divine curse, if guilty of the sins to which it appertains. There is no curse remaining for the believing and the penitent. But still there is a curse retained on record, and it must be as surely kept for some beneath the gospel as it ever was aforetime. There are some who are cold and selfish, who have no root... read more

Joseph Exell

The Biblical Illustrator - Proverbs 3:34

Proverbs 3:34Surely He scorneth the scorners.Why God scorns the scornerI. The scorner as God sees him. God is described as spurning the scorner, but at the same time His love points out the right way to those who are anxious to overcome evil. The scorner whispers “cant” of all religious forms and expressions.II. The influence of the scorner. A man who makes religion the butt of his ridicule is very apt to win a certain admiration from the young and the weak-minded. Nothing is easier than for a... read more

Joseph Exell

The Biblical Illustrator - Proverbs 3:35

Proverbs 3:35The wise shall inherit glory. Sanctified intellectI. Its character. Intelligence, mind, reason is that power by which the supremacy of man over the beasts of the earth is asserted. Whilst, other things being equal, the greatest minds have been Christian, the powers may be predicated of intellect, irrespective of the moral character of its possessor. But a great intellect dissociated from moral control may become a scourge and a terror.II. The work of sanctified intellect. It is the... read more

The Biblical Illustrator - Proverbs 3:21-23

The Biblical Illustrator - Proverbs 3:24

The Biblical Illustrator - Proverbs 3:25-26

The Biblical Illustrator - Proverbs 3:27

The Biblical Illustrator - Proverbs 3:28-35

The Biblical Illustrator - Proverbs 3:30

The Biblical Illustrator - Proverbs 3:31

The Biblical Illustrator - Proverbs 3:33

The Biblical Illustrator - Proverbs 3:34

The Biblical Illustrator - Proverbs 3:35

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