spent time praying and preparing
and planning for this meeting. But we always know that we're
completely dependent upon the Lord to bless it. Paul said,
I planted an Apollos water, but God gave the increase and except
the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it.
So we begin this meeting by acknowledging our complete dependence upon
him and rejoicing in the promises that he has made to meet with
his people. David said, I was glad when they
said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord. So we
come with a very hopeful expectation of our God who is faithful to
his promises. And we're thankful that you're
here. It's good and it's pleasant for brethren to dwell together
in unity. And one of the reasons we have
these meetings is so that we can have a time together with
our brethren from other churches. So if you're here visiting, welcome. We're glad you're here. If you'll
look in your pew, you'll find a spiral hymnal, and Tom's going
to come and lead us in one of our favorite hymns, one of my
favorite hymns, number 21, Ordered in All Things Ensure, The Covenant. Let's stand together. Tom, you
come please. God the Father and the Son and
the Spirit, three in one. In eternal ages past, made a
covenant sure and fast, God my Father chose His own in the person
of His Son, and ordained that I should be one with him eternally. God the Son agreed to come in
the flesh to bring me home. He would keep God's holy law
and retrieve me from the fall. Christ in love so willingly stood
as my great surety. For my price he offered blood
to appease the wrath of God the Spirit, heavenly dove, promised
to come down in love, bringing life and peace and grace to the
chosen, purchased race. He seeks the lost, heals the
lame. ? And he brings us to the Lamb
? By his mighty sovereign call ? God's elect are gathered all
? This poor sinner is secure ? For God's covenant will endure
It is sealed by God's own word. By his spirit and his blood,
blessed holy covenant God, I am yours by ties of blood, ties
of grace and ties of love. Hold me to my God above. Please be seated. Let's open our Bibles together
to Psalm 130. Psalm 130. Pray the Lord will give each
and every one of us the grace to believe what we just sang. Covenant of grace, eternal, established
between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, securing
the hope of our salvation. And here's our cry, Psalm 130. Out of the depths have I cried
unto thee, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice. Let thine
ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications. If thou,
Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? If every single sin of every
one of God's people was not put away by the sacrifice that Christ
made, if he finds one sin on any of us, we'll not be able
to stand in his presence. What hope we have in knowing
that Christ bore all the sins of all of his people in his body
upon that tree and put them away once and for all by the sacrifice
of himself. The sacrifice that Christ made
is our all our hope. And that's why we can read verse
four. But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be
feared. I wait for the Lord, my soul
doth wait, and in his word do I hope. My soul waiteth for the
Lord more than they that watch for the morning, I say, more
than they that watch for the morning, let Israel hope in the
Lord, for with the Lord there is mercy, and with him is plenteous
redemption, and he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities. Let's pray together. Our merciful, gracious Heavenly
Father, we find great hope in knowing that we are, for Christ's
sake, able to come before the throne of grace, confident that
his flesh was rent, the veil was torn, the holies of holies
was opened, and that you've called us to come. Lord, we pray for
your Holy Spirit to give us that ability to respond to your call,
to believe all that you've said, to rest all our hope in that
dear son. Thank you for this time. Lord,
surely all that we've done and all that we do here will be in
vain except except you meet with us and be pleased to manifest
your grace and your glory, except you send your spirit and power,
enable us to speak the truth and enable us to hear. Lord,
we ask that you would do that. We pray, Lord, that you'd be
glorified, that your people would be saved. We ask it in Christ's
name. Amen. Tom's gonna come and lead us
in another hymn. And, ah, I'm sorry. Chris and Vicki Cunningham are
going to do special music for us. Thank you all. Thank you
for coming. Well, since you're here. Shrieking, smitten, and afflicted,
see him dying. I'm so sorry. My fault. Forgot
this. It's a little low without this. All right, sorry about that. Frickin' smitten and afflicted,
see him dying on the tree. ? Tis the Christ by man rejected
? ? Yes, my soul, tis He, tis He ? ? Tis the long-expected
prophet ? ? David's son, yet David's Lord ? By His Son, God
now has spoken, tis the true and faithful Word. Tell me, Was there ever grief like his? Friends through fear, his cause
disowning, Foes insulting his distress. Many hands were raised toward
him, One would interpose to save,
but the deepest stroke that pierced him was the stroke that justice
gave. He who thinketh sin but lightly,
Nor supposeth the evil great, Here may view its nature rightly,
Here its guilt may estimate. Mark the sacrifice appointed
See who bears the awful load Tis the word the Lord's anointed
Son of man and Son of God Here we have a firm foundation,
here the refuge of the lost. Christ, the rock of our salvation,
is the name of which we boast. Lamb of God, for sinners wounded,
Sacrificed to cancel guilt, None shall ever be confounded, Who
on Him their hope have built. Thank you, Chris and Vicki. David and Teresa have been good
friends for many years, and we're so thankful that Lord worked
it out for them to be able to be here. I've enjoyed all the
times I've had with both of you. And David, conversations we've
had and the fellowship we've enjoyed has been a real blessing
to me. and I'm looking forward to the message the Lord's put
on your heart. David Edmondson pastors Bible
Baptist Church in Madisonville, Kentucky, and he's gonna come
now and bring gospel message. You come, David. Good evening, everyone. Didn't
that song prepare your heart for worship? I had someone ask
me, an old musician friend one time, who my favorite singer
was, singers were, and I said, Chris and Vicki Cunningham. And they said, well, I don't,
I'm not familiar with them. I said, well, you don't run in
the right circles. Thank you for that. and what
an honor and a privilege it is to be here. Thank you for inviting
me, Greg. Let's begin this evening in the
Gospel of Matthew, chapter 15, please. I've entitled this message,
or titled this message, Three Effectual Requests. Speaking
of three effectual prayers found in the scriptures. Now the word
effectual means just what you think it does, effective. It
means that these requests, these prayers, were successful in producing
the intended result. And the intended result of these
three requests were and are help, salvation, and mercy. And to receive help that I might
have salvation, to receive salvation that I might have Christ, And
to obtain help and salvation and Christ, it takes great mercy.
This evening, I want to give you three short effectual prayers,
solemn request for help, for salvation, and for mercy. And they always, always receive
a favorable response from God. You know, I've heard it said
for many years that prayer changes things, but you know, really
that's not so. It's the God to whom we pray
that changes things. If it was prayer alone that changed
things, soon we'd be trusting in our prayers instead of the
Lord and Savior who grants them. I'd have you notice as we look
at these requests together, they're always accompanied when requested
with great need. I heard your pastor, Brother
Greg, say something that I've never forgot. Greg said, people
do not come to Christ because they have a lack of interest.
They don't come to Christ because they have a lack of need. And
that is so true. Here in Matthew chapter 15, we
find a particular woman that comes to the Lord Jesus crying
out of great need. And you know the story well.
Let's begin reading here in verse 22, Matthew chapter 15. And behold, a woman of Canaan
came out of the same coast and cried unto him, the Lord Jesus,
saying, have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David. My daughter
is grievously vexed with the devil. But he answered her, not
a word. And his disciples came and besought
him saying, send her away for she cries after us. But he answered
and said, I'm not sent but into the lost sheep of the house of
Israel. Then came she and worshiped him
saying, Lord, help me. Lord, help me. Simple requests out of need. She came crying for help. She's
an outsider. She's an alien from the commonwealth
of Israel. She's a stranger from the covenants
of promise. She was a Canaanite. She was
a Greek. She was a Gentile. She was a
Syrophoenician woman. And the Lord told her, I'm not
sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And the
Lord doesn't even speak to this woman. Verse 23 says that he
answered her not a word. He spoke to his disciples, but
he didn't speak to her, but she heard him. And why did he not
respond to her? Because she was an outsider.
She was not of the house of Israel. By nature, friends, that's every
one of us. Did she go away discouraged?
Did she leave without help? Did she leave without her request
being granted? Did she say what many say today? There's nothing to this Jesus
character. No. Verse 25 says, then. When? When the Lord told her
that he couldn't help her, then she came and worshiped him, making
the solemn request known. And what was it? Lord, help me. You know, there are some men
that I hear pray often, and even in our small church there in
Madisonville that have a real gift for prayer, and I admit
that I'm not one of them, but I have learned to pray a prayer
that always gets the Lord's attention. Lord, help me. Lord, save me. Have mercy on me. And did you
notice instead of leaving, she came nearer. Instead of leaving
mad and upset, she came near and began to worship him. She
couldn't solve the dilemma of the destiny of her race. She
couldn't change the outcome of her nation, but there was something
she could do. She could pray. She could ask
the Lord to help her. And that's what she did. She
couldn't change the fact that she wasn't a sheep. She couldn't,
as a shepherd to Israel, he couldn't help her. But as Lord over all,
maybe he just might. The disciples said, send her
away, but she didn't leave. And the Lord puts her here to
the test. Look what he says to her in verse 26. But he answered
and said, it's not meat. It's not right to take the children's
bread and to cast it to dogs. The Lord gives a reply to her
pleading, but it's not a favorable one. What she requested was the
help that Christ would give to children, but not to dogs. No
privileges were given to them who had no right to them. She,
as a Canaanite, had no right to the bread that was reserved
for God's children. And the Canaanites' heathen character
made them like unclean dogs. For generations, these ungodly
men and women knew no more of God than the dogs that roamed
the streets. Surely these words of the Lord
would discourage her. The disciples must have thought,
well, she'll leave now. But did she? Well, she agrees
with the Lord, she takes sides with God against herself. And
in verse 27, she said, truth Lord, truth Lord, yet the dogs
eat the crumbs which fall from their master's table. Now the
word our Lord uses here in verse 27, that is, interpreted dog. In the Strong's Concordance,
it's defined as a puppy or a little dog. I got to thinking about
this. This woman picked up on what
the Lord said, and I read from Jewish historians that in Eastern
custom, dogs were considered to be unclean animals. But oftentimes
the masters of the house would allow a puppy or a little dog
to be a playmate for their children. And therefore puppies, small
dogs, were often allowed into the house. And as dogs do, they
often lay under the table and pick up the fragments of food
that dropped from the master's table. Now, if a Gentile dog
is what she is, She may not be considered as one of the flock
of Israel, one of God's sheep, but just maybe this needy soul
would be tolerated as a little dog who's allowed the crumbs
that fall from the master's table. And that's the way every child
of God feels. Lord, just a crumb from your
table will be sufficient. Great help and mercy it would
be to her though it was just fragment of the blessing for
those of Israel. But what did she do? She begged
to have these crumbs of grace as the dog she owned herself
to be. Friends, it's when we accept
the worst character that the Bible declares us to be that
we find reason for hope. This speaks of those sick and
need of help and need of mercy and salvation to whom the great
physician came to save. Are you needy like this woman?
Has God shown you your need? Do you need help like she did?
Do you own yourself to be unworthy, an unworthy dog? Cry for help. Cry for him. And if you don't
at first get it, cry all the more like Bartimaeus. Bartimaeus,
be quiet. You're troubling the master.
He cried all the more. I can just hear him get louder
with each request. Lord, have mercy on me. Jesus,
our son of David, have mercy on me. And the Lord heard him,
and the Lord stood still. This woman came closer and worshipped
the one, the only one, who could give it. It's a simple request. Lord, help me. Lord, help me. Look back at chapter 14 of Matthew. In verse 22, this is a very familiar story
also. The Lord constrained, that word
means compelled, urged and obliged his disciples to get in a ship
and go before him to the other side while he sent the multitudes
away and they didn't want to leave him. He had to constrain
them to get in the ship. He didn't tell them how he would
get to the other side. And in verse 23, we read, and
when the Lord sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain
apart to pray. And when the evening was come,
he was there alone. Now that the crowd and the disciples
were gone, our Lord could take his rest. How did he rest? He finds his rest in communion
with his father, and he's now alone, yet he's not alone. That's
how every believer truly finds rest. communion with their father
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 24, but the ship was now
in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves for the wind was contrary. And oftentimes the wind gushed
down the gullies between the mountains and caused a peril
for small ships. And the disciples were now far
from land. It says they were in the midst
of the sea. It was equal distance to go back as it was to go forward. They're in the midst of the sea.
Their ships tossed with waves and the winds are contrary. How
much their case resembles ours. The storms of life and the winds
and the waves that sin brings strands us between two shores. And we're held between the shore
endeavoring to leave and reach the one that we're striving to
reach. But we need not distress. This is the Lord's doing. Since
the wind and the sea obey His voice, it was the Lord that sent
this wind and these troubled waves. He's the one who sends
them to us. And we find great comfort in
that, don't we? He sends them for our good, the
believer's good. that being their spiritual, eternal
good. And He Himself always comes to
help them. He comes to those who love the
Lord, who are thee called according to His purpose. And in verse
25 we read, And in the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went
unto them, walking on the sea. And though we're not told exactly
When the disciples departed in the ship, we know that it's in
the fourth watch sometime after 3 a.m. in the morning, and the
disciples must have thought, where is the Lord? Where is he?
Don't we often think the same? Trials and troubles come our
way, and the heavens seem like brass unto us, and we say, where's
the Lord? They had been a great deal of
the night at sea, tossed with these waves and in great danger. And then we're told it was then
that Jesus went unto them. I'm sure they must have thought,
where's the Lord gonna get a ship at this hour? Never fret, dear
disciple of the Lord. Christ will make his own way.
Whether he comes for a single lamb or the whole fold of God,
the Lord will appear in his own chosen hour in his own appointed
way. And in verse 26, when the disciples
saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, it's a
spirit. And they cried out for fear. And as you know, many of
the disciples were old fishermen, sailors. They didn't have much
fear of these natural forces. They had seen these storms many
times, but they never saw anything like they saw this night. Was
it a spirit? Was it an apparition in the night? Was it a demon walking on the
water? Many Jews believed in such things. Had the disciples
now seen a phantom of the night? No. Verse 27, but straightway
Jesus spake unto them saying, be of good cheer, it is I, be
not afraid. Can you imagine the relief that
they found in that majestic familiar voice? What courage came from
his presence? It's I, it's me. Be not afraid. What do we have
to fear when our Lord rules the tempest? He's not a devil or
a demon, not an enemy out to do them harm. This was Christ
who could end all fear. This was the master. This was
the savior. This was their redeemer. And
their fear seems to vanish. Their faith seems to increase
so much that Peter desires to come to Christ on the water.
Verse 28, and Peter answered and said, Lord, if it be thou,
bid me come unto thee on the water. And of course, it's Peter
first to speak. After all, he's the most impulsive. But I've learned the hard way
that the first to speak is not always the wisest. His fears
seem to be vanished, but not completely, because he still
uses that unbelieving word, if. He says, if it be you, bid me
to come to thee on the water. Was this an act of faith, or
was this a foolish request? Well, maybe a bit of both. We
too have requested foolish things. We too have had our water walking
experiences and it was nothing but God's grace that upheld us. Verse 29, and he, the Lord Jesus
said, come. And when Peter was come down
out of the ship, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. The
Lord is about to teach Peter here a very practical lesson.
And Peter is, about to teach us a very spiritual one. Peter
asks to be bidden to come. He may come and he does come.
He leaves the boat, he treads the way, he's walking on his
way towards the Lord. Beloved, if we have courage enough
to take the Lord at His word, we can do anything and everything.
And because Peter did, there were now two walking on the water. But it was short-lived. and it's
there that Peter teaches us a great spiritual lesson. Look at verse
30, but, as Greg was reading that psalm a moment ago, but
is often a wonderful word in the scripture, but God is rich
in mercy. But here it's not so much so,
but when he saw When he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid,
and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, and here's the second
request, always effectual, Lord, save me. Three words. Lord, help me. Lord, save me. But when Peter saw the wind boisterous,
that word boisterous just simply means strong. These were strong
winds. Peter was walking on the water,
but he saw the wind was strong. The wind was strong and blowed
against him. The waves and balance beat against
him. His heart began to fail him.
His feet began to fail. And down he began to go. He was
sinking, but he was only beginning to sink, it says. And in the
beginning of his sinking, he still had time to cry. And what was that cry? Lord,
save me. Lord, save me. His prayer was
short, but it was full and it was effective. Now, think about
this, friends. Peter was near his Lord when
he was sinking than when he was walking. And I can assure you
that when he began to sink, he was reaching towards the Lord.
You know he was. He's the only one that could
help. He's the only one that can save. We're always nearer
to our Lord when we're in need. Need will do one of two things.
It'll cause you to run to Christ, or it'll cause you to look within
yourself. It always causes the true believer
to run to Him. The true believer will always
cry out to his Savior. Peter didn't have time for a
long, eloquent prayer here. He got straight to the point.
Lord, save me. Verse 31, and immediately, Jesus
stretched forth his hand and caught him and said unto him,
O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? Well, that
describes me, little faith, often doubting. And that brings us,
friends, to that third and last effectual request and prayers
to the Lord that we can make. It's found in Luke chapter 18,
if you'd turn there with me. Another very familiar passage
of scriptures, passage of scriptures, excuse me. In Luke chapter 18,
verse nine, the Lord here tells us a parable. But let's take notice of who
he tells this parable to. Verse nine tells us, and he,
the Lord Jesus, spake this parable unto certain men and women alike,
which trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised
others. Here instruction is given to
those who trust in themselves that they're righteous. There
are many today who trust in themselves that they're righteous. Now what
does that actually mean? Well, the grounds of their trust
and their confidence in being righteous before God is in themselves. That was once me. their hearts, their goodness,
their outward holiness, their moral behavior, their religious
exercises, their generous giving, whatever it might be. They think
that's what makes them righteous. And this does nothing but expose
men and women's pride and vanity and arrogance and self-confidence,
and it's completely contrary to God's way of making sinners
righteous. And it disannulls and it cancels
the work of righteousness that Christ provided in both his life
and his death. It causes men and women to arise
in ignorance and arrogance of the perfection of God's holy
justice. You see, anything that we do
to appease God has to be perfect to be accepted. To think that
we ourselves can provide a perfect righteousness It causes men and
women to despise others who are not as externally righteous as
they themselves are. You've heard it said many times,
so-and-so is holier than thou. That's exactly what they take
themselves to be. And this is truly the attitude
of those who trust in themselves for righteousness. They see themselves
as being superior, but not the child of God. The child of God
has been taught some things. They see themselves as Paul did,
less than the least of all saints. And in this prayer, we see both
attitudes revealed, the one of the righteous and the one of
the self-righteous. And let me say also, I don't
believe that there's a more instructive passage in all the scripture
on prayer than in these verses. I know Matthew chapter six, the
Lord gives us an example on how to pray. He gives us a model
of prayer, is how we should pray. But here we have the prayers
of two men who went up to the temple for that very reason,
to pray. We have two prayers, one wrong
and one right. And it's clearly seen in the
results of the two prayers. One went home justified. made
righteous in Christ and the other didn't. Worthy of our notice. Verse 10,
two men went up into the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee and
the other a publican. And I know you know these things
well. Pharisee, one of the most highly respected and honored
religious sect among the Jews and a publican. One of the most
despised professions and people among the Jews. And in verse
11, the Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank
Thee that I'm not as other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers,
or even as this publican. The Pharisee stands to pray.
He does so for one reason only. He stands to be seen and to be
heard when he should have prayed quietly and secretly. And the
Lord said in another place, when thou prayest, thou shall not
be as the hypocrites are, For they love to pray standing in
the synagogue, and in the corners of the street, that they may
be what? Seen a man. Verily I say unto
you, they have their reward. But when thou prayest, enter
into thy closet, and when thou hast shut the door, pray to the
Father which is in secret, and the Father which seeth thee in
secret shall reward thee openly. The Pharisee prayed in verse
12, I fast twice in a week, I give tithes of all that I possess.
He was praying thus with himself. He wasn't praying that God would
hear him, he was boasting so that others could. He's dressed
to be seen a man. They love to wear their robes
and their phylacteries stuffed with scriptures. He prayed to be heard by men.
He was thanking God that he wasn't like other men. He was letting
everyone know that he was not like other men. I'm not an extortioner. I'm not an adulterer. And I'm
certainly not like this publican. He wasn't thanking God for his
love and mercy and grace. He was thanking Him that he wasn't
like other men. He wasn't thanking God for what
God had done for him. He was reminding everyone of
all that he had done for God. I fast twice a week. I get tithes
of all that I possess. Do you think God was impressed? This man speaking was not a prayer.
It was more like a resume that summarized all that he had done
and was doing for God. You know, I hear people today
talk a lot about what their church is doing, what they're doing. The gospel is what God has done
for wretched dogs. What about the prayer of the
publican? Verse 13, and the publican standing afar off. He wouldn't
even lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his
breast, saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. That's the third
effectual request we have. God, be merciful to me, a sinner. Lots to be said of the publican's
posture here. He was standing afar off. He
wouldn't lift up his eyes. He had no desire to be seen or
heard. He was ashamed of what he was. He doesn't speak of himself. He's come for one reason, to
obtain mercy. He didn't lift up his hands in
praise. He wouldn't even lift up his
eyes. He used his hands to smote upon
his breasts as to say, Lord, take this wicked heart of mine
and give me a new one. He used his hands to point to
his real problem. It's my heart. He used his words
to confess his sin. Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner. two different men from two different
walks of life, praying two different prayers with two different attitudes
and having two different outcomes. In verse 14, the Lord concludes
what those outcomes were. He said, I tell you, this man,
speaking of the publican, he went down to his house justified,
justified rather than the other. For everyone that exalteth himself
shall be abased, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted." Are you trusting in yourself
that you're righteous? Or are you trusting in Christ's
righteousness freely given to you? Folks today have made the
gospel, as I said, about what they have done or are doing for
God. The gospel is the good news of
what God has done for wretched depraved sinners. I'm interested
in that because that's what I am. I'm a wretched, depraved sinner. So in closing, let me give you
six quick remarks about these effectual requests, these prayers.
Lord, help me. Lord, save me. God, have mercy
on me, the sinner. First, they're very brief prayers.
Mr. Spurgeon once said that many
pray longer when they have nothing to say. I suppose that's true. Some pray as if they're teaching
and instructing the Lord in doctrine. Secondly, though brief, these
prayers are yet wonderfully comprehensive. They're suitable for every occasion. Peter cried, Lord, save me. You
know, when Satan desired to sift him as wheat, that would have
been a good effectual prayer. Lord, save me. When he denied
the Lord three times and wept bitterly, that would have been
an appropriate prayer. Lord, save me. There was a man
in our church in Madisonville right before he died. I'll never
forget it. He said, Lord, if I'm not saved,
please save me now. When that man died, I don't think
there was any doubt that the Lord had granted his affection
prayer. When Peter was in the end led
to be crucified himself, there would not have been a more effective
prayer than Lord save me. Thirdly, these prayers were very
direct. When we pray, we shouldn't beat around the bush. We should
get to the point. We should address the matter
at hand. Lord, help me. I need help. Lord, save me. I need to be saved.
Lord, have mercy on me. We're mercy beggars. And fourthly,
these prayers acknowledge who does the helping, who does the
saving and the giving of mercy. And it also acknowledges who
it is that needs these things. Lord, help. Lord, save me. God, be merciful
to me. These are personal prayers to
God from me, from you to God. I still need help. Still need
help. I still need mercy and I'm being
saved and I still need his salvation. And then fifthly, these prayers
were urgent prayers. Lord, if you don't help me, I
won't be helped. Lord, if you don't save me, I
won't be saved. God, if you don't grant me mercy,
I'm gonna perish. So in closing, I want to ask
you the most urgent question that has ever been asked. What
think ye of Christ? Whose son is he? He's the only one that can help,
he's the only one that can save, and he's the only one that can
grant mercy. And then number six, lastly,
these prayers were effectual. To the woman, our Lord said,
O woman, great is thy faith, be it unto thee even as thou
wilt. To Peter, he immediately stretched
forth his hand and caught him. Of the publican, Christ said,
I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather
than the other. Effectual, effectual. So, do you need help? Do you
need salvation? Do you need mercy? Ask and it shall be given you.
Seek and you shall find. knock and it shall be open to
you. These are prayers that are sure
to be answered. Thank you.