EVERLASTING PRINCIPLES 1 COR 13:13 HOW MANY OF YOU WANT TO OBTAIN THINGS THAT ARE GOING TO LAST? TODAY YOU AND I PERHAPS MAY HAVE ACCOMPLISHED, GOALS, OBJECTIVES AND THINGS; EXCEPT THAT ONE DAY ALL THESE THINGS ARE GOING TO PERISH. FOR EXAMPLE WE HAVE HOMES, CARS, BANK ACCOUNTS AND SOME OF US ARE BLESSED WITH FAMILIES; PERHAPS A SPOUSE AND CHILDREN, FRIENDS, ETC. HOWEVER ALL THESE BLESSINGS ONE DAY ARE GOING TO FADE AWAY. THE DAY WE DIE, WE WON’T BE ABLE TO TAKE ANY OF THESE BLESSINGS WITH US. WE ALL HAVE PRECIOUS RELATIONSHIPS THAT WE MUST LEAVE BEHIND WHEN OUR TIME COMES TO CROSS TO THE OTHER SIDE. WHAT I AM TRYING TO SAY THIS EVENING IS THAT ALL THAT WE SEE AND TOUCH, IS NOT GOING TO LAST FOREVER. LISTEN THIS IS NOT A LET ME SCARE OR DEPRESSED YOU KIND OF SERMON, BUT RATHER A MESSAGE THAT I AM HOPING WILL PREPARE YOU. SO WHEN THAT DAY COMES WHAT YOU LEAVE BEHIND IS NOT LEFT UNDONE, OR IMCOMPLETE. THE WORD OF GOD GIVES US HOPE AND OFFERS US THINGS THAT ARE GOING TO LAST, EVEN WAY AFTER WE ARE GONE, THESE THINGS WILL STILL REMAIN. SOME PEOPLE LIKE TO CALL THESE THINGS A LEGACY, BUT I AM AFRAID EVEN LEGACIES EVENTUALLY FADE AWAY FROM THE MEMORIES OF THOSE WHO LIVE ON AFTER US. THERE IS ONLY A FEW THINGS THAT WILL REMAIN AND AS WE LOOK AT GOD’S WORD WE CAN SEE WHY. LESS TAKE A BIBLICAL POINT OF VIEW THIS EVENING AND SEE THESE THINGS AS GOD SEES THEM. 1 Cor 13:13 Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love. NLT I READ A STORY ABOUT A MAN WHO WAS WALKING WHEN HE SAW A CAR PARKED, AND IN FRONT OF THE CAR WAS A PLACARD THAT READ, “JUST MARRIED.” NOW WHAT SEEMED UNUSUAL ABOUT THIS BILL BOARD IS THAT BENEATH THESE WORDS WERE A PICTURE OF AN ANGRY WOMAN AND A BITTER MAN. BENEATH THE PICTURE WERE THESE WORDS WRITTEN “WHEN YOU GET WHAT YOU WANT, YOU REALIZE YOU DON’T WANT IT.” THIS IS BEEN THE STORY OF MILLIONS OF PEOPLE ALL ACROSS THE WORLD. ONCE THEY HAVE OBTAINED THE THINGS THAT THEY ONCE WANTED VERY BADLY, AND THEY HAVE IT, THEY NO LONGER WANT IT. THIS HOWEVER IS ONLY TRUE, WHEN WHAT YOU WANT IS OUTSIDE OF GOD’S WILL; OR WHAT YOU OBTAINED YOU DID SO FOR ALL THE WRONG REASONS. AS PEOPLE ACHIEVE THEIR GOAL, THEY SOON FIND OUT THAT THIS IS NOT WHAT THEY WERE TRULY LOOKING FOR. THROUGH THE YEARS I HAVE SEEN MANY RELATIONSHIPS FAIL. WHY DID THEY FAIL, SOME FAIL BECAUSE THEY TURN THEIR BACK ON GOD IN ORDER TO GET WHAT THEY WERE AFTER. OTHERS WENT AND GOD MARRIED BECAUSE THEY WERE LONELY. OTHERS THOUGHT THAT IF THEY GOT TOGETHER WITH SO AND SO, THAT PERSON WAS GOING TO MAKE THEM HAPPY. I WON’T SPEND MUCH TIME ON THIS ISSUE, BUT WE HAVE COME TO UNDERSTAND THAT THE ONLY ONE THAT CAN MAKE SOMEONE HAPPY IS GOD. ONLY JESUS CAN FILL THE VOID IN OUR HEARTS. FOR THAT REASON WHEN EXPECTATIONS ARE NOT MET BY A PERSON, SUDDENLY PEOPLE FEEL THAT PERHAPS THAT EITHER THEY MARRIED THE WRONG PERSON; OR THAT THEIR ESPECIAL ONE IS SOMEWHERE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE RAINBOW. THEY BECOME DISSAPPOINTED BY THE OUTCOME AND BECOME WHAT THE PICTURE OF THE PLACARD IN OUR ILLUSTRATION SAID, “WHEN YOU GET WHAT YOU WANT YOU DON’T WANT IT.” COUPLES FOR EXAMPLE CAN BECOME BITTER AT EACH OTHER, DISSAPOINTED AND HURT, AND A VICIOUS CYCLE BEGINS THAT ENDS IN DIVORCE. WHILE OTHERS SIMPLY LIVE UNHAPPY, THERE IS A MISERY THAT COMES WHEN TWO PEOPLE ARE AT ODDS WITH EACH OTHER. MARRIED COUPLES ARE NOT THE ONLY ONE’S WHO DISCOVER THIS TRUTH, FAMOUS SINGERS, LIKE ELVIS PRESLEY, AND MANY OTHERS FOUND THIS ALSO TO BE TRUE. ELVIS PRESLEY FOR EXAMPLE CAME OUT OF A CHRISTIAN CHURCH AND BACKSLID IN ORDER TO PURSUE FAME AND RICHES. ONCE THE EXCITEMENT AND NEWNESS WORE OFF, ONCE THE APPLAUSE DIED AND THEY WERE HOME ALONE. THE MOMENT THE SENSATION OF BEING FAMOUS FADE IT AWAY, ALL THAT WAS LEFT WAS JUST THEMSELVES AND THE ONLY WAY TO ESCAPE FROM THIS REALITY WERE BY INDUCING CHEMICALS INTO THEIR BODIES. WHAT WERE ALL THESE PEOPLE LACKING IN THEIR LIVES? CHRIST IS WHAT WAS MISSING. ONCE WE HAVE CHRIST THE INGREDIENTS THE BIBLE SPEAKS FOR A FULL SATISFYING FULFILLING LIFE, WILL COME ONCE WE START SEEKING JESUS WITH ALL OF OUR HEARTS. THESE THREE INGREDIENTS ARE: FAITH, “HOPE AND LOVE.” FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST IS WHAT GIVES US ETERNAL LIFE, BUT WHILE ON EARTH WE NEED FAITH, BUT HOW DO WE OBTAIN HOPE, FAITH AND LOVE? WE OBTAIN HOPE AS WE BELIEVE THE MESSAGE THAT JESUS SAVES. AS THE PREACHER DELIVERS A MESSAGE THAT JESUS DIED ON THE CROSS AND WE BY FAITH BELIEVE THAT MESSAGE, HOPE IS BORN! THEN AS WE OBTAIN BY FAITH, GOD’S GIFT OF SALVATION, OUR HOPE GROWS AS WE LOOK FORWARD TO THE DAY JESUS WILL RETURN FOR HIS CHURCH TO TAKE US HOME. WE COME TO BELIEVE THAT WHAT THE BIBLE IS TELLING US IS TRUE. SOME OF US WERE LONGING FOR A NEW LIFE; I FOR EXAMPLE, THOUGH I WAS ONLY EIGHTEEN I WAS ALREADY BURN OUT BY LIFE. SIN WHILE IT WAS FUN FOR A SEASON, IT LEFT ME EMPTY, ALWAYS WANTING MORE AND I WAS NEVER ABLE TO GET FULL. OTHERS WERE TIRE OF SIN AND THE OUTCOME THAT SIN BRINGS TO THEIR LIVES AND THE GOSPEL CAME TO US AND BROUGHT HOPE INTO OUR LIVES. THIS HOPE WAS BORN OUT OF FAITH IN THE MESSAGE WE HEARD. OUR FAITH THEN GREW AND IS WHAT KEEPS US STRONG WHEN LIFE CIRCUMSTANCES ARE BECOMING OVERWHELMING. IT IS OUR FAITH IN CHRIST THAT KEEPS US FROM GIVING INTO TEMPTATION, AND LEADING US BACK INTO OUR OLD LIVES. WHILE HOPE AND FAITH ARE NECESSARY INGREDIENTS FOR SPIRITUAL GROWTH IT IS OUR LOVE FOR GOD THAT KEEPS US BEEN FAITHFUL. LIKE A FAITHFUL HUSBAND OR A FAITHFUL WIFE, THROUGH CHOICES AND DECISIONS OUR LOVE ALSO KEEPS US FAITHFUL TO CHRIST. WHEN WE CAN LOVE IN SUCH A WAY, NOTHING CAN SEPARATE US FROM HIS LOVE, NOW HAVING KNOWLEDGE OF THESE INGREDIENTS OF COURSE IS NOT ENOUGH. KNOWLEDGE MUST BE APPLIED TO OUR LIVES, IF IT’S GOING TO BE HELPFUL TO US. AS WE ADQUIRE KNOWLEDGE WE BEGIN TO PUT IT TO PRACTICE AND AS WE DO WE BECOME STRONGER. THE BIBLE TELLS US THAT OF ALL OF THESE THREE INGREDIENTS WE NEED IN OUR LIVES, THE MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL INGREDIENTS IS LOVE. AS I HAVE MANY TIMES EXPLAINED, LOVE IS NOT A FEELING OR AN EMOTION, BUT LOVE IS AN ACT OF THE WILL. NOW LOVE IS A VERY RISKY BUSINESS, BECAUSE MANY TIMES WHEN WE LOVE, WE RUN THE RISK OF NOT BEING LOVED BACK. THE STORY IS TOLD ABOUT THIS LITTLE GIRL WHO WAS ABUSED AND NEGLECTED; THIS ONE YOUNG MAN HOWEVER, DECIDED TO TAKE HER IN AND ADOPTED HER. THROUGH TIME THIS LITTLE GIRL BEGUN TO FLOURISHED AND THRIVE IN THE CARE OF THIS YOUNG MAN. THE YOUNG MAN BECAME SO PREOCUPIED WITH TAKING CARE OF THIS LITTLE GIRL THAT HE NEVER MARRIED! THIS LITTLE GIRL BECAME A YOUNG WOMAN, WHO FOUND LOVE AND GOT MARRIED. THROUGH TIME HER NEW HUSBAND BEGUN TO POISON HER MIND, AGAINST HER ADOPTIVE FATHER. AND SOON THE FATHER WAS NOT ALLOWED TO SEE HER. THE FATHER GOT OLD, AND FOR A FEW YEARS HE WOULD GO VISIT HIS DAUGHTER FROM A DISTANCE. STARING FOR HOURS AT THE HOUSE SHE NOW LIVED IN, BUT IN TIME HE BECAME ILL AND COULD NO LONGER WALK THE DISTANCE. ONE DAY HE WENT TO HIS CLOSET AND PULL A LITTLE DRESS THAT ONCE BELONG TO HIS ADOPTIVE DAUGHTER. HE LAYED IT ACROSS HIS BED AND SAT NEXT TO IT, CARESSING IT, AND STROKING IT, WHILE HE BEGUN TO SOB, HE SAID, OH CHILD OF MINE. “YOU WERE A SMILE THAT SHONE ON MY LIFE, THEN FADED IT AWAY.” THIS IS THE RISK WE CHRISTIANS TAKE WHEN WE MAKE A CHOICE TO HELP AND LOVE PEOPLE AS CHRIST LOVE US. AND YOU KNOW WHAT THE AMAZING PART IS, IS THAT THERE ARE MANY PEOPLE LIKE THIS LITTLE GIRL, WHO HAVE ALLOW THE DEVIL TO POISON THEIR MINDS. AND TODAY ALL THAT GOD CAN DO IS JUST WATCH FROM THE DISTANCE AS THEY BLINDLY CONTINUE ON THE ROAD THAT LEADS THEM TO HELL. AND LIKE THIS TRAGIC STORY, WE HEARD GOD SITS FROM A DISTANCE, WISHING HE COULD LOVE AND EMBRACE THEM AS GOOD FATHER. WHY LOVE WHY IS LOVE THE GREATEST OF ALL BIBLICAL GIFTS? IF WHEN WE LOVE WE BECOME VUNERABLE TO THE ARROWS AND AFFLICTIONS OF LIFE? WHEN WE LOVE BELOVED WE BECOME SUBJECT TO ABUSE, WE RUN THE RISK OF SPENDING MANY NIGHTS WITH OUT MUCH SLEEP. RUNNING OUT OF TEARS TO SHED, WITH BROKEN HEARTS, LOVE IS SUCH A RISK, A RISK THAT MANY DON’T DARE MAKE? COUNTLESS MEN AND WOMEN HAVE SWORN TO NEVER LOVE AGAIN, IN ORDER TO PROTECT THEIR HEARTS FROM HEART ACHE. THEY SWORN TO STAY AWAY FROM THE SUFFERINGS THAT COME FROM LOVING OTHERS. YET THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT JESUS DID FOR US. AND JUST AS JESUS COULD NOT AFFORD TO STOP LOVING US, LESS WE PERISH, WE CANNOT AFFORD TO STOP LOVING PEOPLE LESS THEY PERISH. LISTEN BELOVED, WITH OUT LOVE WE ARE NOTHING AND WE GET NOTHING IN RETURN. IN THIS SAME CHAPTER WE READ THE APOSTLE SPEAKS OF GIFTS AND MANY OTHER POWERFUL THINGS THAT GOD HAS IN STORE FOR HIS CHURCH. YET THE WORDS COME TO US, WE MAY HAVE ALL THESE THINGS, BUT IF WE HAVE NO LOVE IN OUR HEARTS WE ARE NOTHING. WHAT IS GOD SAYING TO US? THAT UNLESS WE HAVE LOVE IN OUR HEARTS, WE ARE REALLY NO CHILDREN OF HIS; IN OTHER WORDS, YOU ARE NOT A TRUE CHRISTIAN UNLESS YOU HAVE LOVE IN YOUR HEART. THIS IS WHY I CAN SAY WITH CERTAINTY THAT A MAN OR WOMAN WHO WILL NOT GIVE, WETHER THAT IS FINANCIAL SUPPORT, TIME, TALENTS, AND OF THEMSELVES TO THE KINGDOM OF GOD, THEY ARE NOT TRULY CHRISTIANS. THE WORD “LOVE” COMES FROM THE WORD “CHARITY,” WHICH MEANS TO GIVE. WITH OUT LOVE, OR WITH OUT CHARITY, IT MAKES US OF NO VALUE. NOW OF COURSE WE HAVE MANY PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT CHRISTIANS WHO GIVE TO CHARITY, THEIR GIVING HOWEVER USUALLY IS DONE EXPECTING SOMETHING IN RETURN. ONLY GOD KNOWS THEIR HEARTS, BUT I CAN ASSURE YOU THAT WHEN SOMEONE GIVES AND LOVE IS NOT ATACHED TO THEIR GIFT, THEIR GIFT IS EMPTY AND IT ALWAYS COMES WITH STRINGS ATTACHED. WE ALL REMEMBER THE WIDOW IN THE BIBLE WHO GAVE THE TWO MITES. WHAT MAKES THIS STORY SO GREAT? IS NOT THE GIFT THAT IS FOR SURE, FOR ON THAT DAY, OTHER MEN GAVE BIGGER OFFERINGS THAN THAT OF THIS WOMAN! THE REASON THIS STORY IS TOLD IS NOT BECAUSE THESE MEN GAVE, BUT BECAUSE THIS POOR LITTLE WIDOW GAVE ALL SHE HAD. BUT WHY IS THIS STORY TOLD, TWO THOUSAND YEARS LATER, BECAUSE THIS WOMAN GAVE FROM A LOVING HEART? A STORY IS TOLD ABOUT THIS ONE PRISON WERE A RIOT BROKE OUT AND MANY PRISONERS WERE BADLY WOUNDED. A MAN THEN WENT TO THE PRISON HOSPITAL TO MINISTER TO SOME OF THE MEN; WHEN HE NOTICE A HUNCH BACK WOMAN, WALKING THROUGH THE CORRIDORS OF THE PRISON HOSPITAL. WHEN HE FIRST SAW HER, SHE LOOK REPULSIVE AND HE TURN AWAY INMEDIATELY. BUT HE COULD NOT HELP HIMSELF AND LOOK BACK AND NOTICE THIS WOMAN PLACE A FLOWER IN EACH BED. SHE THEN PROCEEDED TO GO HELP A PRISONER WHO WAS CRYING OUT FOR WATER. THE MAN SAW AS THIS WOMAN HELP AND NURTURED THESE HARD CORE CRIMINALS. HE ALSO NOTICED THAT THE FACES OF EACH CRIMINAL WOULD LIGHT UP AS THEY SAW HER APPROACH THEM. SUDDELY THE UGLINESS OF THIS WOMAN TURNED TO BEAUTY IN THE EYES OF THIS MAN WHO ONCE SAW HER AS DETESTABLE. WHY, WHAT CHANGED, WHAT HAPPENED? LOVE IS WHAT HAPPENED, LOVE MADE AN UGLY WOMAN APPEAR BEAUTIFUL. LOVE BELOVED HAS AN AMAZING POWER TO TRASFORM THE ONE WHO GIVES IT. AND LOVE ALSO HAS THE POWER TO TRANSFORM THE ONE WHO RECEIVES IT. YES OF COURSE THERE IS TIMES WHEN NO AMOUNT OF LOVE CHANGES THE ONE WHO RECEIVES IT, SUCH AS IN THE CASE OF THE LITTLE GIRL IN OUR STORY EARLIER; OR IN THE CASE OF MANY BACKSLIDERS TODAY. MY WIFE AND I OURSELVES WE HAVE LOVE AND HELPED MANY PEOPLE, AND TODAY IF YOU DID NOT KNOW US AND IF YOU WERE TO HEAR SOME OF THEM SPEAK OF US, YOU WOULD THINK WE WERE EVIL PEOPLE. SOMETIMES THERE IS A PRICE FOR LOVING PEOPLE, WE HAVE LOVE, PRAYED AND HELP MANY WHO WERE IN NEED; BUT LIKE THE YOUNG GIRL IN OUR STORY THEY ALLOWED THE ENEMY TO POISON THEIR MINDS. THIS HOWEVER IS NO REASON TO MAKE US STOP LOVING PEOPLE. I CAN TELL YOU THAT, JUST AS LOVE HAS TRANSFORM SOME OF YOU, IT HAS ALSO, MADE ME VUNERABLE TO OTHERS. WHAT THEN MAKES ME AND MY WIFE KEEP ON LOVING PEOPLE? THE FACT THAT JESUS LOVED US AND GAVE HIS LIFE FOR US! YEARS BEFORE I DECIDED TO RESPOND TO GOD’S LOVE, HE ALREADY HAD LOVED ME. I THINK OF JUDAS WHOM JESUS LOVED, EVEN AS JUDAS HAD TURNED INTO A THIEF, JESUS KEPT LOVING HIM; EVEN AFTER JUDAS WENT TO THE PRIESTS AND THEY PAID HIM MONEY TO BETRAY HIS MASTER, JESUS STILL LOVED HIM. EVEN WHEN JUDAS GAVE HIM THAT KISS OF BETRAYAL JESUS STILL LOVED HIM. AND WHILE JESUS WAS HOPING HIS LOVE COULD TRANSFORM JUDAS AND CAUSE HIM TO RETURN AND REPENT, JUDAS UNABLE TO BEAR THE GUILT OF HIS DEED, INSTEAD WENT AND HUNG HIMSELF. LOVE IS A POWERFUL FORCE BELOVED. THE BIBLE TELLS US THAT WHEN WE LOVE EVEN OUR ENEMIES, WE IN A SENSE ARE “PLACING BURNING COALS UPON THEIR HEADS.” THIS IS SPEAKING OF A GUILT IN THEIR MINDS THAT BECOMES UNBEARABLE, AND WHILE GOD’S GOAL IS TO CAUSE THEM TO REPENT, SOMETIMES LIKE JUDAS IT LEADS THEM TO DO THE UNTHINKABLE. LOVE IS A POWERFUL FORCE. THERE ARE PEOPLE HERE THAT YOU HAVE BEEN BADLY HURT, BY A HUSBAND, A BROTHER, AN UNCLE, A COUSIN, A MOTHER, A WIFE, A SISTER, AND THE LIST GOES ON AND ON. AND YOU MADE A DECISION TO PROTECT YOURSELF FROM FUTURE HARM, BY MAKING A CHOICE TO NEVER LOVE AGAIN. ONE OF THE REASONS WHY I DID NOT WANT TO BECOME A CHRISTIAN AS A YOUNG MAN, IS BECAUSE I KNEW ONE OF THE REQUIREMENTS WAS, THAT I NEEDED TO LOVE OTHERS. AND I HAD NEVER LOVED ANYONE IN MY LIFE, MY HEART WAS WRAPPED AROUND WITH A BULLET PROOF VEST THAT I WORE IN ORDER TO PROTECT MYSELF. BUT WHEN GOD CONFRONTED ME, ON THAT HOLLOWEEN NIGHT, I COULD NO LONGER PROTECT MY SELF FROM HIS LOVE, AND I GAVE HIM MY HEART. AND AS JESUS CAME INTO MY LIFE AND CHANGE ME, I WAS TRANSFORMED INTO A TOTALLY DIFFERENT PERSON FROM WHOM I WAS. WHILE LOVING OTHERS MAY BE RISKY, IS A REQUIREMENT IF WE ARE TO FOLLOW JESUS AND IF WE ARE TO HAVE OUR SINS FORGIVEN. WE HAVE PAUL THE APOSTLE, WHO ONCE PERSECUTED CHRISTIANS, WHEN GOD’S LOVE CAME KNOCKING AT HIS DOOR, AND AS HE OPEN THE DOOR OF HIS HEART JESUS CAME AND TRANSFORMED HIS LIFE. WE HAVE THE JAILER, IN THE BOOK OF ACTS, WHOSE JOB WAS TO PUNISH TWO MEN OF GOD, FOR SIMPLY PREACHING THE GOSPEL. AND AS HE SEES THEIR BACKS OPEN AND BLEEDING, HE CANNOT HELP BUT MURMUR, SO MUCH FOR LOVE! BUT THEN AS YOU CONTINUE READING YOU CAN SEE GOD MOVING, AND THERE IS AN EARTHQUAKE THAT CRACKS THE PRISON DOORS OPEN. AND AS THE JAILER IS ABOUT TO TAKE HIS LIFE, THINKING THE PRISONERS HAD ESCAPE, THE APOSTLE SPEAKS OUT AND SAYS “DON’T HARM YOURSELF, WE ARE ALL HERE.’ THE JAILER CRY’S OUT, “WHAT MUST I DO TO BE SAVED.” AND HE AND HIS WHOLE FAMILY TURNED TO GOD, WHY? BECAUSE ONE MAN MADE A DECISION TO LOVE, EVEN HIS ENEMIES. LOVE IS A POWERFUL FORCE BELOVED. OF ALL THE HEROES THROUGH TIME, WHO CONQUERED WORLDS, FROM ALEXANDER THE GREAT, TO JULIOUS CEASAR, NAPOLEON BONAPARTE, AND THE LISTS GOES ON AND ON. THEIR KINGDOMS WERE FOUNDED BY FORCE, BUT THEIR KINGDOMS ARE NO LONGER HERE TODAY. YET THERE IS ONE MAN WHO LIVED TWO THOUSAND YEARS AGO AND HE FOUNDED HIS KINGDOM IN LOVE, AND TODAY THERE ARE MILLIONS OF PEOPLE WHO WOULD BE WILLING TO DIE FOR JESUS IF NECESSARY. BECAUSE LOVE BELOVED IS A POWERFUL FORCE AND GOD SPEAKS TO US TODAY AND SAYS, LOVE IS NOT JUST A REQUIREMENT IF YOU WANT TO FOLLOW ME. BUT LOVE IS SOMETHING YOU MUST DESIRE MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE IN LIFE, FOR IT IS FAR MORE VALUABLE THAN ALL OTHER GIFTS THAT GOD HAS GIVEN UNTO MEN. EVEN MORE VALUABLE THAN, “FAITH AND HOPE.”
Posted on: Mon, 09 Sep 2013 15:58:30 +0000
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