Many Questions One Answer

Chartridge Mission Church

#Jesus #God #Redemption #Perfection #Seven #Steps #Stages #Sanctification #PaulEss #Encourage #QandA #Questions #Answers #LearningTheBibleTogether #Stylianou #Greek #ChartridgeMissionChurch #Chesham  The hugely popular Paul Ess never fails to encourage and lift even the most oppressed Christians. Here, he explores the many questions we have about the Christian Faith and finds there is only one answer. Looking at the Biblical books of Romans, Ezekiel, and Exodus, Paul presents God's 7 Stages of Redemption and His 7 Steps to Perfection. Prepare to be motivated to serve God!   Paul Ess YouTube Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLeLtfVhcCUFv0kkvZEUAaIBTVjT8NptRx  Chartridge Mission Church, a beacon of faith, was founded in 1844 and remains in the village of Chartridge, just outside Chesham, in the picturesque Chiltern Hills of Buckinghamshire, England, UK.  We are a warm and welcoming fellowship and would be delighted to have you visit us in person. Join us for our Sunday service at 6 pm, followed by refreshments.   Our Church is fully accessible, with wheelchair ramps and an accessible toilet, ensuring everyone can participate in our services.     Chartridge Mission Church, Chapel Lane, Chartridge, Chesham, Buckinghamshire, HP5 2TH  The village Church with an international audience.  Support our work at Chartridge Mission Church:  Donations via Stewardship.org.uk:    https://www.stewardship.org.uk/partners/20005300    Please make cheques payable to Chartridge Mission Church and send them to the address above, attention Pastor Barry Kempson.   Recorded on Sunday, 10th May 2026.     Join us for our Sunday service at 6 pm.  www.Chartridge.UK   The Friendliest Fellowship.

Transcript

00:00No condemnation of thy dread, Jesus and all in him is mine.

00:14Alive in him, thy living hand, and clothed in righteousness divine.

00:27O I approach the eternal throne, and claim the crown through Christ my own.

00:42O I approach the eternal throne, and claim the crown through Christ my own.

00:59Good evening, one and all. Lovely to be here again, and lovely to be in fellowship, isn't

01:09it? And to share the Lord's word, and to see what the Lord has for us today. I'd like to

01:15read from Romans 8, verse 28 to the end, 28 to 39.

01:22And we know that all things work together for good, to those who love God, to those who

01:29are called according to his purpose. For whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed

01:36to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom

01:43he predestined, these he also called. Whom he called, these he also justified. And whom

01:50he justified, these he also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God

01:57is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but delivered him up

02:05for us all. How shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring

02:11a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? It is Christ

02:18who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes

02:26intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation,

02:33or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written,

02:42for your sake we are killed all day long, we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Yet

02:48in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am persuaded

02:55that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present,

03:03nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing shall be able to separate us

03:11from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen. And hallelujah to that. I've called this

03:20many questions, one answer. Many questions, one answer. Very few verses, but the richness in those few

03:33verses, in those 11 verses, is just absolutely immense. And the teaching in those verses is

03:46just indescribable. And I want to break down those, the majority of those verses, not all of them,

03:54because we really don't have the time. But I want to pick out a few things of interest there.

04:01And we start with verse 28. And the Apostle Paul says, and we know, and we know. Now it's interesting

04:13because he uses that start on many, many, many verses throughout his epistles. One that comes

04:21straight off the top of my head, 2 Corinthians 5.1, where he begins right at verse 1, and we

04:28know.

04:28And then in verse 11, he actually goes on and he repeats that when he goes into the second section,

04:35and he carries on. So we know, and we know. And, you know, the thing that strikes me with

04:43knowing is it sounds like knowledge, doesn't it? It sounds like something you learn in a classroom.

04:51It sounds like something somebody has told you, maybe a preacher up top, as we know. But the reality

04:58of this word, no, is idhamen in Greek, idhamen. And I've no idea why they've translated it as no,

05:08because idhamen means I've seen. Right? We have seen. You see, when we see something,

05:17more so than just being told it, when we've experienced it, when it's something that we can

05:26then use as a testimony, it's so much more powerful, isn't it? You know, than just something

05:32that we know through some knowledge or other. Now, of course, there's a link between knowing

05:40knowing and seeing, because as we see, we then know. And so I can see perhaps why they would use

05:49know there. But, you know, you look in other verses like Acts 4.20, and he speaks about seeing

05:57and knowing over there, and uses idhamen. But yet here, he uses know. Basically, in some verses,

06:09they use know, we have known. In other verses, for exactly the same word, he uses seen, just to keep

06:16it simple. Okay? And the translators do. And that happens throughout the New Testament. We keep seeing

06:23that. And I downloaded almost every case of those. And I can't figure out why they choose with one,

06:34one, they call it seen. In others, they call it known. I'm sure there must be some logic behind it

06:39anyway. But the important thing here for us is this is a knowledge that we have learned from

06:48personal experience. We have seen something. We have seen something of God that has helped us

06:57understand, that has taught us something, that has given us that knowledge. But it all starts from

07:03personal experience. And I love how Paul says, so therefore, we have seen that all things work together

07:13for good. All things, not just some things. And that's quite a challenge, isn't it? It's quite a challenge

07:20to see that and understand that. When we look at our lives, and when we look at the world around

07:25us,

07:25you know, that all things are working for the good. But there is a qualification here for those

07:34who love God, for those who are called according to his purposes. Lord willing, every single one of

07:43us in this room love God and are called according to his purposes. But it doesn't make it any easier

07:50very often, does it? We still wonder, but Lord, why? I can't see how this could possibly be what I'm

07:59going through at the moment, perhaps. I can't see how it could possibly work out for the good.

08:06But God, we can always say, but God, because God is in control. If we would just leave him in

08:13control,

08:14you know, I think I've said before, one of my biggest prayers always, in the day or two before

08:22I'm going to be speaking, is Lord, I just don't feel up to this. I feel so inadequate to your

08:30word,

08:30Lord God. And he says, that's great. So stand aside and let me do it. Yeah. And that's it. Very

08:38often,

08:39we just won't stand aside, will we? We tend to be very much like the little child that wants to

08:46put

08:46his hand into the sweet jar and grab as many sweets as he wants, as they possibly can. I remember

08:53when

08:53I was a new Christian watching Kathleen in Cyprus at the mission school in Cyprus. She was teaching at,

09:02because there was a church associated with it, doing a children's talk. And she had this jar of sweets

09:08and the jar opening was only just big enough for the children to get their hand in there. And

09:16they'd squeeze their hand in. And she said, as many sweets as you pull out, you can keep. Wow,

09:22that's great. And they would get this massive handful. But then they couldn't get their hand

09:28out of the jar. They were stuck there. They had to keep letting go, letting go of more and more

09:35and

09:36more sweets until there was perhaps holding on to one sweet between their fingers. And that's all

09:43they could get out. Bless them. That's quite a cruel one. But it was a great, great lesson,

09:50wasn't it? And that's how we can be. We try to hold on to things. We try to do things

09:57ourselves.

09:58We're like young children. I can do it. Me do it. I'll do it. Yeah. But God says that all

10:06things will

10:07work together for the good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose.

10:13And we have to let him do prove that in himself only because it's in him and through him. And

10:21I

10:22think also, interestingly enough, that he was, Paul was probably giving a bit of a nod to a Jewish

10:30tradition. There's a traditional saying in Hebrew where when you get to receive bad news, they will

10:40say, this is also for the good. That's what they say. They say, this is also for the good. So

10:48they get

10:49bad news and they say, this is also for the good. And isn't that wonderful to be able to have

10:55something

10:57that makes you focus on what is behind it? Because it makes them focus that they can be good in

11:09absolutely anything and everything. And that good is always God. Because knowing that God

11:20is at work. You know, it's so hard, as I said, sometimes it might be sickness. It might be

11:27financial problems. It might be family problems. It could be anything and everything. Some of the

11:34things, many of the things that we've prayed about this evening and many more besides. But they can all

11:43work for the good, together for the good, to those who love God, to those who are called according to

11:51his purpose. And that is our first and great encouragement. But then he goes on and he speak

11:59in verse 29. And this is an amazing verse. He says, for whom he foreknew, he predestined to be

12:10conformed to the image of his son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Now, I would love

12:17to be able to go charging into predestination, foreknowledge, and all the associated things with

12:25that. But we would need hours and hours here. So I never do it justice, even trying to touch upon

12:32it

12:32in a small way. So we're just going to skip over that verse. I hope you don't mind. I said

12:37we're not

12:38going to be looking in detail at every verse. But it is a great, great study. Look at predestination

12:46linked to foreknowledge. And it's only when it's linked to foreknowledge of God, that it begins to

12:53make sense. The predestination begins to make sense. But it is incredible in that verse to think

13:00that we, we have been made part of God's family. We have become heirs and co-heirs in Christ Jesus,

13:09the firstborn son. I think that's just absolutely amazing. He is the firstborn and we are heirs and

13:17co-heirs. And in verse 30, he goes on to say, moreover, whom those he predestined, those he also

13:27called, and those he called, he also justified, and whom he justified, he also glorified. You see,

13:36these different stages that God takes us through, he takes us step by step by step lovingly,

13:44and he is doing things in us all the time and taking us step by step. It reminds me of

13:562 Corinthians 3, isn't it? Where he says that we're being taken day by day from glory to glory and

14:05to

14:06ever increasing glory. He's taking us step by step and we're moving at different speeds because God is

14:14God knows what each of us can take. God knows how much pressure, how much learning, how much knowledge,

14:23how much revelation each of us can take. And he works accordingly in that. Now it's interesting,

14:31he said, those, these he called, who he predestined, these he also called, because that's an interest,

14:38another interesting word in Greek called. And so that is the called out, to be called out. And that

14:49is, of course, almost the same word, it's the same root as the word for church, ekklesia. Ekklesia is the

14:58word church in Greek. And that means to be called out, the called out ones. We are the ones who

15:06are called

15:06out. So those who he predestined, he called out into his church. He has invited us into his church.

15:15And then he started on that work of justification. And those who justified, he also glorified.

15:23But it's always that sanctification process, that daily sanctification that we go through. You know,

15:31the moment we become Christians, that's not the end of it. God, that's only the beginning of the work.

15:39It actually reminds me of a diamond. When Kathleen and I were in South America, in

15:48Guyana, the massive diamond industry. And we went into this place to look at the diamonds.

15:55And the original diamond, you or I, the untrained eye, would never even know what it was. Just looks

16:02like a rock that you would throw away. But of course, that's us at that beginning. God has seen

16:10something in us. He has understood something about us. And then he's going to start hacking away at that,

16:17getting rid of the bad part, chipping away the bits, and then turning us, and then finally polishing us.

16:25And all of that hurts. It's abrasive. It hurts. But it's a process to get to that beautiful diamond

16:34at the end. And as you see these stages, it is a painful thing very often, our sanctification process.

16:45It's interesting how, throughout the scriptures, we see many of these steps that God takes us through.

16:53Ezekiel 36, verses 26 to 27. We see God's seven steps to perfection. He starts in 26.

17:03I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. And I will take the heart

17:10of a stone

17:10out of your flesh. And I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within

17:16you.

17:16And that calls you to walk in my statutes. And you will keep my judgments and do them.

17:23Isn't that wonderful? All of that to get to that end process where we will keep those judgments and do

17:31them. Because we can't be in heaven unless we have been sanctified into a holy vessel.

17:40Because the scriptures tell us very clearly, nothing that is unholy can be with God. We all want to be

17:50there in heaven. So that sanctification process he takes us through is specifically to help us,

17:58to prepare us for heaven. And just, I love these types of things. So Exodus 6, verses 6 to 8.

18:09We see seven stages of redemption. God's seven stages of redemption. He says,

18:16Therefore say to the children of Israel, from verse 6, I am the Lord. I will bring you out from

18:22under the

18:22burdens of the Egyptians. I will rescue you from their bondage. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm.

18:28That's mighty power. And with great judgments. I will take you as my people. I will be your guard.

18:34Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the burdens of

18:40the

18:40Egyptians. And I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

18:46And I will give it to you as a heritage. I am the Lord. You see those seven stages he

18:52takes us through.

18:53And we see those in our lives as well. We're going to be touching upon that later on in a

19:00different way,

19:01actually. But it is beautiful to see that God understands our frailty. He knows that we're just

19:09dust, his word says. So he doesn't thrust everything on us all in one go. He works with us step

19:18by step,

19:19patiently, patiently, trying to teach us, to encourage us, to sanctify us.

19:29And we get to verse 31. And we've got a question then. What then shall we say to these things?

19:37If God is for us, who can be against us? You know, it's a good question. What should we say

19:45to these things? If God is for us, who can possibly be against us? If everything is truly

19:52in God's hands, then surely God's hand must be upon everything.

20:00And it's only when we really begin to see God's hand in all events, that we will understand that

20:08all events in the world that we're seeing at the moment are in God's hands. Do you see how that

20:14works?

20:15And so we've got to understand these things. If God is for us, who can be against us?

20:23Yet all of this is happening. Everything is happening for a purpose. And God is the beginning and is the

20:34end. And he knows the beginning. So he knows the beginning and he knows the end. And he is taking

20:41us

20:41through and he is ensuring that we get to the end. He is absolutely sure that he can take us.

20:50If he's

20:50received us to himself, he is sure he can get us to the end.

20:57He who did not spare his own son, but delivered him up for us all. How then shall he not

21:03with him

21:04also freely give us all things? There's another question. How shall he not with him? He never

21:11spared his own son, but he delivered him up for us. How shall he not with him also freely give

21:19us

21:19all things? And then the next question, who then shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God

21:28who justifies. So who's going to bring a charge? Well, we know who tries to bring a charge, don't we?

21:35We know who it is that tries moment by moment to accuse us. And he accuses us before the Lord,

21:45before the throne of God. And then it builds on that in verse 34. Another question, question four,

21:54who is he then who condemns? Well, who condemns? It's Satan that's condemning. He's condemning us.

22:03He's accusing us day by day, moment by moment. He's whispering in our ears, trying to bring us down

22:11as well. And it's interesting here. He says, who is this who condemns? It's a lovely word condemns.

22:19And in Greek, it's green on. Okay, it's green on. Now, and if you look in Matthew chapter seven,

22:29verse three, Luke chapter six, James four, those are just three examples of where this word is used

22:36about condemnation. But all it uses in those verses is green on. Whereas here, where he's speaking about

22:46this condemnation, about the almighty condemnation that we get ourselves, he puts an extra word in

22:54front of it. It's not just green on, even condemn. It is kata green on, which is utter condemnation.

23:04Who will utterly condemn us? He's saying, he's not just saying condemn us, but who is it that tries

23:11to really put it on and really condemn us in the worst possible way?

23:20And Satan is doing that moment by moment. But we have an advocate with the father, Jesus Christ,

23:30the righteous. Verse 35, we get another question. Who then shall separate us from the love of Christ?

23:40Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword?

23:49What's going to separate us from the love of Christ? Any of those things, all the things we've been

23:54praying about, all the things we're going through at the moment, all those things that are tormenting us

24:00at the moment, all those things that are playing on our minds, all those things that Satan is whispering

24:06in our ears day by day. Who is it that's going to separate us? There's nothing in this world that

24:15can separate us. All of those things as a question. And he goes on to say there in verse 36,

24:22as it's

24:23written, for your sake, we're killed all day long. We're accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Well, Paul

24:29would certainly know something about that. He's quoting Psalm 44, 22 there. And he's quoting that.

24:37He's saying it's so bad. And it can feel like that sometimes, can't it? When we're going through real

24:43hardships, whether everything seems to be overwhelming us, the thought that all things are working together

24:51for the good, can be quite foreign to us. They can be quite distant. And it can feel that we're

25:00being

25:00killed all day long, accounted as sheep for the slaughter. What is really happening to me, Lord?

25:06What's going on? But then in verse 37, we get the answer to all those questions. The answer to all

25:18those

25:18questions, and probably to almost any other question we could have. And it may sound like

25:27just another question, but it is a rhetorical answer to all the questions we may have. Because

25:35the answer is to all of these things, yet in all these things, we are more than conquerors

25:44through him who loved us. We are more than conquerors through him who loved us. Not just by the skin

25:54of our

25:55teeth, not just managing to scrape through, but fully and utterly to the uttermost more than conquerors.

26:06As it was in that word about condemnation, having the extra little bit, kata, extra krinon, extra

26:13condemnation, on verse 34. So here we have an extra bit on conquerors. Because although it says yet in

26:21all these things we are more than conquerors, the translation actually relatively good. But

26:29conquerors is nikkide, victorious, a victory, nikkide, and it's a victory. But what he says is,

26:40in the Greek, it says, we are hyper-victorious. He puts a word in front of it, hyper. We're not

26:47just

26:47victorious, we're hyper-victorious. We're not just holding on by the skin of our teeth,

26:52just scraping through. It's not something that may happen and we think, well, that'll be nice when

27:03I get to that stage where I am hyper-victorious, Paul. But we are hyper-victorious through him who

27:13loved us. Do you feel hyper-victorious? I know I don't always. And yeah, and if not,

27:22we need to understand that we're not the Gideon of Judges 6, who's hiding away, trying to keep his

27:33corn from the Assyrians and he's frightened and hiding there and so on as he's in that wine press.

27:42We're not that Gideon. We're not that Gideon. We are the Gideon who God's angel saw. We're the Gideon

27:50who, to whom God's angel says, the Lord is with you, mighty man of valor. Imagine how Gideon, hiding away

28:02there, scared, must have felt at hearing that. Mighty man of valor? Who's this mighty man of valor?

28:11Yeah. But he says, the Lord sees us as mighty people of valor, not because of what we may think

28:21or know about ourselves or because of what we feel about ourselves, but because the Word of God

28:28tells us that's who we are. He tells us God sees us as we will be at the end totally

28:38and utterly and

28:39can be and have a taste of it even now if we will just stand aside and trust him. It's

28:47not down to

28:48my feelings about my own frailty, my own lack, my own weaknesses, but because when, as Gideon,

28:58we wonder how that's possible. I'm only a weak believer. I'm old. I'm infirm. I'm sick. My eyes

29:04don't work anymore. My brain hardly works and so on. You know, all of those things. I'm not clever. I'm

29:10nothing. God's answer is go in the strength that you have. Am I not with you?

29:18Isn't that what God's answer was to Gideon when he came up with the objections? Go in the strength

29:24you have. Am I not with you? That's all we need to know. God doesn't expect magnificent things

29:33from me. He expects me just to be as good as I feel I can be. And if that's quite

29:41weak at times,

29:42then that's fine. As long as I'm doing what I can be doing for him, as long as I'm trying

29:47to be

29:48faithful, as long as I'm trying to walk in faithfulness for him, he says, am I not with you?

29:56Because I will fulfill in you. Stand aside, Paul. I'll do it. And that is so encouraging.

30:04We need to grasp all of these things, these accusations and the answer to all of these

30:11accusations, the answer to all of these things. Go in the strength you have because God is with you.

30:20It's a knowing that we can only have when we come to know and trust the Lord in his word.

30:28then we can say with Samuel, as he does in 1 Samuel 7 12, he says, thus far has the

30:36Lord brought us

30:37Ebenezer. Thus far has the Lord brought us because God is working in us. He is wanting to do things.

30:48And the biggest obstacle to what he can do in us is us standing in the way. Us trying to

30:57put

30:57our hands in that little jar, sweet jar, and hold on to as much as we possibly can and not

31:03want to let

31:03go. Or turning to God and saying, I can do it, Lord. I can do it. But he's saying, just

31:12go in the

31:12strength you've got. If it's that little, that's fine. If it's that much, that's fine. If it's enormous,

31:19that's fine. But I'll do it. Whatever strength you've got. And I find that it fluctuates,

31:27doesn't it? Sometimes we have a little bit of strength. Sometimes we feel really in the spirit,

31:33as people say. And yeah, we feel whether we can move mountains. And other times we feel,

31:40oh, I just want to hide away, Lord. Yeah. But God is working. But God is working. And therefore,

31:49in verse 38 and 39, in fact, let's combine those, 38 and 39, the Apostle Paul can say,

32:00for I am persuaded, persuaded, he's persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels,

32:10nor principalities, that's those demons that are working around us, nor powers, nor things present,

32:17nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us

32:25from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. So are we really, dear friends, persuaded

32:34of that? Are you persuaded that no matter what you're going through, no matter what we're experiencing in

32:42our lives, no matter what's happening around us, what impossible situation may be going on in our family

32:48life, in our finances, in our friendships, in our relationships, in our business, in our, I don't know,

32:56whatever, in absolutely any part of life, are we persuaded that nothing but nothing can separate us

33:05from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus? Are we truly persuaded that our Lord God, the almighty

33:13God of creation, the King of the universe, has us firmly in his mighty hand? He knows exactly what

33:21we're going through and he has us and is making us hyper-victorious, not just victorious, hyper-victorious

33:30that we can be in each and every situation that we face. We need to learn to trust in more.

33:38Without

33:38faith, the scriptures tell us, it is impossible to please God. We need to have that faith. We need

33:49to understand that the almighty God, that King of the universe, the Lord God, the one who was and is

33:59and is to come, the one who is our refuge and is our shield and is our fortress and is

34:05our deliverer and

34:06our stronghold and our high tower and our provider and our healer and he is absolutely everything and

34:16in everything. So if we are walking in him, nothing but nothing can touch us.

34:27He knows completely and utterly to the finest detail. I love Psalm 139, isn't it? That speaks of how it's

34:43impossible

34:44to escape God. It's impossible to go somewhere where he won't find us. He says, you know, when I'm

34:52when I'm standing up or sitting down, you know, when I'm going out or coming in, you know everything

34:59about me and there's nowhere I can escape. You've known me since I was woven in my mother's womb.

35:05You know everything about me. Amazing knowledge. That amazing knowledge is too much for me to take

35:12in the psalmist, the psalmist says. That's our God. We need to begin to see God's hand in all events

35:22so that then we can begin to see all events are truly in God's hands. Amen.

35:28How can it be that I should gain an interest in the Savior's blood?

35:43Died he for me, who caused his pain? For me, who came to death pursued?

35:56Amazing love, how can it be that thou, my God, choose I for me? Amazing love, how can it be

36:18that thou, my God, choose I for me?

36:27Tis mystery all the immortal dies. Who can explore his strange design?

36:41In me the first one's paradise to start the depths of the divine.

36:56Tis mercy all the devil adore. Let the angels' might inquire no more.

37:10Tis mercy all the devil adore. Let the angels' might inquire no more.

37:25He let the angels' might inquire no more. He let his father's throne above, so free so in finite his

37:39grace.

37:41Emptied himself all the goddess' way, Gloria.

37:48And blessed life.

37:50Emptied himself all love, Ho'er the cross. And fed ere'er for Adam's helpless grace.

37:55Tis mercy all the devilauer. Am fourth, he

38:06It found out me, tis mercy on immense and free, for all my God, it found out me.

38:24From my prison spirit lay, fast found in sin and nature's night.

38:39Thine eye diffused the quickening ray, I wore the dungeon flame with light.

38:54My chains fell off, my heart was free, I rose, went forth, and followed thee.

39:08My chains fell off, my heart was free, I rose, went forth, and followed thee.

39:23No condemnation of thy dread, Jesus and all in him is mine.

39:38Alive in him, my living hand, and clothed in righteousness divine.

39:52Oh, I approach the eternal throne, and claim the crown through Christ my own.

40:07But I approach eternal throne, and claim the crown through Christ my own.

40:22Amen.

40:23Amen.

40:25Amen.

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