R.A. Torrey explores the profound encounter between Jesus and the widow of Nain, emphasizing the deep sorrow of the widow who lost her only son and the compassionate response of Christ. He highlights how Jesus, moved by her grief, intervened without being asked, demonstrating His divine authority over death and His ability to transform sorrow into joy. The sermon illustrates that Jesus not only sees our pain but also has the power to bring life and hope, turning the darkest moments into opportunities for divine intervention. Torrey encourages believers to recognize that Jesus meets us in our grief and can change our circumstances, just as He did for the widow. Ultimately, the message conveys that through Christ, even the saddest days can become the gladdest.

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.