We're turning to Job chapter 15, the book of Job chapter 15. We'll read from just the verse number seven down to the verse 11. And so Job chapter 15, and we're reading from the verse number seven, the speaker here is Elipaz the Temanite. And he's speaking here to Job in the midst of his circumstances, in the midst of his tragedy. And so we're reading from Job 15 in the verse number seven. And he asked this question, are thou the first man that was born? Or was thou made before the hills? Has thou heard the secret of God and dost thou restrain wisdom to thyself? What knowest thou that we know not? What understandest thou which is not in us? With us are both the grey-headed and the very aged men, much elder than my father. Are the consolations of God small with thee? Is there any secret thing with thee? Amen. And we'll end our reading there. Let's briefly pray together. Let's seek the Lord. Our loving Father, we come now to the preaching of thy word. Again, Lord, I need the help of thy spirit, the infilling of the Holy Ghost. Grant, dear God, energy and power and unction. Grant the anointing of thy spirit, a word, Lord, a word to the weary, Lord. Give me the tongue, therefore, of the learned, that I might know how to speak such a word into such a heart this very day. And as we close out this year, we pray that our hearts may be encouraged in our God. We offer prayer in and through the Savior's wondrous and precious name. Amen and amen. One of the lesser known titles and names attributed to the Lord Jesus Christ is drawn to our attention in Luke's record with regard to the time whenever Simeon laid his eyes on the Lord's Christ on the day of the Savior's presentation before the Lord. Speaking about Simeon, Luke records that Simeon was a just and a devout man waiting for the consolation of Israel and the Holy Ghost was upon him. It is the designation, the consolation of Israel, that the Holy Spirit gives to Christ. That is the title that I'm referring to when I say that it is one of the lesser known titles attributed to the Son of God. And whenever we read that title, we might think to ourselves, well, Christ is the consolation of Israel, but he cannot be the consolation, therefore, of those who are non-Jews are those who are Gentiles. Gentiles can know nothing of the consolation of God. But you would be wrong in your thinking. You need to remember that Luke, whenever he wrote his gospel, he wrote his gospel to the most excellent Theophilus. Theophilus was a Roman official, and therefore he was a non-Jew. He was a Gentile. And God made very sure that we Gentiles would not rule ourselves out of this consolation. Simeon, he comes to bless God in the verses number 29 to 32 of Luke's Gospel, chapter 2. And this is what he says in this particular passage. "'Lord, let us now thy servant depart in peace according to thy word. For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all people, a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel. In these words we come to find that God's consolation is not only for physical or national Israel, but is also for God's spiritual Israel. The blessings of God's consolation are available to all who will receive it. Now this afternoon I want to take up this theme then of God's consolation and really come to answer a question that has been hanging in the air ever since it was asked by Elipaz the Temite. This answer is in our question is one that looks for an answer. This one seeks an answer, as it were, that has been left. with no reply." Here we find a man asking another individual a particular question to which no specific answer is given to or given by the questioner or by the one who is being questioned. I'm sure you wives know all about that. You ask your husband a question and he never answers you. I would be that type of man sometimes. My wife is a very long-suffering woman and at times she would ask a question and sometimes it's just left hanging in the air. He asked his friend Job a question in the midst of his tragedy that he did not get a response to. And here's the question that Eliphaz asked Job. He asked Job the question in the verse number 11, Are the consolations of God small with thee? Are the consolations of God small with thee? Now I'm aware that I have drawn this particular question to the attention of some in this meeting over the last year during my pastoral visits. But I believe that this is where the Lord would have me to be today as I prayed about this meeting, as we close out the pulpit ministry for another year, focusing our hearts on the consolations of God. Now undoubtedly these words they need and require a little bit of explanation before we get in as it were to the meat of God's or the message today. I want to think firstly about that word consolations. Now the word consolation is not a word that we would use normally, it's not used in our daily communications with one another and that's very evident when I tell you what I'm about to tell you. Because whenever I was in some of your homes in the past year, and I spoke in this particular text, I began by saying these words. Whenever we think of the word consolations, we often think about the stars. Now folks, whenever we think about the word consolations, we don't think about the word stars. Whenever we think of stars, we think of constellations. Constellations. Now you're all very gracious and you're all very kind that you never pulled me up on it and that just evidences how kind you were and how stupid I am. Well the word consolations, we're thinking not of constellations, the stars, we're thinking of consolations. We could use another word and it's really a very simple word, it's the word comfort. And so we could literally read the word here, are the comforts of God small with thee? Small with thee. Now the word consolation, it is defined as the act of consoling, the alleviation of misery or of distress of mind, the mitigation of grief or of anxiety. When we come to console another human being, We derive or we dispense to them solace, encouragement, comfort. We administer that to them either by what we say or by what we do. It's very interesting that the Holy Spirit, He uses the word consolation both in its singular and plural forms on 18 separate occasions throughout the New Testament Scriptures. Romans 15 in the verse 5 is one such occasion. of patience and consolation grant you to be like-minded one toward another according to Christ Jesus. Or in 2 Corinthians 1 verse 5 we read, For the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ. And thus we can read the words here, Are the comforts of God small with thee? But then it brings us to ask another question. It really brings us to ask, well, what does Elipaz mean whenever he uses the words or the phrase, small with thee, small with thee? Well, that phrase can be translated in this way. Are they of little value to you? Or do they mean nothing to you? Or are they insignificant to you." And so we could read the verse, are the comforts of God, are they of little value to you? Are they insignificant to you? Do they mean nothing to you, the comforts of God? Now, in order to supply an answer to that question that has been left hanging in the air ever since it was asked, we then need to consider, well, what are some of God's consolations? What are some of God's comforts? What are these comforts that He administers and dispenses to His people in their time of need? And whenever we do that, and whenever we consider those comforts and those consolations, then and only then will we be able to answer Elipaz's question, are the consolations of God small with thee? so we're going to answer that question at the end of today's meeting. So then what are some of the consolations? What are some of the comforts that God gives to His people? As we consider these things, I trust it'll do two things. First of all, if you're an unconverted person, I trust that it would whet your appetite with regard to the comforts that every Christian comes to experience through saving faith in Jesus Christ. Now, these comforts are not your comforts. These comforts are derived through saving faith in Jesus Christ. These comforts are exclusively to the people of God. These are not your comforts. If you're an unconverted, an unregenerate person, if you're still in your sin, you know nothing of these comforts and these consolations. These are for the people of God. And so I trust that it will whet your appetite if you're not a Christian and that today you would enter into the experience of sins forgiven and then experience the comforts that God has purchased for you by His atoning death upon the cross of Calvary. Secondly, I trust that it'll encourage you as a child of God. You know the journey to heaven and home can be a difficult journey. The road of times can be rough. We can find ourselves in many a valley. We can find ourselves in many a storm as we pass through this world. And so I trust that the comfort, these consolations, you'll be able to derive strength for the day and strength for this year as we leave an old year behind and as we'll enter, God willing, into a new year in the days that lie ahead. And so let's consider. some of the comforts, the consolations of God and ask the question, are they of little value? Are they of no significance? Are they small with us? First of all, I'm reminded by Holy Scripture that there is consolation in the person of God. there is consolation in the person of God. Now, we're not thinking initially here about what God has done for us. We'll be thinking about that in a few moments' time. But we're simply thinking here today about who God is and the comfort that is derived from the very fact of who our God is. Even a very brief consideration of God's attributes A consideration of God's perfections flood the soul with a consolation that is deep and a consolation that is rich in its very essence. What do you think with me, first of all, about God's incommunicable attributes? And that's a big word for a Christmas week when everybody's very tired and maybe exhausted. The incommunicable attributes of God. They simply refer to those attributes that belong exclusively to God and to no other being, whether that being is created or non-created. These attributes belong exclusively to God. We think about, first of all, that incommunicable attribute that God is eternal. Or we could use the word everlasting. We could use the word immortal. We read in Deuteronomy 32, verse 27, that the eternal God is thy refuge. The eternal God is thy refuge. We sang about that refuge in our opening psalm. God is our refuge and strength in streets of present age. And how glad we are that God is the refuge of us as his people. And as an eternal God, this is an eternal refuge. It's a very simple, it's a very clear, it's a very fundamental truth that I'm about to say. But God never dies. And there's tremendous comfort to be derived from that biblical truth, to know that we have got one in the glory, who will always live for us, and who will always plead for us, and who will always pray for us, brings to the hearts of God's people tremendous comfort that our God is the eternal God. We think also of that incommunable attribute of God being infinite. Now, we are finite beings. There is a limit to us. There's a limit to many things, our knowledge. There's a limit with regard to where we can be at the one time. There's a limit placed upon us as creatures created by God, but not with God. Our God is infinite. In other words, He has unlimited. He is unlimited. God is unlimited, first of all, with regard to His knowledge, and therefore He is omniscient. How comforting to know that God knows. How comforting to know that God knows. He knows our struggles. He knows our troubles. He knows our trials. He knows our doubts. He knows our tears. He knows our fears. He knows our sorrows. He knows our feelings. He knows everything about us. There is unlimited knowledge in God. He knows our past. He knows our present. He knows our future. He knows all things. He knows the way that we will take. And when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. And so he knows all things. We think of those words concerning the people there in Israel or in Egypt when God says that I know their sorrows. Today he knows. He knows. God is unlimited not only in his knowledge but he's also unlimited with regard to his presence and therefore he is on thy present." How reassuring to know that God is with us. God is with His people in all places. For on thy present God reminds us of that in Isaiah 43 in the verse number 2. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee, and through the rivers they shall not overflow thee. And when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. God is with us with regard to his presence, and many have experienced that through this year. And God is unlimited as to his power, and therefore he is omnipotent. Oh, there's consolation in that attribute, that perfection of God, because the believer can then cast their cares and their worries and their apprehensions and their fears over to the omnipotent God who knows that He can bear them up and He will see to their deliverance from such distresses. I come to understand that there is nothing too hard for God. Then I, in my impotence, am greatly comforted by his omnipotence. And thus, God is omnipotent. And then we think about the incommunicable attributes of God, and in them I am also comforted. These communicable attributes are those attributes to which God, to a finite degree, and man, to a finite degree, possesses. God, to an infinite degree, possesses. I, to a finite degree, possesses. Just think for a moment with regard to the comfort that is found in God's wisdom. God in wisdom ordering all things in our lives, God by his inscrutable wisdom directing our paths, God in his wisdom dispensing to us days of sorrow as well as days of gladness, times of sickness as well as times of health, times of prosperity as well as times of poverty, God in His wisdom ordering all things in our lives. Think about the comfort that is derived from God's holiness and His justice, that He will execute upon our enemies vengeance, for it is His to do so. He will punish the ungodly. He will deal with the enemies of Christ's church. Think about the goodness of God and the comfort that is derived from that. Has God not been good to you? Has God not been good to me? The goodness of God, crowning the year with goodness, preserving our lives, providing for our wants, giving to us what we do not deserve, we consider, oh, we consider the comfort that is found in God's love, that God would love me. God would love me. me who has grieved him and me who has grown cold in my love for him that he would he would love me and we think of the comfort that is found in God's grace and in God's mercy and in God's sympathy and God's empathy and God's patience and God's long-suffering oh what comfort what a comfort God is to his people Octavius Winslow this is what he said he says Christ is the great dispository of our consolation. In other words, He's the great storehouse of consolation. He's the great bank of consolation. Oh, the consolation that we can derive from Him, that we can receive from Him. You know, our consolation is found in Christ alone. And therefore, we need to know Him. We need to know Him personally. And the only way that that is possible is to know His Son. This is life eternal, that they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent. Oh, are you acquainted with Him? Are you acquainted with Christ? Do you know Him, this One in whom all comfort is to be found, in whom all comfort comes from? Do you know Him today? There's comfort simply in who God is. The reigning, living, exalted God of heaven. There's comfort in our God. But secondly, there is comfort found in the pardon of God. Yes, in the person of God, but also in the pardon of God. In Micah 7, verses 18 and 19, we read, Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, that passeth by the transgression of the remnant of thy people, or thy heritage? He retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy. He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us, he will subdue our iniquities, and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. We're all born sinners and therefore all of us sin. But the glad and the glorious tidings of the gospel is that God has devised a way in his wisdom, a way of pardoning the sinner's iniquity and yet at the same time remaining just. God must devise a means whereby he continues to remain just and yet at the same time in his mercy he can show grace and mercy and he can justify the sinner. God devised the means. That means required his own dear and only begotten son to come from heaven and to live on this earth as a perfect man, and to offer then himself to God as a sacrifice for sin, to be buried in a tomb, and to rise again from the dead. As the sinner's substitute, God punished our sins, our transgressions, our iniquities in His Son. And by faith in that sacrifice, We can be pardoned. The word pardoneth, it literally means to lift, to take away, to carry off, And that's exactly what God does when he pardons the sinner of their iniquity. He lifts the burden of sin, he carries it off, and he takes it to a place where it can never, never be resurrected again. Now, is there not comfort in that? Is there not comfort to know that my sins, your sins are pardoned, that your iniquities are covered, that your transgressions have been forgiven, that your sins have been washed and cleansed away? Oh, the comfort that is derived from the fact that I am a pardoned man. and that you are a pardoned individual. Oh, maybe you're here today, you're burdened down with sin. Maybe you're here today, burdened down with the sense of shame, with the shame of sin, with the guilt of sin. Aye, maybe you're burdened down with the condemnation of your sin. Well, thank God that burden can be lifted. Burdens are lifted at Calvary. Sinner, did you hear it? burdens are lifted at Calvary, Jesus Christ is very near. Today, you can know the pardoning of your sin if you would only but turn and repent from your sin. I say, sinner, none pardons as freely as God None pardons as graciously as God. None pardons as promptly as God. None pardons as perfectly as God. None pardons as consistently as God. None pardons as majestically as God. None pardons as glorious as God. None pardons as effectually as God. And today you can know the comfort to know that your sins are forgiven, that you're pardoned. pardon for sin and the peace that endureth, thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide, strength for today, bright hope for tomorrow's, blessings all mine with ten thousand beside. Oh, as a Christian I'm comforted to know that my sins are pardoned, Never will my iniquities, never will my iniquities be brought against me to condemn me. I have been fully absolved of my sin. I am pardoned. I am cleansed. I am forgiven. There's comfort in the fact that there is a full and there is a free forgiveness of sins to every Christian. It is every Christian's present portion that the debt of sin has been settled. Our transgressions have been blotted out and covered over by the blood of Christ and by His perfect righteousness. It is a tremendous source of the comfort for every child of God. Aye, and you can know that comfort today if only you had walked the road of faith and repentance. There's comfort in the person of God. There's comfort in the pardon of God. Thirdly, there is comfort in the presence of God. How good it is to know that God is with His people. He has made the pledge never to leave us nor forsake us. That is a pledge that God has made. It's in the book. He has said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. Now that's His promise to me. And that is His promise to you. Epimeyer said the darkness is sometimes too dense for us to be able to see Christ. But faith can always be sure that he is there, not because of the evidence of sense or feeling, but because he has said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. He cannot break his word. He cannot. God has promised to be with us. Let's develop it. God has promised to be with us in life. That is comforting. The Christian does not travel through this weary, sinful world alone. But the believer has a divine companion to accompany them through all of the valleys and over all the mountains that they come to traverse on their earthly pilgrimage. He made the promise, though I am with you always, even on to the end of the world. Have you not proven that reality in your life, child of God? Here you are. I'm looking down into this congregation. I'm understanding as the pastor, as the minister. I'm looking down and I see individuals and you've been through. You've been through the valley this year. And you've been through trouble and trial and heartache. And maybe no one else in the congregation knows. And yet the wonderful thing is that your Lord was with you. And you proved it, didn't you? Whenever you went in for that operation, He was with you. And whenever that sorrow came upon you and into your family circle and that bereavement, was He not with you? And you have proven the reality of these things in your life. God has been with you through everything. And through everything that you've faced in your life, He's been with you since you first trusted in Christ. And he's never left you, never once. Oh, we have left him. We have strayed from him. Of course we have. But his eye has been on us. A little bit like the prodigal's father, looking out, watching for the returning son. The father was always looking for the son. And God's eyes are upon his people. God's heart is towards his people. And how glad we are of that. The hymn writer said, And so he's promised to be with us in life, his presence, but he has also promised to be with us in death. And that's comforting. What did the Psalmist David write in Psalm 23? Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. You know, it's one of the privileges of a minister to sit beside the bed of a dying one. The family are more than happy for the minister to be there to watch on, to witness that solemn scene. And I've been there on a number of occasions. And I saw the peace of God's child going through Death's River. Why? Because God has been with them. Oh, we'll have to tread Death's Valley, maybe some before the year is out. I think of a dear lady connected with another congregation. I think of that dear woman and her loved one just dropped dead yesterday. sorrow, and death has come. And we'll have to trade death's valley. We'll have to say farewell to our loved ones, to our friends, but there'll be one that's there to meet us, and one that will be there walking beside us, and there's one that's going to bring us safely through that valley, and it's God himself. You see, God is with his people when they come to die. What have you to fear then when the Almighty has promised you to convey you through death's valley and bring you safely into the house of God, having steered you through many valleys of life? Will he abandon you in that valley? Will he leave you to chart your own way through life's final valley? Never. As he was with us in every other valley, he'll be with you in life's final valley, that close and dear companion to his children. Oh, but sinner, who have you? Who have you to bring you through that valley? You know not the shepherd. You know not Christ. And you'll have to face the darkness of death's valley alone. You'll enter into hell's darkness alone. Have you thought about that? God has promised to be with us, not only in life and not only in death, but also in eternity. Revelation 21, 3, And I heard a great voice out of heaven, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them and be their God. What a comfort to know that we'll be with him. all of eternity. And He'll lead us from fountain to fountain to drink of that living water that flows from those very fountains. And so there's comfort in the presence of God. Very quickly, and I have a number to get through here, there's comfort in the purpose and in the plan of God. As Christians, we believe that all things that occur in this world and all things that occur in our lives is ordered by a sovereign God. Fate, luck, Chants are not words that the Christian has in their vocabulary. Rather, this is the phrases that the Christian speaks of, the counsel of his own will, eternal purposes, the determined counsel, All biblical phrases that are employed by the Christian who is comforted with the reality that all things are working together for our good and for the glory of God. All that befalls the Christian must then be seen as being sovereignly and ordained by God. Every trial, every valley, every tear, every disappointment, as well as every joy, and every mountain, and every smile, and every blessing. Our God is too wise to err in His dealings with us, and too loving to cause His child a needless tear. Now that does not mean that we're going to understand all that occurs in our lives, but it does mean that God, sovereign God, in His inscrutable wisdom, has so fit to bring such things to pass. We may not be able to understand why. But we buy in submission before the sovereign will of a sovereign God and say, not my will, but thine. Joseph Charles Philpott, he said, God has sovereign supreme disposal over all events and circumstances. He says, if we could see by the eye of faith that every foe and every fear, every difficulty and perplexity, every trying or painful circumstances, every looked-for or unlooked-for event, every source of anxiety, whether present or in prospect, are all under His dominion and at His sovereign disposal, what a load of anxiety and care would be taken off our shoulders. In the dark season of life, there is no truth that is more needed to comfort and to sustain the downcast Christian that God has purposed and planned all things. Comfort your heart, child of God, with the comfort that God is performing the things that He has appointed for you. There's comfort in the peace of God. Now the ungodly, they know nothing of this peace. Isaiah says that the wicked are like the troubled sea that never rests. However, the Christian is the one who is possessed with a peace that passeth all understanding. Being at peace with God, because we've been justified, means that we can then have hearts that are filled with God's peace, even when the storms of life around us are raging, and God's comfort or God's peace brings comfort to our lives, to know that we are in and at peace with God, and that he will keep us in perfect peace when our minds are stayed upon him. Think of it. You can't go into full-ons. You can't go into Tesco's or Asda or Sainsbury's. You can't go to even an online store and purchase peace. You can't lift it off the shelf. There's a jar of peace. And I'll just take a jar of peace and that'll bring me to a place of peace and tranquility and calm. It is a commodity that you cannot buy. And yet it is something that the God of peace, Hebrews 13, 20, and the Prince of peace, Isaiah 9, 6, and the Spirit of peace, Ephesians 4, 3, it is something that they want to give you freely. Peace I give on to you, not as the world give I on to you. Let not your heart be troubled. neither let it be afraid. Comfort to know that I am at peace with God. Comfort to know that the peace of God rules in my heart." There's comfort in the promises of God. Paul speaks in Romans 15 verse 4 about the comfort of the scriptures, and surely one of the comforts that we find in the scriptures, apart from the person of Jesus Christ and the revelation of God's plan of redemption, are the many promises that we find contained within His Word. There's promises for those who are guilty. There's promises for those who are lonely. There's promises for those who are depressed. There's promises for those who are directionless in life. There's promises for those who are sorrowing. Promises for those who are sad. Promises for those who are hopeless. It's wonderfully comforting to know. And God brings a promise to your mind that God has spoken to your heart. I found it this week. I woke up this one morning and found myself, don't know why, full of fear. And God just brought me to the words in the book of Psalms, what time I'm afraid. I will trust in thee. I will trust and not be afraid." Oh, what a wonderful thing to know when God speaks into your soul. Do you know anything about it? Are you speaking terms with the Lord? Has God spoken a promise into your soul? Maybe it's for a loved one. There's comfort to be derived in it, the comfort that's found in the promises of God. A right word for the right time. Maybe this is a word for you. A message for you today. One final thought. There's comfort in the provision of God. Oh yes, we think about temporal provisions. We thank God for health and strength, for daily bread, soundness of mind. We thank God for all of these things. But what about the spiritual provision? That spiritual provision that God has made for us as fallen creatures. forgiveness of sins, reconciliation to God, a place in the family of God, a place in the work of God, an eternal home that awaits us beyond the grave, comfort in the cross, comfort in the blood, comfort in the atonement, comfort in the reconciliation with God through the death of His Son. comfort in the spiritual provision that God has made for his people. These are but a few of God's consolations and comforts, the comfort of his person, the comfort of God's pardon, God's presence, God's purpose, God's peace, God's promises, God's provision. I'm sure you could add many more. Maybe you'll add another one on your way out and tell me another one and I can add it to the message. But in light of them, let's come to answer now Elipaz's question. It's been hanging there, it's been waiting for an answer. It's been waiting for an answer for centuries. Let's give the answer to the question, are the consolations of God, are they small with thee? Are they of little value to you? Are they insignificant to you? We would have to say, no, Elipaz. The consolations of God are not small with us, but rather they're quite the opposite. The comforts of God are of great value to us. In fact, they are invaluable to us because without them I couldn't even rise another day. I couldn't even live in this world another hour. And so, Christian, the next time you find yourself passing through some difficulties, through some trouble, through some valley, why not then recall to your mind some of God's consolations, some of God's comforts? And you'll find that whenever you do that, you will be greatly comforted by them, and your heart will be consoled as you dwell upon the comforts that are found in your God. Do not try and find comfort and consolation in anything in this earth, but look to heaven, look to God, and may God help you, and may God help me to find our comfort in God alone. May God bless his word. Let's bow in prayer. Will I trust this message has helped somebody? I trust it has helped many. Maybe you need a little consoling today. Maybe you need it a little comforting today. Maybe even this week has been difficult for you. You find it hard and difficult. Well, may God comfort your hearts through his word. Our gracious and loving Father, we do thank thee, O God, that thou hast called us to comfort ye, comfort ye my people. There are times, Lord, that we just need that word to draw, from which we can draw comfort from, Lord, no better place could we draw comfort from, no other place, than from our God today. How good thou art, how gracious, how loving, how patient, how long-suffering, how merciful. O God, we pray that we may derive all the comfort that we need for the life's battles and for our personal experience as we move through this world. We find in thee the comfort that is needed until we find ourselves comforted in thy presence as we've left this world behind and we go to the place where there are no more trials, no more troubles, no more heartache, but forever we are with the Lord. Rejoice that thou art not only the consolation of Israel, but thou art the consolation of thy people. O grant, dear Father, comfort and consolation to thy saints today. And for those who know not these things, we pray that they might come to know the Savior. And today, Lord, that they might repent of sin, believe the gospel, lest they find themselves eternally comfortless in that place of everlasting fire and everlasting punishment. where no comfort is ever experienced. Oh, answer prayer, we offer these petitions in and through the Savior's lovely name.