Expository Outlines Nehemiah 8:1-12 And all the people gathered themselves together as one man into the street that was before the water gate… I. A LARGE GATHERING. There are two important advantages connected with a numerous congregation over one that is thinly attended. 1. It gives an opportunity for more extensive usefulness. We grant that there is not a little to encourage even those whose hearers are few, "For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them." "A sportsman," says Jay, "has fired into a flight of birds and not killed one, and he has killed one when he had only one to aim at." That maybe true; but on the other hand, if two anglers went forth with rod and line to spend a day in fishing, it would be naturally expected that the largest number would be caught by him who had secured a pond where fish were abundant, rather than by the other, who had toiled from morning till night in a place where they were scarce. 2. Large congregations possess a peculiar power of stimulating those who have to address them. Probably the man has never yet lived who could long be an orator before a small assembly. Even Cicero could not deliver his famous oration in behalf of the poet Archias, though addressed to a single man, without having all that was learned and great in Rome to listen to him. Those who love the means of grace should do all they can to induce their friends and neighbours to attend. II. AN OPEN-AIR GATHERING. III. A PROTRACTED GATHERING. IV. AN ATTENTIVE GATHERING. V. A DEVOUT, EARNEST, AND REVERENTIAL, GATHERING. To stand in awe of God's holy Word, whenever it is read and expounded in our hearing, indicates a right state of mind; and those who are thus influenced are regarded by God with approval and delight (Isaiah 66:2). VI. AN INTELLIGENT AND WELL-INSTRUCTED GATHERING. (Expository Outlines.) Parallel Verses KJV: And all the people gathered themselves together as one man into the street that was before the water gate; and they spake unto Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded to Israel. |
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