Tag: apostle

  • 2 Timothy – Apostolic Faith and Pastoral Oversight by Paul

    2 Timothy – Apostolic Faith and Pastoral Oversight by Paul

    Introduction

    God and Christ became incarnate in order to restore Their personal relationship with sinful man.

    Roger@TallkofJesus.com


    God and Apostles, Disciples of men

    Our purpose in introducing Paul’s final epistle to a pastor is:

    1. to reintroduce you to the Apostle Paul and

    2. to reacquaint you with Timothy, a disciple of Paul who served him in varying roles,

    BOTH whom we’ve met in Acts of the Apostles and other epistles.


    Let us begin with God

    (says the teacher to his class). 

    God — YHWH the LORD — Is One.

    One in Being. One in Essence. One in Substance.

    There IS no other god.

    God IS the Creator of all things and of all mankind.

    He had a relationship in the beginning of time — before which He Exists and after which He Exists — the LORD’s relationships are perfectly personal.

    God IS: Father, Son — Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit.


    Christ, Apostles and Disciples

    The Apostle Paul writes to Timothy in his first epistle:

    This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.

    First letter of the Apostle Paul to Timothy

    Jesus, the incarnate Son of God the Father, taught the Gospel with all perfection to men for three years.

    The Twelve Disciples (which included neither Paul nor Timothy) followed the Lord, ate and slept with Jesus — they all knew the incarnate Son of God personally.


    Consider the interpersonal relationships connecting each of these roles as defined by Scripture and what the Lord Jesus, our Teacher, instructs:

    Disciple (follower), Master (teacher), Servant (slave) and Lord

    The Disciples Matthew, John and Peter were all present with the incarnate Christ Jesus personally when the Lord said this:

    The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord.

    Gospel of Matthew 24:14 – Jesus’ to The Twelve Disciples; Instructions for Service & meaning of discipleship – KJV

    μαθητής – mathētēs – disciple (268x) – a learner, pupil, one who follows one’s teaching:

    The Twelve followed JESUS for three years, discipleship at its most personal.

    Furthermore, many others would follow JESUS’s teachings as ‘Christians’ chosen by God for the Way of eternal life.


    Apostles to the Jews and Gentiles

    Of course from the beginning Jesus knew that Judas would betray Him and that a disciple Mathias would be chosen to replace the betrayer of Christ as a twelfth Apostle to the Jews.

    Christ had taught and trained the Twelve how they would become Apostles — primarily, but not exclusively, to their fellow Jews —after His death, resurrection and ascension.


    Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:

    2 Peter 1:1 KJV


    Paul also refers to himself as an Apostle, greeting his disciples (followers) in his first epistle and this final letter.

    Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus,

    To Timothy, my dearly beloved son:

    2 Timothy 1:1-2a KJV

    So who are apostles?

    Acts Apostolos - Acts 1 of the Apostles begins a 28 chapter account of the chronicles of Christ's Apostles - a history of Christ's Church

    Apostolos – a delegate, messenger, one sent forth with orders

    • specifically applied to the twelve apostles of Christ
    • in a broader sense applied to other eminent Christian teachers
    • – of Barnabas of Timothy and Silvanus

    Apostles are ‘sent out’ by Christ.

    As in the case of the Twelve and the Apostle Paul, the Lord himself instructed them Personally — that is, the Person of Jesus sent these Apostles out into the world personally.

    Other apostles continued to be ‘sent out into all the world’ by the Holy Spirit after Jesus’ ascension, as Luke records for us of the day of Pentecost in ACTS 1.


    As we learned from Acts of the Apostles that after the AD 49 Council in Jerusalem, Peter, Paul, John and all others were sent out ‘first to the Jews,’ but also into gentile areas of the Roman Empire (mostly Hellenist or Greek provinces) to include ALL as follows of Christ as part of each local church.

    Jesus is Lord

    Note that Jesus Christ refers to the Father as Lord (Kyrios in their common Greek language of the Roman Empire) with an authority and meaning no different than the original Hebrew scripture (Yahweh).

    “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”

    And He said to him,

    “‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’

    Matthew 22:36-37 LSB



    Saul, a Jew of Jews, sent out by a Master crucified and risen!

    About five years after the Jews of Jerusalem had crucified Jesus, a young disciple of Gamaliel witnessed the stoning of a follower of The Way.

    They went on stoning Stephen as he was calling out and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” Then falling on his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” And having said this, he fell asleep.

    Acts of the Apostles 7:59-60 LSB

    Stephen, even in his dying breath, called JESUS, “Lord” – twice.

    And this young disciple of the rabbi Gamaliel had witnessed it personally.

    Saul of Tarsus would become an apostle of the Sanhedrin specifically sent out to continue persecuting Christians.

    But then, as we know, Christ appeared to Saul and instructed this new and unwilling (at first) Apostle to go to the Gentiles.

    Paul frequently writes that He is a slave (doulos) of JESUS or God(or of the gospel). The Lord Jesus himself points to the service required of this most personal relationship.

    Many translations prefer servant to slave, but it is the same Greek word: doulos. 

    The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord.

    Gospel of Matthew 10:24 KJV

    The Apostle Paul describes himself in another pastoral epistle written about the same time as his two letters to Timothy:

    Paul, a servant G1401 of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness;

    Epistle of Paul to Titus 1:1

    Timothy – Paul enlists a disciple of The Way

    Lystra, Derbe and Iconium in the Taurus mountains and general Roman region of Galatia to where Paul sends the first of his epistles.

    Now Paul also arrived at Derbe and at Lystra.

    And behold, a disciple was there, named Timothy,

    the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer,

    but his father was a Greek,

    Acts of the Apostles 16:1

    During Paul’s second missionary journey, which had begun inland through the mountains northwest of Tarsus in rural Galatia. While visiting churches established by Barnabas and him on a first missionary journey, the Apostle meets a young Timothy — a Greek, because of his father, but brought up as a Christ-follower by his mother(a Jew, as Paul had been) and Timothy’s grandmother.

    A brief introduction of Timothy (Τιμόθεος – Timotheos)

    Timothy's early journeys are found in Acts of the Apostles. 

    ~AD 49

    Timothy joined Paul and Silas on mission, staying behind at Berea for a time with Silas. Paul, later commands the two by the Spirit to join him in Athens from where the trio proceed to Macedonia.

    Paul then ‘sent into Macedonia two of them that ministered unto him, Timotheus and Erastus; but he himself stayed in Asia for a season.

    Acts 19:22 KJV

    We observe how personal all of the mentoring relations of the Apostle remain to Paul as Luke records those with the Apostle when once again the Jews laid wait to capture and kill him.

    Paul was accompanied by Sopater son of Pyrrhus from Berea,

    Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica,

    Gaius from Derbe, Timothy, and Tychicus

    and Trophimus from the province of Asia.

    Acts of the Apostles 20:4 Berean Standard Bible

    We will mention more of Timothy's crucial later pastoral roles later in this epistle.  

    Timothy wrote other epistles with Paul :

    It is important for us to note that these Pastoral Epistles make known the Spirit-directed teaching of the Apostle Paul we must study, rather than focus on any pastors or saints to whom Paul writes, such as Timothy.

    • ~AD 50-51
    • ~AD 55-56 the Apostle Paul writes:
      • 1 Corinthians with Sosthenes and
      • 2 Corinthians with Timothy
    preaching to them that perish - Paul writes to the Corinthians to consider his different way of preaching
    The Apostle Paul writes to the Corinthians with Sosthenes and a second time with Timothy
    *graphic from a 2024 TalkofJESUS SERIES Post: Rebuke of ministers that perish without the Cross
    • ~AD 60-62 The Apostle Paul writes to:
      • the Ephesians
      • the Philippians
    Archaeological Site of Philippi: General view of the forum with adjacent agora marketplace

    Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus,

    To all God’s holy people in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons:

    Philippians 1:1 NIV

    • the Colossians, with Timothy
    • and a personal plea along with Timothy to Philemon, concerning Onesimus.

    NEXT: 2 Timothy 1:

    timotheos agapētos teknon

    To Timothy, my beloved son


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  • 2 Peter 1 – Know Christ’s Divine Nature

    2 Peter 1 – Know Christ’s Divine Nature

    Jesus Christ Lord God with cross

    Does Christ wield divine authority in your life?

    Second Epistle of Simeon Peter 1:

    ..seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the full knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.

    For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.

    2 Peter 1:3-4 Legacy Standard Bible


    Do you know God and Christ?

    The Apostle Simeon Peter Cephas , Simon Peter — wants you to know the Divine nature of God [theos] and Jesus Christ [Christos].

    ..to you in the full knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord;

    2 Peter 1:2b

    And most essentially these of the Divine nature [physis] above all knowledge (or full knowledge), rather than partial knowledge [gnōsis] of man — even a righteous man or one with wisdom — corrupted [phthora] by our own sinful nature.

    Note that by the unseen inspiration of the Holy Spirit in this scripture, the Apostle Peter in the opening of his second epistle had immediately claimed the authority of:

    ..  the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ:

    .. the full knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord;


    So to continue from when we introduced Peter in our introduction, the Apostle now writes to the church a second time so that all may be assured of their calling.

    our mutually possessive God and Savior

    How we long to belong to someone whom we love!

    A creature of fragile frame in God's image dare not approach the Almighty.
    --

    Yet in JESUS, God touched man in a personal Way
    — in Christ a new covenantal relationship for which we yearn endlessly,

    forged in the love of God and our Lord.

    So Simon Peter, the Rock to whom Jesus looked to now build the church, assures believers and followers of The Way:


    And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises.

    These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.

    In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises..

    The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

    2 Peter 1:4-5a,8 NLT

    But those who fail..
    The restored Apostle who had denied Jesus three times before Christ's sacrifice on the Cross cautions those who claim Jesus, yet fail in repentance:

    But those who fail to develop in this way are shortsighted or blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their old sins.

    2 Peter 1 9 NLT


    Some in Adam have not seen the guarded gate of Eden reopened by Christ — God’s new election of saints called to return to the tree of life, mercifully clothed in righteousness through the perfect Sacrifice of our Savior and Lord.

    Apostolic Faith Defined through Peter’s Second Epistle

    The Apostle Peter — clearly in the Authority of our God and Savior Jesus Christ, here in his second epistle of Holy Scripture — commands discernment by the body of Christ – all pastors and every holy saint of the church called to grow in our faith.


    You have no doubt noticed that I have briefly skipped the answer Simon Peter provides to HOW our sanctification grows our faith.

    Peter’s progression in this list will help your personal discernment which the Apostle of Christ commands of those who love Jesus our Lord.

    7 Affections of Sanctification

    Growing Apostolic Faith Through Seeds of Holiness

    Before we look at the list, let’s glance at some terms of faith considering the connection made by the Apostle Simon Peter.

    Sanctification: Is Separation to the Service of God

    Psa 4:32Cr 6:17

    Torrey’s New Topical Textbook

    IF Christians are sanctified to God through the Lord Christ Jesus, THEN, Peter tells us, those saints will grow in the same holiness, rejecting the sin of our former self.


    The Apostle has already addressed sanctification. In fact, Simon Peter opens his first epistle to the saints with this bold greeting and claim in Christ:

    Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ..

    1 Peter 1:2a KJV

    Therefore the Apostle lists a general,

    HOW TO ‘ grow or mature in your faith

    for the saints of God.


    And again,

    By these he has given us very great and precious promises, so that through them you may share in the divine nature, escaping the corruption that is in the world because of evil desire.

    2 Peter 1:4 CSB

    For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with goodness..

    add to your faith virtue,
    to virtue knowledge,
    to knowledge self-control,
    to self-control perseverance,
    to perseverance godliness,
    to godliness brotherly kindness,
    and to brotherly kindness
    love.

    2 Peter 1:5b-7 NKJV

    No single translation of these few verses seems sufficient in conveying the full-depth of the Apostle’s advice. Therefore let us take a few moments to allow the cleansing of Peter’s description to open our blind eyes.

    ADD these to your faith:

    Adjectives of Affective Faith:

    1. aretē
    2. gnōsis
    3. egkrateia
    4. hypomonē
    5. eusebeia
    6. philadelphia
    7. agapē

    Peter describes how we may diligently apply our new desires in Christ to our faith. You may have even memorized one English translation of these descriptions from the Apostle’s directive; however you may find insight into the richness of Peter’s list from adjectives in other translations.

    Remember: these all translate from Peter's written Greek - common to all of the first century Roman Empire.

    Adjectives beginning with KJV:
    VIRTUE

    moral excellence, goodness, worthiness

    KNOWLEDGE

    (insight, understanding)

    TEMPERANCE

    self-control,

    PATIENCE

    perseverance, patient endurance, steadfastness

    GODLINESS

    piety

    BROTHERLY KINDNESS

     brotherly affection, mutual affection, brotherly love

    CHARITY

    love, love for everyone, unselfish love, charity,  love itself

    source: BlueLetterBible.org – Bibles


    Neither Useless nor Unfruitful

    These affections are all good things. But more importantly to the Apostle’s evidence to ALL, all are Christian.

    For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.

    2 Peter 1:8*9 NIV

    SO then, how must you act, justified sinner?

    Wherefore, the rather, brethren, (KJV)

    Peter leaves no doubt in the expected actions of believers.

    The Apostle addresses the brothers (as is customary in leadership — who teach their wives with the authority and compassion of Christ and will raise their children in the authority of God and Christ and Scripture).

    He opened his epistle leaving no question as to his apostolic authority in the Divine POWER of God — theios dynamis [v.3] — and Peter confirms Christ’s confirmation to we who are now elect in Him to become participants in Jesus’ Divine NATURE — theios physis [v.4].

    (After all, IF we are no longer like the unsaved sinners who we once were, then our Christ-like fruit of the Spirit will show His hope of eternal life in us.)

    Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.

    For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

    2 Peter 1:10-11 ESV

    Divinity and Trinity

    I would like to make a side-point concerning authority here which Simon Peter is about to address more fully as we proceed next time.

    First (as I just mentioned from varied English translations), Paul addresses the men of the church as was done in Greek, Roman and Jewish culture. In AD first century culture men, women and deities interacted in an order of hierarchy. Some men over others, some women over others, children under the authority of their mother or a servant woman under her authority — even Greek and Roman deities held unseen authority over men and women in designated areas of their lives and creation.

    As the Apostle has placed himself in this line of authority as both a doulos of DEITY — so Simon Peter also claims his delagated authority from ALMIGHTY GOD in the Person of GOD’s only Son Christ Jesus.

    The APOSTLE claims this obedience not to him personally, but as the personal slave of God sent to the world with the Gospel.

    The church cannot claim Christ while turning against GOD’s own commands.

    Peter’s Apostolic Gospel applies to ALL men and to ALL women who claim to be Christians.

    No claim of God while denying the written word of God in Scripture and instruction of an Apostle is true. Any christian claim of JESUS contrary to the Apostolic witness will not make a pastor, elder or bishop or any mortal man or woman a true Christian.

    Even JESUS, the Son of God, submitted to the will of the Father in everything and He promises to send the Holy Spirit as a counselor to those elected to eternal life in the New Covenant.

    We cannot take time today to again address the Trinity.

    Am I numbered among God’s elect?

    R.C. Sproul reminds readers that Peter’s first epistle was addressed to the elect and notes that his second epistle with this important teaching, ‘drips theology.’

    So speaking of these affections we have just reviewed [2 Peter 1:5-7] Sproul writes:

    Yet he wants believers to be even more diligent about something else. There is an even greater priority, and that is the doctrine of election—not in the abstract but in respect to your own person.

    The most important question you need answered in your lifetime is this: am I numbered among the elect?

    ibid. p.195


    Consider the question in the mirror of God’s truth. Do YOU have the fruit of the Spirit shown in elected saints who turn to CHRIST?


    Any who lack such humble witness of Jesus to which Peter points in this epistle may be heretics — ravenous wolves, clothed in some other gospel of an anti-Christ.

    NEXT: The Will of a departing Apostle


    Talk of JESUS . com

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  • Your Communions in Church and in Christ

    Your Communions in Church and in Christ

    Communions, gatherings, worship services, church services — call them whatever you like. But the Apostle Paul provides some pointed correction for the church as we continue in 1 Corinthians 11.

    Communion – Sharing in the Lord’s Supper

    What’s the Apostle Paul saying to the Church?

    It’s an Exhortation

    Pretty strait-forward

    Paul addresses these communions (as the idolatrous feasts of Corinth he has already addressed) presenting a clear choice for godly saints of the Church at Corinth.

    v.17 In the following instructions I have no praise to offer, because your gatherings do more harm than good. – BSB


    for the Church

    Would you like to hear Paul's introduction in another way? 

    1 Corinthians 11:18

    • For first of all, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it. – NKJV
    • In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it. – NIV
    • For first of all, when you come together in the assembly, I hear that divisions exist among you, and I partly believe it. – HNV

    This is simply Paul’s FIRST POINT following the Apostle’s exhortation about sanctified living AND following his FIRST POINT about ROLES in Christian Worship within this section of his Epistle ordering Christ’s instructions for worship.

    The Apostle Paul specifically points to times when we assemble [or come together] συνέρχομαι – synerchomai as a CHURCH ἐκκλησίᾳ – ekklēsia.

    Many of you know this Greek word for church. 

    LOOK at its definition
    (nothing specifically yet about communion here. But read on.)

    The Apostle then continues in his outline for Christian gatherings.

    Sharing in the Lord’s Supper ( 11:17⁠–⁠34 )

    church supper

    An exhortation for social and festive meals in the church community

    Now then, when you come together, it is not the Lord’s Supper you eat.

    21 For as you eat, each of you goes ahead without sharing his meal. While one remains hungry, another gets drunk.

    22 Don’t you have your own homes in which to eat and drink? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing?

    What can I say to you? Shall I praise you for this?

    No, I will not!


    The Apostle’s transition into this section had been:

    Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.1 Cor 11:1 KJV


    Paul's focus:

    Our communions other than Holy Communion

    For there must be also heresies among you,

    that they which are approved may be made manifest among you.

    1 Corinthians 11:19 KJV

    * In the first major schism of the Church in the A.D. 11th century the Roman Church divided from the Orthodox Church. See the Timeline in the link above.

    Common Era christians dare not mention such things as HERESY, lest we offend some unbeliever in our gathering or sharing in breaking bread with us at an occasional community evangelism feast. 

    We prefer a gentler approach of translations of αἵρεσις - hairesis like: factions or divisions or differences.

    11:20 συνερχομένων οὖν ὑμῶν ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ οὐκ ἔστιν κυριακὸν δεῖπνον φαγεῖν

    When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord’s supper.

    First Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians 11:20 KJV

    Does the Apostle then instruct the Church NOT to share in Holy Communion?

    NO, certainly not.

    Only not to participate in such a community meal alongside unbelievers (EVEN ‘at church’ ), including those who are not in Christ in this Holy Sacrifice of Communion as worship.


    The Lord’s Supper

    You may want to READ some of the Gospel including these Holy Scriptures, but I urge you for now to remain focused on the Apostle’s INSTRUCTION specifically to saints of the Church at Corinth (in ~ A.D. 55).

    Gospel cross-references to the Lord’s Supper

    King James Version


    a HOLY Communion in Christ celebrated by the Body of Christ

    Holy Communion the Bread and Cup of salvation in Christ  for the body of Christ the Church

    For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you..

    1 Corinthians 11:23a KJV

    Paul here reiterates from the Gospel accounts that which the Apostle had already instructed in person.


    .. That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread:

    And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat:

    this is my body, which is broken for you:

    this do in remembrance of me.

    After the same manner also he took the cup,

    when he had supped, saying,

    This cup is the new testament in my blood:

    this do ye, as oft as ye drink it,

    in remembrance of me.

    First Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians 11:23-25 King James Version

    An Apostolic Application

    Once again, Paul has already WRITTEN:

    • NOT to eat Food Sacrificed to Idols AND taught lessons of the Jews’ exodus from Egypt concerning their idolatry.

    For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

    1 Corinthians 11:26 ESV

    The Apostle had reminded the saints of Corinth earlier in his letter of both his authority and humility in Christ confirming:

    • I have applied these things to myself [THEREFORE] learn from us not to go beyond what is written.
    • Paul’s instruction consequently will require the saints of Corinth:

    Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup.

    1 Corinthians 11:28 ESV


    27 Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. – BSB

    Commentary – Study Bible [below]

    • The term “unworthy manner” suggests a lack of reverence or self-examination
    • The “bread” and “cup” symbolize the body and blood of Christ, and partaking in them requires a heart of humility and repentance.
    • To be “guilty of sinning” implies a serious offense, akin to profaning something holy.

    For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.

    First Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians 11:29 King James Version

    If we would judge ourselves
    The Apostle offers a few additional reasons to examine ourselves before these communions with the world and the Holy Communion of the saints of our local church. 
    • That is why many among you are weak and sick,
    • and a number of you have fallen asleep.
    • Now if we judged ourselves properly, we would not come under judgment.
    • But when we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world.

    In conclusion, Paul reiterates about their divisions over their communions.

    ἐκδέχομαι – ekdechomai 

    33 Wherefore, my brethren, when ye come together to eat,

    tarry one for another.

    translates the King James

    1. to receive, accept
    2. to look for, expect, wait for, await: ἀλλήλους ἐκδέχεσθε wait for one another, namely, until each shall have received his food, 1 Corinthians 11:33, cf.

    PAUL closes this section of his letter about divisions stating that he has more to say about other issues later in person.

    “.. And when I come, I will give instructions about the remaining matters.


    Judge for yourself

    English translation: pictures Table Man Wine Mug Food Food Religion Text added to photo What's wrong with you Communions?

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