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(CHAPTER FIVE, CONTINUED)
There
are many parables told by Jesus regarding fruit, and seeds, plants, vines, and
trees, and how theses things grow. All
Christians pretty commonly understand many of the symbols of these parables and
analogies. But all such “fruit”
parables have an even greater significance, often overlooked, that is of
particular importance to the Christian unity of all believers, in all Christian
denominations and groups,
In
general, we all know that in such parables the seed is the word of God, or is
the faith that comes by hearing the word. And
most of us further realize that the plant that grows from that seed, whether the
wheat stalk, the corn, the branch of the grape vine, the fig tree, or the
mustard tree, in every case is either the Spirit of Christ that lives in the
person, or the kingdom of God that is comprised of the collective grouping of
all those persons in whom the Spirit of Christ lives.
Romans
8:9 But ye are not in the flesh,
but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man
have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
Luke
8:11 Now the parable is this: The
seed is the word of God.
Luke
17:6 And the Lord said, If ye had
faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou
plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.
Luke
17:21 Neither shall they say, Lo
here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.
Matthew
13: 31 Another parable put he forth
unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed,
which a man took, and sowed in his field:
32
Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the
greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and
lodge in the branches thereof.
But
growing the outward fruit of the Spirit from within ourselves, is the
responsibility of each Christian, and can be accomplished to varying degrees by
different individual Christians.
Matthew
13:23 But he that received seed
into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which
also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some
thirty.
Mark
4:24 And he said unto them, Take
heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and
unto you that hear shall more be given.
John
15:2 Every branch in me that
beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he
purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
The
fruit is always the desirable part, the part that men want.
Sometimes the fruit is the seed, itself, such as corn or wheat, but the
fruit is always the crop, the part that is reaped and the part that nourishes
and gives the life that men want. Inside
the fruit of the Spirit is always the seed, the word and faith of Christ.
Our
function intended by God, that of producing fruit to serve God’s purposes, is
simply performed by the words and deeds that we say and do to effectively
present the word and faith of Christ to all others, both Christians and
non-Christians. God wants all other
people to see the good that we offer from our hearts to them, from God’s word
and faith in Christ within us, as being desirable to themselves.
It
is our job as Christians to grow fruit that is both good and desirable, but also
fruit that lasts. Good fruit
remains when it is judged acceptable by God.
The bad fruit will not last, but will be destroyed by God.
John
15:16 Ye have not chosen me, but I
have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that
your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name,
he may give it you.
17
These things I command you, that ye love one another.
Matthew
7:17 Even so every good tree
bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
18
A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree
bring forth good fruit.
19
Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into
the fire.
All
good fruit grows in love: in our love of Jesus, and in His love for all
believers. Christian unity means
that we Christians are all united in our love for each other, all believers in
Jesus, who, Himself, is God’s love for all of us believers.
There may be many Christian denominations and groups among us, but all
Christians are united by the common love for all who find righteousness and
brotherly love together in Jesus. Unity
in that love who is Jesus, results in just one spiritual thing…
…one
tree, grown together in the one Spirit of Christ…
Matthew
13: 31 Another parable put he forth
unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed,
which a man took, and sowed in his field:
32
Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the
greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and
lodge in the branches thereof.
…one
temple to God built of brethren in Christ that are it’s lively stones…
1
Peter 2:5 Ye also, as lively
stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up
spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
…one
body comprised of bodily members speaking to each other the truth of God’s
word, but speaking only in agape brotherly love and only that which edifies, so
that we grow up together as the one body of Christ...
Ephesians
4:15 But speaking the truth in
love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
16
From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that
which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure
of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.
1
Corinthians 8:1 Now as touching
things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth
up, but charity edifieth.
Romans
14:19 Let us therefore follow after
the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another.
Ephesians
4:29 Let no corrupt communication
proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that
it may minister grace unto the hearers.
…and
one vine with all of us believers growing together in Jesus.
John
15: 1 ¶ I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
2
Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every
branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
3
Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
4
Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself,
except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
5
I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him,
the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
The
good fruit that remains, as well as the branch that grows it, is not pruned off
and discarded, and is not burned by the husbandman, God. This is the good fruit we bear while abiding in the vine of
Jesus, and the good fruit is that which draws men in to Him who is that one,
eternal vine. And the good fruit
that draws us all together in unity in Jesus always grows as desirable as
possible to all men, desirable both to brothers in Christ and to our neighbors
in the world, so that men never have to reach through thorns or brambles to get
the good fruit. Only men who want
to prevent unity in the vine, put thorns in the way.
Matthew
7:16 Ye shall know them by their
fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
The
point of all these scriptures is just one spiritual thing, one vine, one body,
one temple, and one tree grown together in Jesus. That one thing is always found in Christian unity in love.
It’s true that each different Christian group and denomination has an
understanding of the Bible that differs, in some parts, from the understanding
of the other Christians in the body of Christ, which is why the Bible says that
we are still growing up as a body into the unity of the faith.
But the total unity of faith in God’s entire word can *only*, *only* be
accomplished together in love. That’s
why love is a *command*, not a warm, fuzzy feeling.
We’re
supposed to start with the command that we can do, not the fullness of
understanding of all of God’s word, which is a completeness that only God can
judge for certain. It’s the Holy
Spirit’s job to lead us into all truth.
John
16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit
of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of
himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you
things to come.
But
to love our brethren in Christ of all Christian denominations and groups, with
our own life laid down, as Jesus did for all of us, is a command of Jesus that
each of us can accomplish now. It’s
the love that we’re supposed to focus our efforts on, never the loveless
debate among brethren over what the word of God means.
The shared understanding of what all the word of God means, the unity of
faith in the entire word of God, is the eventual *result* of obedience, *not the
command* to be obeyed. The command
is “Love…”.
The
totally shared, common understanding of what all the word of God means, in the
unity of the faith of the entire word of God, which shall occur when the body of
Christ fully grows up into Him who is the head, will be the *result* of our
obedience to the new commandment of Jesus, not the result of our ability to use
the reason and logic of man to persuade. That’s
why all the “fruit” parables, all these scriptures of bearing fruit to one
another in oneness in Christ, all mean Christian unity in Jesus, who is the
Father’s love for all His children, of every Christian denomination and group.
That’s
the part of the word that even the babes understand. Remember what the apostle said when he had to deal with
divisions of those who claimed special knowledge by particular teachers.
1
Corinthians 1:13 Is Christ divided?
was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?
1
Corinthians 1:17 ¶ For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel:
not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none
effect.
1
Corinthians 2:2 For I determined
not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
1
Corinthians 3:1 ¶ And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual,
but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.
2
I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not
able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.
1
Corinthians 3:9 For we are
labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.
10
According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise
masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let
every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.
11
¶ For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
That’s
exactly where we have to start together, in the first principles of the doctrine
of Jesus Christ, and Him crucified, agreeing all together in the part that the
babes can understand. We have to
lay again the foundation of repentance from the dead works of sin that some of
the babes have called into question in recent years, mistakenly denying the
holiness of marriage, and erroneously seeking approval by the church of various
forms of sexual immorality. As a
body united in holiness and brotherly love, we must now lay again the foundation
of faith toward God in the sacrifice of Jesus for the repentance and salvation
of us all, which is where all the babes in Christ start out.
Hebrews
6:1 Therefore leaving the
principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying
again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,
The life and death, and life again, of Jesus is the first truth any Christian ever came to know, and it is the gospel, good news message that we Christians all have to unite in so that a lost and dying world will hear it, for it was the same message that was first declared to us all, when each of us was just a babe in Christ.
1 Corinthians 15:1 ¶ Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;
2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
God
doesn’t want any of the babes who believe in Jesus to be left behind or left
out, so we have to start in together, in righteousness and brotherly love, with
them in the one foundation of Jesus, Himself, who is God’s eternal love for
all of us Christians. In God’s
family, we’re all babes who know that our Papa’s love is sent to us in
Christ. As Jesus loved us with the
Father’s love for all His children, this is the same love with which we love
all the other babes, because we do what we’re told.
John
15:12 This is my commandment, That
ye love one another, as I have loved you.
Mark
9:42 And whosoever shall offend one
of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone
were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea.
We’ve
got to start in that one foundation and one vine of Jesus that even the babes
can agree on.
John
6: 39 And this is the Father’s
will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose
nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.
40
And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the
Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at
the last day.
Matthew
18:14 Even so it is not the will of
your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.
We
have to start being built together on the one foundation that includes all the
little ones in the word of faith in Jesus, before we can go on to be built
together in all the rest of the word. Together
in the one vine, which is Jesus, abiding there in His love, we can feed the
little ones the good fruit of the Spirit, to nourish them in the word and faith
of God that they need in order to grow. That’s
easy for the little ones that know how little they are in God’s family.
The hard part is in admitting to ourselves that we all need to grow in
Christ, so that the little ones see God’s love in all of us but offense in
none of us.
Matthew
18: 3 And said, Verily I say unto
you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter
into the kingdom of heaven.
4
Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same
is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
5
And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me.
6
But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it
were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he
were drowned in the depth of the sea.
The
analogy of the good fruit that remains, is the same as the analogy of the part
of God’s house that remains, not burned, by the trial of fire of the Holy
Spirit sent by God. The part of the
house that remains after the trial by fire is the good part remaining from what
we build together united on the foundation of Jesus. The part of God’s building that survives the fire is the
part that is not carnal and does not cause divisions, but causes unity in the
one, eternal foundation, which is Jesus. It
is the surviving part of God’s eternal building, which we Christians are, that
part built by the man who walks in the eternal Spirit, having crucified the old,
carnal man of the flesh that used to cause divisions, and so was subject to sin,
death, and certain destruction.
Romans
6:6 Knowing this, that our old man
is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth
we should not serve sin.
Corinthians
3: 3 For ye are yet carnal: for
whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not
carnal, and walk as men?
4
For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye
not carnal?
1
Corinthians 3:9 For we are
labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s
building.
1
Corinthians 3:11 ¶ For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which
is Jesus Christ.
12
Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones,
wood, hay, stubble;
13
Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it,
because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work
of what sort it is.
Hebrews 12:27 And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.
28 Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:
29 For our God is a consuming fire.
The
good fruit that remains, not burned by the husbandman, God, is the good fruit we
bear while abiding in the vine of Jesus, and is the fruit of the Spirit we bear
while abiding in God’s love for all His children. Good fruit, produced in abundance, and shared with each other
in the body of Christ, leads us together into unity of the faith.
This fruit of the Spirit is the fruit that each of us bears for one
another in the body of Christ: the love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness,
goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance.
We each add these fruits of the Spirit to the seed which is the word and
faith of God which we have together in the love of Christ, and this good fruit,
which we bear *only* in fervent love for one another in the body, causes our
brothers and sisters in Christ to be edified by that seed of God’s word, and
to grow together in the unity of the faith in Christ, and in the word of God,
which word and faith is the seed of all the good fruit we bear.
That fruit is how the unity of love produces the unity of faith.
Ephesians
4:12 For the perfecting of the
saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
13
Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the
Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness
of Christ:
The
first, most desirable fruit of the Spirit is “agape” brotherly love, the
love of each of us children of God for one another, loving each other with
Brother Jesus’ own brotherly love for every one of us.
Galatians
5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is
love<agape>, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Ephesians
5:9 (For the fruit of the Spirit is
in all goodness and righteousness and truth;)
1
Corinthians 13:8 ¶ Charity<agape> never faileth: but whether there be
prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease;
whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.
1
Corinthians 13:13 And now abideth
faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is
charity<agape>.
We
Christians must all be born again. And
if we are born again at all, then we are born again into that agape brotherly
love for all believers in Jesus. And
it is by that seed we are born again, through the Spirit, of God’s eternal
word that remains and is incorruptible.
In
particular, we are born by the part of God’s word that teaches us Christian
unity in fervent love of the brethren.
1
Peter 1:22 Seeing ye have purified
your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the
brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:
23
Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the
word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
This
birth by the seed of this word in Christian unity is now and will forever
remain, God’s eternal purpose for the body of Christ.
Ephesians
1:10 That in the dispensation of
the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both
which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
And
this Christian unity born in fervent love of the brethren is also the new
commandment of Jesus, and part of the first most important commandment of all.
Mark
12:30 And thou shalt love the Lord
thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and
with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
1
John 4:21 And this commandment have
we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.
John
13:34 A new commandment I give unto
you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one
another.
This
eternal brotherly love of ours must include all who show repentance,
righteousness, and brotherly love, believing in Jesus for the forgiveness of
their sins, which includes brethren in Christ who are of all Christian
denominations and groups.
Romans
3:22 Even the righteousness of God
which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for
there is no difference:
1
John 4:7 ¶ Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one
that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
This
seed of God’s word and faith in Christ concerning Christian unity bears all
the fruit of the Spirit, if the Spirit of Christ is in us.
And “fruit”, in the parables of Jesus, refers to the words and deeds
of a person as the product of the spirit within them, and the fruit is the only
sure indication of what kind of spirit is inside that person, whether the Spirit
of Christ, or some other spirit.
Matthew
12:33 Either make the tree good,
and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for
the tree is known by his fruit.
34
O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for
out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.
35
A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good
things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.
This
is a vital concept to Christian unity because, if we don’t stop at
denominational boundaries, then we have to be able to sort out those Christians
with whom we are to unite, as opposed to false prophets who lead us away from
gathering to each other in Christ. Those
Christians who unite in Jesus show us all the desirable fruit of the Spirit that
draws us all together to each other in Jesus, not apart. Ravenous wolves want to get the sheep alone, away from the
one flock, and away from the protection of the one, true Shepherd.
Good fruit draws men in because the fruit is desirable; it draws them in
to each other to righteousness and brotherly love in Jesus, drawing together
those who bear fruit only in Jesus, as it draws all men in to unity in Jesus who
is the one, true vine. The plant or branch that bears good fruit in Jesus does not
bear thorns, and does not bear bad fruit, and offers no obstruction to unity in
the one vine, Jesus.
Matthew
7: 15 ¶ Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but
inwardly they are ravening wolves.
16
Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or
figs of thistles?
17
Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree
bringeth forth evil fruit.
18
A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree
bring forth good fruit.
19
Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into
the fire.
20
Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
If
you can see righteousness and brotherly love in one who claims to be a Christian
by believing in their salvation because of the Bible’s account of the
sacrifice of Jesus, then you must treat them as brethren, acknowledging the
Spirit of Christ that must be inside of them, because they bear the fruit of the
Spirit. If they agree in the word,
name, and blood of Christ, bearing the fruit of the Spirit, we must not deny
their brotherhood with us in Christ. We
must otherwise leave the hidden things of the heart for God alone to judge.
Romans
8:9 But ye are not in the flesh,
but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man
have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
Matthew
12:33 Either make the tree good,
and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for
the tree is known by his fruit.
We
must decide based on fruits, and our very souls are at risk in the decision.
There is great harm if we decide fruits wrong, if we mistakenly deny our
brother’s brotherhood with us in Christ, and if it turns out, in fact, that he
truly is our brother in Christ. If
we deny him as a brother in Christ, then we are saying that those words we hear
him say, as well as the actions we see him do, convey to us that the faith and
word of Christ is not in him. If we
are mistaken when we deny that the Spirit of Christ within him could produce
those outward fruits we see him bear, then we run the risk of blaspheming the
Holy Spirit in that Christian, which is the sin that will not be forgiven,
neither in this life, nor in the next.
But
Jesus is the one in whom God’s house is united, and the one into whom all
believers are gathered together in unity. He
who has been given all power in heaven and earth, has already spoiled Satan’s
house in this earth. So for God’s
purposes in Christian unity, decide we must, and on the basis of the fruit we
see. The rest is for God to sort
out. God’s the Lord of the
harvest, and the husbandman of all the fruit produced.
He does all the pruning, and He will set fire to the clippings soon
enough.
John
12:31 Now is the judgment of this
world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.
John
14:30 Hereafter I will not talk
much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me.
Matthew
28:18 And Jesus came and spake unto
them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
Matthew
12:28 But if I cast out devils by
the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you.
29
Or else how can one enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his
goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house.
30
He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me
scattereth abroad.
31
Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be
forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be
forgiven unto men.
32
And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be
forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be
forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.
33
Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree
corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit.
34
O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for
out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.
35
A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good
things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.
36
But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall
give account thereof in the day of judgment.
37
For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be
condemned.
It
is for the purpose of Christian unity that we must make the decision regarding
who are our brethren in Christ, by knowing the fruit they offer to us.
It is a decision that involves great risk, but it is a risk that is
easily manageable, because the fruit of the Spirit is not complicated.
The outwardly apparent fruit we bear to one another of the inward Spirit
of Christ, who is in all Christians, can all be summed up as righteousness and
brotherly love, as long as we all believe to repentance in the Bible’s account
of the sacrifice of Jesus for the remission of our sins.
In fact, all the commands of Jesus can be summed up as commands of
righteousness and brotherly love, including the only command He called new or
His own.
Galatians
5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is
love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
23
Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
Ephesians
5:9 (For the fruit of the Spirit is
in all goodness and righteousness and truth;)
By
righteousness and brotherly love, we Christians give evidence of the Spirit who
is in us all.
1
John 3:10 In this the children of
God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not
righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.
It
is thus vital to Christian unity in love of all believers, of every Christian
denomination and group, that we understand the “fruits” as used throughout
the parables of Jesus. Brethren
united with us in the one vine, who is Christ, grow good fruits. We know them by their fruits, only when we know the fruits in
Christian unity in love for all believers.
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