DISCOVERY OF THE FACTS
1. A Broken-Hearted Mourner, vv. 11, 12
Where does this lesson represent our Lord as going? For what purpose? Were there no other sorrowing hearts that day? Why did He go to this poor woman alone? What two processions met that day? What made this case a peculiarly touching one? How many instances of the raising of the dead are there in Bible history? How many of them were of the only child? What time of day was it? Who was she to meet on that dreary journey? What was to turn her hopeless sorrow into unutterable joy and gladness? Whom may we always meet on the saddest, dreariest journey? What will be the result of the meeting? (Matt. 11:28.) Does our Lord ever meet funeral processions today on the way to the grave? Was the woman alone? Why was the multitude with her? Did they do her much good? Who alone can comfort at such an hour?
2. A Compassionate Saviour, vv. 13, 14
What was the effect upon our Lord of the sight of this poor bereaved widow? Does He see us in our sorrows? How does He feel when He sees us? (Judges 10:16; Ps. 86:15; Is. 63:9; Lam. 3:32–36; Heb. 4:15, 16.) Did the woman ask His help? Did she believe He could help her? What was it that appealed to Him, if there was neither prayer nor faith?
How did He first of all manifest His compassion for her? Had any one else said that to her? What was the difference between His saying it and others saying it? How many tears will God ultimately wipe away? (Rev. 21:4.) Is it wrong for a believer to weep? (John 11:35.) What is wrong for the believer in this matter of sorrow? (1 Thess. 4:13.) Ought the believer to spend much time in weeping and sorrowing? (1 Cor. 7:30.) Is this the only place where our Lord said: “Weep not”? (8:52.) Does He say to any mourners today: “Weep not”?
What was the next thing He did? Does He seem to have been much excited? What most impresses one about the manner in which this incident is related? What did the bearers do when He touched the bier? Why? What did all the spectators do? What did He do?
3. Sadness Turned into Gladness, vv. 15–17
What did the young man do? What was all that our Lord had to do to raise the young man? (Compare John 11:43; Luke 8:54.) What did He prove by that? (Ps. 33:8, 9; John 5:21–23.) How did His raising from the dead differ from that of Elijah and Elisha? (1 Kings 17:20, 21; 2 Kings 4:34.) That of Peter? (Acts 9:40.) That of Paul? (Acts 20:10.) Who will ultimately hear His voice and rise? (John 5:28, 29.) Does His voice ever raise the dead today? (Eph. 5:14; 2:1.) What was it about the young man that heard His voice and responded?
Was it a kindness to the young man to call him back to life? What had he to tell of what he had experienced in those hours of death? How must life have seemed to him after this? How ought the resurrection life we get from our Lord seem to us? What does the incident teach about the power of Christ? About the power of death? What different things does the Gospel narrative show us as subject to Christ? (Diseases, nature, devils, death.) Who then is He?
What did our Lord do with the young man after He had raised him? What will He do with dead children after He raises them in that great day? What transformed the saddest day of that mother’s life into the gladdest day? (Meeting with Jesus.) What can transform the saddest day of our lives into the gladdest day? Did the mother enjoy that boy as much after his death and resurrection as before? Will we enjoy our loved ones as much after their death and resurrection as before? Was her bereavement a misfortune or a blessing? Why? When are our bereavements blessings?
What was the effect upon the beholders of this miracle? Why did they fear? (1:65; 5:8, 26; 8:37; Matt. 28:8; Acts 5:5, 11–13.) What was their conclusion? Was it justified by the facts? Does God generally accredit His prophets? How far did the news spread?
CLASSIFICATION OF TEACHINGS
1. Our Lord
His deity, credentials, commanding presence, divine composure, wondrous tenderness, 14, 15; humanity, 13; prophetic office, 16; unfailing compassion, 11, 13, 15; matchless power over self, over man, over sorrow, over death and Satan, 13–15 (Heb. 2:14); He seeks out the sorrowing, 11; sees, has compassion on, comforts the sorrowing, 13; gives them back their dead, 15; transforms their deepest gloom into loftiest exaltation.
2. Man
Subject to death, conscious after death, 14; victorious over death, 15.
3. Death
Its power—claims even the young as its victims, 12; its impotence—yields to the word of Christ, 15.
4. Sorrow
Its frequency, 12; its appeal to our Lord, its beneficence, its cure, 13, 15.
5. Consolation
The emptiness of human, 12; the sufficiency of divine, 13.
6. The Widow of Nain
The saddest woman in all the city, 11, 12; met our Lord, 12; the gladdest woman in all the land, 15, 16.
7. The Young Man
He was dead, 12; our Lord spoke, 14; he heard His voice and he lived, 18.
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R.A. Torrey (1856 - 1928)
An American evangelist, pastor, educator, and writer. Called by D. L. Moody to head Bible institute in Chicago (now Moody Bible Institute). Dean of Bible Institute of Los Angeles. Pastorates included Chicago Avenue Church (now Moody Memorial) and Church of the Open Door, Los Angeles. Worldwide evangelistic meetings with Charlie Alexander. Founded Montrose Bible Conference, PA. Wrote more than forty books.Torrey held his last evangelistic meeting in Florida in 1927, additional meetings being canceled because of his failing health. He died at home in Asheville, North Carolina, on October 26, 1928, having preached throughout the world and written more than 40 books. Torrey-Gray Auditorium, the main auditorium at Moody, was named for Torrey and his successor, James M. Gray. At Biola, the Torrey Honors Institute honors him, as does the university's annual Bible conference.
Reuben Archer Torrey was an American evangelist, pastor, educator, and writer. Held evangelistic meetings around the world with song leader Charlie Alexander. Called by D.L. Moody to head the Bible Institute of the Chicago Evangelization Society (now Moody Bible Institute); Dean of Bible Institute of Los Angeles; pastorates included Chicago Avenue Church (now Moody Memorial Church) and Church of the Open Door, Los Angeles.
Besides his obvious gifts in all these areas, he was also a man of prayer, a student of the Bible, and an outstanding personal soul-winner. It is said that he daily read the Bible in four languages, having a good working knowledge of Greek and Hebrew. Some students of church history feel he did more to promote personal evangelism than any other one man since the days of the apostles. His prayer life has seldom been equaled in the annals of Christendom.
Reuben A. Torrey wrote some forty books and his practical writings on the Holy Spirit, prayer, salvation, soul-winning, and evangelism are still favorites of many Christians.