With A Shout

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 "[13] But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. [14] For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. [15]  For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. [16]  For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: [17]  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. [18] Wherefore comfort one another with these words."

It's July 4th, and on this day many people will forsake the assembly of the Church in order to celebrate the independence of our country. So many years ago a small, ragged group of men stood together against overwhelming, tyrannical forces and said with one voice, "No!". They said no to tyranny, no to a godless rule, no to injustice, and walked through bitter cold, barefooted, poorly equipped, in order to secure our country's freedom.

Yet as we dwell on the fact that these men stood bravely before a seemingly undefeatable foe, and won, please don't forget that our Founding Fathers were, with few exceptions, devout men, Christian men, who fought with the knowledge that their and our cause was Divinely appointed. Patrick Henry said "This great nation was founded not by religionists but by Christians". On July 2 1776, General George Washington said in a letter "The fate of unborn millions will now depend, under God, on the courage of this army!". Faith in God Almighty and in the saving power of Jesus Christ made this nation great, made this "great experiment of freedom" successful. In 1781 Thomas Jefferson stated the words that are written on his memorial in Washington DC, "God who gave us life, gave us Liberty".

Yet over time we, as humans, forget the source of our liberty. As humans we are at first fascinated with the fact that water pours into the sink when you turn a handle. Our forefathers pumped their water from an outside well, a task that required a lot of work and many trips until the bath tub was filled. On my grandfather's farm we kept a mason jar on top of the outside pump, a jar always filled with water, a jar used to prime the pump so we could start the process of lugging water into the house. When indoor plumbing was first installed in many homes I can imagine the fascination, the wonder of seeing the water just fall into the sink, effortlessly, abundant water. Yet over time we become familiar with the sink, with the indoor plumbing. And after a while we take the water for granted, thinking it has always been thus, it has always been so.

Even so with our country, and with our God. It was God who empowered the Forefathers, God who gave each man the will to fight to secure our freedom. And today, as Americans, many of us forget that the source of all our liberty, both spiritual and physical, is our loving Creator. We also often forget that this country, and this world, are but temporary places for the Christian and heathen alike.

Last week we talked about the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus, and how this prophetic fact should impact our lives. This week I want to examine the first result of that Second Coming, the Rapture of the Church.

Many people disbelieve in the Rapture of the Church. Some Christians have even turned into amillennialists, believing that the world, our society, will get better and better until one day we just "work our way into" the millennial reign of Christ. Anyone who reads the newspaper can see the fallacy of such a belief. If anything, our world is getting worse, not better. Others counter the Doctrine of the Rapture of the Church by saying that the word "Rapture" is not found in the Bible. Well, this is true, but then again, it's not true. The word "Rapture" is not found in our English Bibles, that is true. The word is found in the Latin translation of the Bible, RAPERE, meaning "be caught up", in 1 Thessalonians 4.17.

Is the Rapture of the Church a Scriptural truth? Absolutely! Jesus promised that He would, at the appropriate time, return for His Church and take us away from this place:

John 14:1-3 "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. [2]  In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. [3]  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

Last week we talked about the fact that the Church, the Bride of Christ, is being built up in this present age. No man marries a child, and Jesus will not marry a child Bride. When we as the Church reach maturity, when we bring the last soul into this Great Ark, Jesus has promised that He would, personally, come back and get us. While we work and build for Him on the earth, He works and builds for us in the Heavens. Can you imagine the glories that Heaven will be like? Jesus said that He was building a mansion (MONE, great place of abode) for us. While in this life Jesus worked as a Master Carpenter along with His stepfather Joseph. Together they built many of the fine buildings that stood in the province of Galilee, and long after Jesus ascended to be with the Father farmers tilled their fields with ploughs that Joseph and Jesus built. Can you imagine the wonders that our Lord has built for us, as both Master Carpenter and Eternal God, in the 2000 years since His departure?

Among the ancient peoples, the patriarchs, marriage was not as it is today. Men and women were often paired together by their parents, sometimes engaged at birth. At the appropriate time the groom would leave his parents and begin the process of building a fine house for himself and his wife. When the house was built the groom would go to his wife's home, take her by the hand, and lead her away from that place to her new home. In the same way Jesus will come back for the Church, His Bride, and lead us by the hand to our new home. When He comes two things will happen:

(1) We, His Bride, shall leave these familiar surroundings, leave our old homes and friends, and go to a better existence. We will leave those behind who have not accepted Christ as Saviour, for only the Bride is able to enter the bridegroom's private quarters. We will not be allowed to keep one foot in our old residence while placing the other foot in the new quarters. The leaving will be sudden, abrupt, and absolute.

(2) Just as with the patriarchal brides, the Church of Christ will be utterly committed to Christ, her Husband. We will be with Christ forever, not just for a season. As Jesus said, "that where I am, there ye may be also".
 

Jonah and the Whale (Bill Champion, Tidbits Devotional)  A little girl was observed by her pastor standing outside the preschool Sunday School  classroom between Sunday School and worship, waiting for her parents to come and pick  her up for "big church." The pastor noticed that she clutched a big storybook under her  arms with the title "Jonah and the Whale."   Feeling a little playful, he knelt down beside the little girl and began a conversation.  "What's that you have in your hand?" he asked.   "This is my storybook about Jonah and the Whale," she answered.   "Tell me something, little girl," he continued, "do you believe that story about Jonah and  that whale to be the truth?"   The little girl implored, "Why of course I believe this story to be the truth!"   He inquired further, "You really believe that a man can be swallowed up by a big whale,  stay inside him all that time, and come out of there still alive and okay? You really believe all that can be true?"   She declared, "Absolutely, this story is in the Bible and we studied about it in Sunday  School today!"   Then the pastor asked, "Well, little girl, can you prove to me that this story is the truth?"   She thought for a moment and then said, "Well, when I get to Heaven, I'll ask Jonah."   The pastor then asked, "Well, what if Jonah's not in Heaven?"   She then put her hands on her little hips and sternly declared, "Then YOU can ask him!"

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 "[13] But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. [14] For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. [15]  For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. [16]  For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: [17]  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. [18] Wherefore comfort one another with these words."

Paul starts out this text by telling us that "I would not have you to be ignorant" about the fact of life after death for the believer. Throughout the Bible when the heathen die the word "death" is used, and this is appropriate. For if you leave this life without Jesus the life that follows is a life devoid of God, a life that Revelation 20 calls "the second death". Yet for the believer, death is always referred to as "sleep in Jesus". Some people have taken these verses out of context and believed that the soul of the believer sleeps in the ground until the moment of Rapture. Brothers and sisters, this is a false teaching, totally unsupported by Scripture. Remember how our Lord told the thief on the Cross, "Today you shall be with me in Paradise" (Luke 23.43)? When the believer dies, just like the regenerate thief, our souls go immediately to be with Jesus, though our bodies sleep in the ground.

Why then does the Bible use the word "sleep" to refer to the death of the Saint? Because "sleep" is a temporary condition. When I lay down at night I know that, unless the Lord calls me home, I will wake up the next day to continue to serve Him. If we leave this life our bodies stay in the ground, but this is only temporary. The "sleeping ones" will come back with our Lord and their bodies will be recreated and reunited with their souls. Our cleansed, eternal souls shall be given a cleansed, eternal body, and altogether glorified we as the Bride shall forever be with our Groom. Those who have departed this life prior to the Second Coming will not be excluded from this moment of glory, but they will be the first reunited, the first resurrected. The Thessalonians worried that their recently departed friends would miss out on the Rapture, but Paul tells us:

1 Thessalonians 4.15  "For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep."

Paul starts verse 14 with four words, four words that shout volumes. He said "For if we believe". There are many people in America today that are citizens of the United States by nature of birth. If you are born in this country, you are a native of this country. Others become citizens by "naturalization", that is, they are admitted to the United States, learn its rules, take an oath, and become naturalized citizens. Yet you cannot become a citizen of this country by sneaking into its borders, by coming in from the outside without permission. The same concepts apply to the Church.

Many people come into our assembly who have not accepted Jesus Christ as their Saviour. They come because a friend or parent invited them, yet they have never accepted Jesus Christ as their Saviour. They have not been born again, born into the Church and into eternal life. They may know the Bride, and the Groom, but unbelievers will never be in union with either Bride or Groom.

Dear friends, you must believe if you want to go with the Bride when the Groom returns. You must have accepted Jesus Christ as your Saviour before this ark departs or, like the world drowned in the time of Noah, you will be left behind! If you have not accepted Jesus as your Saviour then you are, as Paul put it, even as others which have no hope.

One of the hardest things I can think of, as your Pastor, would be to preside over your funeral not knowing you had hope. So many people refuse to go to Church, refuse to commit their lives to Christ, then one day they are forcibly brought to Church in a hearse. I can only imagine the agony of presiding over a funeral of a person, associated with this Church but completely devoid of the fruits of the Spirit, and standing over the empty shell of the departed not knowing if they had ever accepted Him as Lord. Imagine the uncertainty of those left on earth, hoping but not knowing, that they will see the departed again in the next life. Dear friends, accept Christ as your Saviour and enter into hope, a certain knowledge that you will be with our Lord in the next life and not in the Lake of Fire.

If you are a believer you have hope, ELPIS, that certainty that death is only a door into a better life. If you are not a believer, today is the day you must grab ELPIS to your bosom - accept Jesus to be your Saviour.

1 Thessalonians 4.16  "For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first"

When Jesus comes this country will know it. He will not sneak in and take His Bride, but the Bible tells us that He will come "with a shout", KELEUMA, a "cry of incitement". In ancient times when two armies battled, and one began to take the field, the reigning army would shout out a cry of victory that often caused the losers to cringe in defeat. This Jesus, who Satan attacked, the Pharisees mocked, the religious crowd nitpicked, and who the Gentiles beat and crucified - this Jesus will scream a cry of victory that the whole world will hear. It will be a cry that will make the Bride look upward, reach her hands Heavenward, while the world fearfully wonders what's happening. Jesus' general, the archangel Michael, will lead all the angels of Heaven with our Lord as He comes to receive His Bride, and the trumpet of God Almighty will ring out throughout the atmosphere of this sinful planet. To those who believe this will be a joyous time, but to the unbeliever a time of fearful uncertainty. But Jesus will not touch the earth at the Rapture, for:

1 Thessalonians 4.17  "Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord."

We will meet Jesus in the air. The Bible says that we shall be "caught up" HARPAZO or the Latin RAPERE, forcefully seized, together with those Saints who died before that time. There will be a meeting in the air, a meeting between the Saints, the Bride, Jesus, and the angelic armies of Heaven.

Will you be in that meeting? Are you comforted by these words? There would be no comfort in these words if the Church was meant to go through the seven year Tribulational period on earth that follows, a time of terrible sorrow. But there is comfort in knowing that we who believe shall be spared the bloodbath of the Tribulation and Armageddon. Are you among the saved today? Do you know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour?

This morning we talked about the Second Coming of Christ, and the first result of that Coming, the Rapture of the Church. It is a prophetic fact that Jesus is returning for His Church, and a prophetic fact that we, as the Bride of Christ, are going to be "caught up" by our Groom to meet Him in the air. When Jesus comes back for us we will be changed. Tonight I want to look at how that change will effect us.

To many people death seems to be the end of the road, at least, that's how they treat the subject. The heathen fears death, dreads it. Some rich people even pay cryogenic scientists to freeze their bodies when they die, believing that mankind will technologically progress to the point where one day that frozen body can be resuscitated and they will be brought back to life. Others, like the Egyptians, had their bodies mummified and their possessions buried around them (even their unfortunate wives) so they would go to the next life "as a matched set". What foolishness! When we die, our soul leaves this feeble structure and goes to be with either the Lord, or to the prison of hell. The believer departs to be with Jesus, the heathen to hell. Each of us goes to our eternal state individually, based on whether we have accepted Jesus as Saviour or not.

Paul said:

1 Corinthians 15:51 "Behold, I shew you a mystery .."

Calling God's eternal plan for the Church a "mystery", MUSTERION, a secret known only by those who are in the same fraternity. The world looks at death with fear for they do not know, or knowing do not understand, this fraternal secret. But we who believe know this secret, and hold it deep in our hearts, for we know that death is not the end but a great new beginning.

1 Corinthians 15:51 "We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed .."

Death, referred to as "sleep" toward the Christian in the Bible, will not come on every believer. Jesus will return for His Church when the last Saint is saved, when God has determined that that Great Body is completed. When Jesus returns some of us will still be living on this earth whereas others will have gone on ahead. But whether we are those who departed, or those who remain alive, every one of us will have to undergo a change. We will be given a glorified body to match our glorified souls.

Why is this necessary? Because our God is not a God of incompleteness, not a God of parts, but a God who fully completes what He has set out to do. In the Garden of Eden man had a glorified, perfect, and sinless body that matched his glorified, perfect, sinless soul. But man strayed and allowed sin, disobedience to God's Plan, enter into his life. When sin entered in it began to corrupt man, both body and soul. Several generations after Adam lived extremely long lives, lived for hundreds of years before they died, for sin corrupted their bodies. Yet as time passed sin grew stronger in man and, as it grew stronger, the life span of man grew smaller and smaller. Even today the Saints by faith in Christ walk in this life knowing that, unless Jesus returns in our lifetime, we will one day die from this life. The corruption of sin ages us, breaks us down, makes us feeble and die.

Just as God recreated our souls at the point of our salvation, freeing us from the bondage of sin, God has to recreate our bodies sinless, glorified, eternal. This He will do at the Rapture of the Church.

1 Corinthians 15: 52  "In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed."

The Bible tells us that this change will not be gradual, but that it will happen "In a moment". This is the Greek ATOMOS, where we get our word "Atom", and means the tiniest fraction of time. When we hear the shout of Jesus, His victory cry, we won't feel the change that comes over us. We won't, if we have already departed to be with Jesus, look down and see Jesus slowly form the glorified bodies that we will eternally inhabit. This change will be faster than I can say "go", suddenly the departed will be given glorified bodies, and we who are alive will be snatched up and changed in an instant, glorified body and soul, suddenly with our Lord in the air.

The thought of this sudden change thrills me, makes me want to shout for joy! I have always been afraid of heights, afraid of falling over 6 feet in the air. Yet one night I had a dream where I was standing on the ground and, suddenly, I was flying. At first I was fearful, I stayed at treetop level. Yet as I flew suddenly I became confident that I wouldn't fall, so I soared higher and higher, till the earth was but a speck under my body. Imagine my disappointment when I woke up and found myself on the ground, back in this sinful and restricted flesh.

But one day we will all be given glorified and perfect bodies. One day we will soar with Jesus in the clouds, unafraid of falling. What a day that will be!

"But", you ask, "What will that glorified body be like?". Paul tells us exactly what that body will be like in the context preceding our introductory verse:

1 Corinthians 15:16-20 "For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: [17]  And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. [18]  Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. [19]  If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. [20] But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept."

Paul argues that, if the resurrection of the dead is not true, then Jesus Christ Himself did not resurrect from the dead. When Paul spoke these words the Corinthians knew that Jesus had, indeed, resurrected from the dead. Some of the Corinthians, perhaps, had been present when Jesus rose from the dead, and some had possibly sat under His teaching while He taught in glorified form. The proof that Jesus had rose from the dead was not disputed, for many witnesses saw Him teaching:

1 Corinthians 15:5-8 "And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: [6] After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. [7]  After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. [8]  And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time."

Acts 1:2-3 "Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen: [3]  To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:"

There was no doubt in the mind of the early Church that Jesus rose from the dead. He sat with them, taught them, and vast crowds saw Him in His glorified state. Paul says, "If Jesus rose from the dead, then resurrection is not only possible but true".
In 1 Corinthians 15.20 Paul goes a step further, for he states:

1 Corinthians 15.20 "But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept."

Jesus is the "firstfruits" of those who slept, that is, those who perished. "Firstfruits", APARCHE, was the first harvest of the field. The Jews were told to give a tithe of their "firstfruits" to God, as the firstfruit was the first harvested and thus the best. The corn that came off the stalk in the second harvest, though good, was not as sweet. Jesus was the first one harvested from the field of death, the first one resurrected according to the promise of God, and we who believe will be resurrected and given glorified bodies just as Jesus was.

Yes, we shall be in glorified state like Jesus was. Paul teaches this doctrine elsewhere in Scripture:

Romans 6:3-5 "Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? [4]  Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. [5]  For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection"

"We shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection". John echoed this doctrine when he said:

1 John 3:1-2 "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. [2 ] Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

We shall be like Jesus, we shall have a glorified body like Jesus had. With these Scriptural proofs we can know, inasmuch as we feeble humans are able to comprehend, what our resurrected glorified bodies will be like.

When Jesus walked the earth as the firstfruit of resurrection there are several texts that show how His body was different, and yet the same. Jesus appeared inside of locked rooms:

John 20:24-27 " But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. [25]  The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe. [26] And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. [27]  Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. "

And when He appeared, He appeared in such a form that the disciples knew who He was. He still wore the badges of honor He earned on the Cross, and it was these identifying marks that He showed to doubting Thomas. I believe that we, in our glorified bodies, will be unbound by the restrictions of earth. I also believe we will know one another in Heaven, just as we will know Jesus. In the story Jesus told of the rich man and Lazarus, when Lazarus got to Heaven he knew who Abraham was, though he had never met him. When I first came to this Church I struggled with learning each of your names, fighting to overcome the human restrictions of memory. Yet when we get to Heaven we will know one another, we will know each member of the Bride, we will know the angels of Heaven and the Patriarchal Saints who went before us, and we will know Jesus. We will be unbound in glory, as unbound as we are bound in our gloryless state.

We will be capable of eating, but not need to do so in order to sustain life. Luke tells us:

Luke 24:36-43 "And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. [37]  But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit. [38]  And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? [39]  Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. [40]  And when he had thus spoken, he shewed them his hands and his feet. [41]  And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat? [42]  And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb. [43]  And he took it, and did eat before them. "

I imagine seeing Jesus for the first time in a glorified state was a lot like the people in Noah's day seeing rain. Up until the flood no one had ever seen rain, as the water came up from the earth in, I assume, springs. The disciples were all in a closed room, huddled together in fear that the authorities would find and kill them. Suddenly, here in the midst of them is Jesus. Having never seen anyone in a glorified state they were frightened until Jesus took some food and ate it. The glorified body can be handled, the sense of touch, taste, all five senses, are still very real, though we will have no need to eat to sustain life.

Glory to God for His unspeakable riches!

1 Corinthians 15. 55-57 "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? [56]  The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. [57]  But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

If you are in Christ today you have no need to fear death. The heathen fear death because they have no hope. Yet you, dear believer, know that death is but a portal to a more beautiful dimension. Jesus rose again and walked this earth to show us the glorified body that we would all one day possess. Draw comfort and peace from this truth. Death has no hold on you, if you have hold of the Son.
 

The Empty Chair  A man's daughter had asked the local pastor to come and pray with her father. When the  pastor arrived, he found the man lying in bed with his head propped up on two pillows and  an empty chair beside his bed. The priest assumed that the old fellow had been informed of his visit.   "I guess you were expecting me," he said.   "No, who are you?"   "I'm the Pastor at your local church," the pastor replied.   "When I saw the empty chair, I figured you knew I was going to show up."   "Oh yeah, the chair," said the bedridden man. "Would you mind closing the door?"   Puzzled, the pastor shut the door.   "I've never told anyone this, not even my daughter," said the man.   "But all of my life I have never known how to pray. At church I used to hear the pastor  talk about prayer, but it always went right over my head.."   "I abandoned any attempt at prayer," the old man continued, "until one day about four  years ago my best friend said to me, 'Joe, prayer is just a simple matter of having a  conversation with Jesus. Here's what I suggest. Sit down on a chair, place an empty chair  in front of you, and in faith see Jesus on the chair. It's not spooky because he promised,  'I'll be with you always.' Then just speak to him and listen in the same way you're doing  with me right now."   "So, I tried it and I've liked it so much that I do it a couple of hours every day. I'm careful, though. If my daughter saw me talking to an empty chair, she'd either have a nervous breakdown or send me off to the funny farm."   The pastor was deeply moved by the story and encouraged the old guy to continue on the  journey. Then he prayed with him, and returned to the church.   Two nights later the daughter called to tell the pastor that her daddy had died that  afternoon.   "Did he seem to die in peace?" he asked.   "Yes, when I left the house around two o'clock, he called me over to his bedside, told me  one of his corny jokes, and kissed me on the cheek. When I got back from the store an  hour later, I found him dead. But there was something strange, In fact, beyond strange -  kinda weird.   Apparently, just before Daddy died, he leaned over and rested his head on a chair beside  the bed."

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