Supernatural – 23/09/12 “Spiritual Warfare #1 – Framework” Today, the existence and understanding of Satan and demons and the spiritual realm is highly controversial and highly confused. Depending on who you talk to about it all, you will hear a whole range of different things about spiritual forces and the spiritual realm. For instance: 1) Pop culture: celebrates the existence of dark supernatural forces. a. Vampires are popular (Twilight anyone?) b. Warlocks and spells dominate movies and TV shows c. The dark spiritual side is huge in pop culture 2) Atheists: there is only a material world. a. What we believe in should only be what we see, touch, taste and smell b. Only what can be proven scientifically c. Reject the spiritual world all together 3) New Age Spiritualist’s: good and bad interwoven into the fabric of the universe. a. god is everything and in everything b. There is no existence of evil spirits. 4) The Bible: has a lot to say about Satan and demons. a. In fact in 37 of the 66 books of the Bible there is talk about Satan and demons and their involvement in our world. b. Here is a comprehensive list of all the Scriptures that reference Satan & Demons. SATAN & DEMONS IN THE BIBLE: Old Testament: Genesis 3; Exodus 20:5; Leviticus 17:7–9; 19:31; 20:27; 19:31; Numbers 22–24; Deuteronomy 32:16–17; Judges 9:23–24; 1 Samuel 10–12; 16:14–23; 18:10–12, 19, 28, 31; 1 Kings 22:1–28; 1 Chronicles 21:1–2; Job 1:6–2:10; 26:6; Psalm 106:37; Proverbs 27:20; Isaiah 14:1–23; Ezekiel 28:1–19; Zechariah 3:1–2; 13:1–2; 1/18 New Testament: Matthew 4:1–11, 23–25; 7:21–23; 8:14–17, 28–34; 9:32–34; 10:1, 8, 24–25; 11:18; 12:22–37, 43–45; 13:37–39; 15:21–28; 16:22–23; 17:14–23; 25:41; Mark 1:21–28, 32–34, 39; 3:10–11, 14–15, 20–30; 4:15; 5:1–20; 6:7, 13; 7:24–30; 8:31–33; 9:14–32, 38–41; 16:9, 17–18; Luke 4:1–13, 31–37; 6:17–19; 7:33; 8:1–3, 26– 39; 9:1–2, 37–43; 10:17–24; 11:14–28; 13:10–17, 31–32; 22:1–6; John 6:70; 7:14–20; 8:42–52a; 10:19–21; 13:2, 27; 17:15; Acts 5:1–11, 16; 8:4–8, 9–25; 10:38; 13:9–10; 19:11–22; 26:15–18; Romans 8:37–39; 16:20; 1 Corinthians 5:1–6:11; 7:5; 10:14–22; 2 Corinthians 2:10–11; 4:2–4; 6:15; 11:1–15; 12:7–10; Galatians 1:8; 2:21; Ephesians 1:19b–2:3; 2:10–11; 4:17–32; 5:8–21; 6:10–20; Colossians 2:13–15; 1 Thessalonians 2:18–19; 2 Thessalonians 2:1–12; 1 Timothy 1:18–20; 3:6–7; 4:1–2; 5:11–15; Hebrews 2:14; James 2:19; 4:1–12; 1 Peter 5:8–11; 2 Peter 2:1–22; 1 John 2:15–27; 3:4–15; 4:1–6; 5:18–21; 2 John 7; Jude 5–16; Revelation 2:8–11, 12– 17; 3:7–13; 9:1–11; 12:1–17; 13:4–9, 11–15; 16:13–14; 18:2; 20:1–4, 7–15 **My notes will be available online with a stack of Scripture references** It is everywhere in the Bible; that there is not only good in this world; God and His kingdom but there is also a dark side, headlined by Satan and demons. But our culture and maybe even the Church is deeply confused about the spiritual realm and about Satan, demons and spiritual warfare. So my aim tonight is to just see what the Bible has to say about Satan, demons and spiritual warfare. - Be a bit more teaching style... - Give you a framework for understanding the nature of spiritual warfare - Part 1 this week and part 2 next week Right up front, there are 3 foundational truths that we need to lay out & understand. Foundational Truths #1: There is a spiritual world. For some of you, that might be like “duh!” But for a lot of us this isn’t so easily accepted. The problem here is: we live in the rational Western world and to say that there is a spiritual world with angels and demons is like saying you believe in dragons and elves and the tooth fairy… 2/18 For most Aussies: If you cannot see it, feel it, touch it, smell it, then it is not there. - We’re blind to a spiritual world. There could be a couple of reasons for this: 1) Most people rely completely on their own senses (what they can touch, see, taste and smell) and so they put all their faith and all their trust in themselves… Effectively they put themselves in the position of god and worship themselves as god because what they say goes… Aussies say they aren’t religious but they are very religious; it’s just their faith is mostly in them... 2) If the Devil is a liar and a deceiver like the Bible says he is, then maybe the biggest lie he has ever told you or people in general is that he doesn’t exist... In fact, 2 Cor. 4:4 seems to suggest this where it says Satan has blinded the minds of unbelievers... So really, most people you come into contact with are completely blind to a spiritual world. That’s dangerous because in the Bible there is an active and pervasive spiritual world through the whole storyline of Scripture. (Gen. 3:1-15; 1 Sam. 16:13-23, 28:325; 1 Kgs. 22:6-28; 2 Kgs. 6:8-23; Job 1:6-2:10; Zec. 3; Dan. 10:12-14; Matt. 12; Luke 9) There is a spiritual world, and there are a lot of things that are going on that we do not see. C.S. Lewis quite famously said; there are two dangers when it comes to Satan and demons: - He said: “One is to disbelieve in their existence, and the other is to believe and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. The devils are equally pleased by both errors.” C.S. Lewis is saying: Just like we talked about; some people disbelieve – it’s just not true. 3/18 But then a lot of people, even Christians swing to the complete opposite extreme and become nut jobs and become completely obsessed with the spiritual world. - Cast demons out of toasters... “Burnt my toast, demon toaster!” - Friends of mine “plead the blood” of Jesus over their car... I’m not sure what that means!? So I think: we need to not live in ignorance regarding the existence of Satan and demons... But we also need to not swing so far the other way and we need to be wary of the nuttiness and nonsense and excess and fanaticism that can pop up in Christian circles when it comes to the spiritual world... So the first truth is: there is a spiritual world; that is a biblical reality. #2: We are involved in a spiritual war. The best known Scripture for this is Ephesians 6. Eph. 6: [12] For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Our struggle is not against flesh and blood. It is against spiritual forces. In other words, there is a war of conflicting kingdoms in the heavenly places. - There’s a kingdom of God that coexists with a kingdom of darkness, and it is not a peaceful coexistence. There’s tension there. And you and I are right in the middle of it. You have a spiritual enemy that hates you and is hell-bent on your destruction: In 1 Peter 5:8 Satan is described as roaring lion, prowling around, seeking people to devour Satan and his demons are prowling around saying: “Can I pick you off? Can I destroy you?” 4/18 We face a spiritual enemy that is actively opposed to Jesus Christ and by virtue of your union with Jesus, actively opposed to you. We are in a spiritual war. We’re in wartime, not peace time. Peace time is coming, but it’s not now. It’s not now. If you feel like it is peace time; life is comfortable, everything is good, there is no struggle or opposition... - Maybe you need to remind yourself of what Pastor Craig said last week: “don’t worry if you are facing opposition, but worry if you aren’t...” - Because maybe you aren’t engaged in the battle and Satan and demons see you as no threat? They don’t see you advancing the gospel; or loving Jesus and so they are content to leave you alone… So, the first truth; there is a spiritual world and second, we are involved in a spiritual war. #3: The stakes in this spiritual war are eternal. Casualties in this spiritual war do not merely lose a limb or an eye or even their life. Casualties in this war lose everything, and the stakes here are either an eternal heaven or an eternal hell. Satan wants people to never experience the grace of God and forgiveness and new life. 2 Peter 3:9 tells us that God wants people to be saved; He does not want anyone to perish. And so how we fight this battle has eternal implications for men, women, boys and girls, in every nation, tribe, people and language. 5/18 This has implications for how we live and do Church: - Once you realize the gravity of this battle you will be passionately committed to prayer! o Pleading with God to open opportunities in your Universities, work places, sports clubs… Uni won’t be all about study anymore! Work won’t be all about work! Play won’t be all about play! o All of a sudden; these places and people in your life will become mission fields to take ground for Jesus, to plead with God to open blind eyes… - You will be generous! You will give to see the spread of the gospel - At Church: things like the songs we sing and the sound levels and whether I like this series or that series – they won’t matter nearly as much as questions like: am I inviting people to Church? Am I committed to this community to do my part – to give, to serve? Are we preaching the gospel; are we telling people about Jesus? This is not a game but there is a real battle waging for real souls of men and women all around the world, and the stakes in this battle are high. But thankfully this leads us to the last and the most glorious foundational truth of spiritual warfare and it is this: #4: The War is Won (Col. 1:13, 2:13-15; 1 Jn. 3:8, 4:4; Rom. 8:37-39; Heb. 2:14-15; Ps. 3:3, 7:10, 18:2) Hebrews 2:14: “…that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, [15] and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.” Jesus defeated Satan at the cross; the war is won and if you are in Jesus you are on the winning team. 6/18 Because of Christ’s death on the cross; our sins are completely forgiven and Satan has no rightful authority over us. In the Garden of Eden, when Satan first tempted humanity, Adam – as the representative head of humanity – did not trust God and he disobeyed God. - Through Adam’s disobedience, humanity has joined Satan in his insurrection against God. - In that disobedience, we were transferred under the same curse as the Devil. - Humanity has been under that curse ever since. Rom. 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death…” But the amazing news of the gospel is the second half of Rom. 6:23: “…but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Jesus Christ breaks into this unfolding drama from the outside; he comes as the ‘second Adam’. - The ‘first Adam’ failed and succumbed to temptation and the schemes of the serpent… Jesus is brought forward as the ‘second Adam’; as the representative head of humanity, captain of the team, president of the nation; and Jesus faces Satan afresh. In the Gospels you see that Satan continually comes and wrestles with Jesus: - He tried to murder him at his birth - He tempted him after his baptism in the wilderness - Jesus wrestled with the same temptations as we do - Jesus comes up against individuals that are demonized and Jesus casts them out Jesus continues to overcome Satan in his life and ministry. (Mk. 1:27; Matt. 12:2829) 7/18 Then at the cross, Jesus finally overcame and disarmed the forces of evil. - Jesus by becoming a man, by offering himself up in death as a sacrifice for sins and through his resurrection from death; he reversed the curse of death, he absorbed the penalty of sin and he ended the claim that the demonic powers and Satan have over all believers. Col. 2:15: “Having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross…” Most people think that Satan defeated Jesus at the cross and then 3 days later when Jesus rose he defeated Satan. It’s not true. At the cross, Jesus defeated Satan completely. - He didn’t give in to his temptations - He never sinned - He as the ‘second Adam’ came and did what the ‘first Adam’ could not. - He was obedient to God to the last. This spiritual war that we face has already been won at the cross! (Heb. 2:14). Listen, if Christ defeated Satan at the cross and I was in Christ, then I defeated Satan at that same cross and so Satan is now subject to Christ and so Satan is subject to me. Satan has no claim on your life if you are a believer! Romans 8: 33: “Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn?” On the cross, Satan was stripped of his power to accuse you before God. - When he accuses you of sin, you merely point to the cross where your sin was dealt with once and for all time. 8/18 - Chronicles of Narnia ‘The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe: o Edmund was tempted by White Witch and the promise of power and he betrays his siblings to the Witch. o Because of this treason and this evil Edmund has sided with the White Witch, she has a legitimate claim upon Edmund’s life. The law of Narnia was that any traitor belonged to the Witch. She can rightly accuse him. o But then as you know; Aslan offers himself up to die in Edmund’s place and take his punishment. o The Witch thought she was triumphing over Aslan forever by killing him! But little did she know she was actually ensuring his victory. o Aslan is killed by the Witch but then he returns to life and he conquers the White Witch and Edmund is set free. o Through Aslan’s death; payment was made for Edmund’s treason and because payment has been made the Witch no longer had any claim on Edmund. Christian, Satan has no claim upon you; he has no ground on which to accuse you because your great Redeemer Jesus Christ, stood in your place, paid your price, purchased your freedom with his blood. - You were guilty and could be rightly accused but because of Jesus you are free! So what that means is that now anyone who calls on the name of Jesus Christ: you not only have your sins forgiven, you not only have God’s wrath towards you satisfied, you not only have justification, innocence and purity in his sight but now were Satan was free to tempt, to oppress, he is not any longer. Jesus is victorious over Satan and sin and death. This means that we do not fight this war to achieve victory. But rather we fight from victory! The war is won! 9/18 But if we look at our everyday lives… this isn’t our common experience is it? I mean, why is it that following Jesus can be so hard? - Relationships… difficult - Honouring our parents… difficult - Loving our spouse… difficult - Work life… difficult - Witnessing… difficult - Trying to live pure… almost impossible The reality is that in this war; victory is assured; Satan has been disarmed and he will be destroyed forever one day; but for the moment the battle continues to rage and we continue to battle with our spiritual enemies. Three Enemies The Bible presents that we have three great enemies in this war, and only one of them is Satan. Those three enemies are our battles against 1) our flesh, 2) the world, and 3) Satan and demons. It’s important to realise these are not three different sets of problems. The Bible doesn’t say “well sorry Adam, you have the Satan problem... unlucky, Joe’s only got the flesh problem...” - We all face all three enemies... - They are like three cords in a rope and they are tied together. So for those of us that like to blame Satan for everything (“Satan made me eat that whole chocolate bar…”) sorry but the Bible is on to you... #1: Our Flesh (Rom 7:5, 8:8, 13:14; Gal. 5:16-18; Eph. 2:3; Phil. 3:3; Col. 2:11; 1 Jn. 2:16) The flesh is not the material part of who we are; it’s not our skin and our excess baggage… 10/18 - If it was some would have a much bigger battle than others... The Bible uses that word “flesh” to describe what happened to humanity when we were tainted by sin. - “Flesh” is the perversion of the good and right desires that God put in our hearts... - Good desires - love, joy, sex, intimacy, food - have been so perverted by sin that so rather than celebrate and desire the Giver of the gifts we ultimately desire the gifts... In other words: - Is sex bad? No! God invented it! (JH - L, S & M series…) o But when every attractive woman you see, you lust after and desire and that desire spirals into sex addiction or porn addiction… That is a good and right desire for sex given by God that has been perverted. - Is eating bad? No! o But ladies when you see a 1 kilogram block of chocolate and desire to devour the whole thing, that is a twisted desire that the Bible calls gluttony. So we have these innate desires given by God but which have been twisted by sin. So we need to realise that when we are facing struggle and temptation and difficulty in our own life that the source often isn’t the Devil: - Satan is not whispering in your ear “Eat it!” “Look at her” But what is going on is exactly what Jesus said in Mark 7:20-23. - That out of the heart flows all manner of wickedness What this shows us is that we are responsible for our sin. The Bible does not put all the blame or responsibility for evil on Satan. The Bible doesn’t chalk up all sin to demon possession. 11/18 It doesn’t say that: - Noah struggled with a demon of drunkenness… - Or David with a demon of adultery… - Or Diotrephes with a demon of arrogance… (3 John 9) You and I are responsible for our wicked hearts, not the demons. That’s why the gospel is such good news; Jesus Christ lived the perfectly righteous life; he knew no sin and on the cross; he took our shame and our sin upon himself and he gave to us his perfect righteousness and gave us new and cleansed hearts. Acts 15:9 “and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith.” 2 Cor. 5:21 “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” How do we deal with our ‘flesh’ and our sinful hearts? How do we deal with idolatry? How do we deal with porn and sexual perversion? How do we deal with lying and cheating and stealing and pride…? And the answer that the Bible gives is; repent and believe in Jesus Christ. - The Bible says we either repent of our sin or we die in our sin. So we don’t blame Satan for our sin but we repent of it. - We turn to Jesus and we trust in Him and we follow after Him. So in the warfare that we face, not everything is down to Satan and demons and in fact much of the time our great enemy is our flesh; the twisted desires of our hearts. #2: The World (Jn. 15:19, 16:33, 18:36; 1 Cor. 1:21; Gal. 4:3, 8-9; Col. 2:8, 20; 1 Jn. 2:15-17) The world is not simply the globe, this planet. 12/18 - I’m not saying that the trees are our enemy and we should go cut them down… What the Bible means by the world is: the human and worldly system or platform where all of our fleshly desires and all of Satan’s influence are played out on a grand scale. The flesh is our internal desire and the world is the external opportunity created from those desires. - We have the desire to gratify our sinful natures so we create opportunities. o Guys lust & have a desire to gratify the flesh, pornography is created. o Girls have a desire to feel beautiful and treasured and find their identity in how they look; we create the fashion industry and make up. The world is set up with these opportunities to gratify our sinful desires everywhere. The world is the ways and the systems and attitudes of culture and society that oppose Jesus. This is why John said in 1 John 2:15-17: [15] Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. [16] For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. (1 John 2:15-16 ESV) This does not mean we withdraw from the world! - Please don’t stock up on Bibles and baked beans and build a holy bunker in your backyard when you get home… Jesus calls us to go as missionaries into culture… To share the gospel and pray that God opens eyes that Satan has blinded... Contrary to what you might think, the primary role of Christians is not to tell the world what is wrong with it! Jesus says, “You are the light of the world” (Matt. 5:14) Our role is to point to Jesus; it is to point to true life, it is to point to a better way. 13/18 It is to live in such a way that with our free time, with our money, with our gifts and abilities, we live in such a way that says, "There's something greater than me. There's something more important than me." We point to: - A way of sex that leads to deeper joy and fulfilment… - A way of community that leads to deeper joy and deeper connection... - A way of handling our money so that it doesn’t control us but we control it… - A way where our identity is not tied up in our sexual orientation or in our bank statements or in our possessions but in being a Son or a Daughter, loved and cherished by the Most High God So the first enemy is our flesh; which Jesus calls us to battle and to put off and the second is the world; which Jesus says we are to live in such a way that we are a light in the darkness. The third enemy is where we are going to spend the rest of our time tonight and that is Satan and demons. NB: Spiritual warfare is not primarily all about Satan and demon possession and all this crazy stuff that it is often associated with! The everyday struggle to love Jesus and to pursue Him! Important to understand ‘flesh’ and ‘world’ because Satan’s strategy is to bring those two together! - He connects the sinful desire of our hearts with opportunities in the world. - Lustful desires with pornography… Satan and Demons (Ezek. 28:17; Prov. 3:34, 8:13; Gen. 3:5; Isa. 8:12-13, 13:11, 35:3-4; Luke 12:4-5; Rom. 8:15) Who is Satan? - Going to spend a whole week on this… Week 3 But I need to say a few things tonight. 14/18 God created the world and everything in it. - He created the material world and the immaterial world. - He created humanity and the physical world but he also created angels; designed to worship God and to do the will of God. What happens in Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 regarding Satan is appears that Satan was the chief worshipper, the worship leader, the chief angel. - Rather than deciding to worship God and keep leading the angels in worship, he grew proud and tried to displace God and kick God off the throne. - Satan effectively thought that he could do a better job as god and that he didn’t need God. - So he led this mutiny against God and it appears that other angels, a third of them according to Revelation 12 (12:3-4, 7-9) joined with Satan in his rebellion. - But it didn’t go very well for them… - God kicked Satan and the rebellious angels out of heaven down to earth and they became what we now know today as demons. Satan is a created being, a fallen angel. Because Satan is a created being he doesn’t share the same attributes as Creator God. God is Creator, Satan is creation. What that means is: Satan is absolutely nothing like God in power. You need to know this: there is no struggle between God and Satan where we have to be nervous about what is going to happen… There is only one Sovereign Lord over the world and that is God. For example: God is omniscient. He knows everything! - God can read our minds and He knows our thoughts and our hearts and our past, present & our future. - Satan does not know all things. 15/18 God is everywhere, all the time; he is omnipresent. - Satan is not. - Satan cannot be in Brisbane and Johannesburg at the same time… - He is a creature and creatures by definition are limited by space and time. o What this means is; you are probably never going to meet him. o Satan has all his little junior assistants; and he sends them out to tempt us, to harass us and to accuse us but he is probably going to save himself for people of far greater influence than me or you. God has all power, he is omnipotent. - Satan has no power apart from the power that God has given him. - In other words, God has Satan on a leash. (Mark 3:27; Jn. 12:31-32). - God is in complete control over Satan but as part of His sovereign plan he allows Satan to remain active on the earth (Jn. 12:31; 2 Cor. 4:4; Eph. 2:2; 1 Tim. 3:7; 2 Tim. 2:26; 1 Pet. 5:8). Some people might ask at this point: If God could at any moment get rid of Satan, why doesn’t He? - Why doesn’t God simply vanquish Satan forever? o Perhaps to test people like in Job? It’s hard to answer, but what we do know is: o God sent Jesus into the heart of this warfare and through the cross he publically disarmed Satan and demonic rulers (Col. 2:15) o He broke their authority; he released Christians from the power of sin and the law so that Satan has nothing to condemn believers with. o Which means we are free to pursue Jesus Christ. o John Piper says that when people choose Jesus Christ despite Satan’s torment and temptation, we display the worth of Jesus. o In other words, if God was to simply snuff Satan out, we could follow Jesus and aside from our flesh would face no opposition… 16/18 o But, you see, the glory of Christ shines most brightly when we renounce Satan and actively choose to follow Jesus in spite of the torment and temptation of Satan… o When we treasure Jesus above the lies of Satan and the empty promises of sin we hold up Jesus as most valuable to us and He receives all glory! So Satan is under God’s sovereign rule but he remains a great enemy of God’s people. Just like Satan tempted Eve to sin against God (Gen. 3:1-6) and Jesus to sin and fail in his mission as the Messiah (Matt. 4: 1-11) Satan comes after you and he comes after me. - He uses lies (Jn. 8:44); deception (Rev. 12:9); murder (Ps. 106:37) to get people to turn away from God and to destroy themselves. - He blinds people to the gospel (2 Cor. 4:4) and tries to keep people in bondage so that they are not free to come to God (Gal. 4:8) - Satan and demons will use temptation, doubt, guilt, fear, confusion, sickness, envy, pride, slander or any means possible to take you out. So if we look at our everyday lives this is why following Jesus can be hard: - Relationships… difficult - Honouring your parents… difficult - Loving your spouse… difficult - Work life… difficult - Witnessing… difficult - Trying to live pure… almost impossible Because we are in a battle with very real enemies. - This spiritual battle has everything to do with our everyday struggle. - Spiritual warfare is not the excessive fanaticism that you see on TV… - It is our everyday struggle to put off sin; to resist Satan and to pursue Jesus. This is why Paul says in Eph. 6:10: we need to “… be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.” 17/18 Because we are in a battle and so we need to ask ourselves: - Are we standing in the strength of the Lord? - Are we battle ready? This is what we will look at next week: how can we stand & be strong & out on the armour of God? But tonight I want you to know that you face very real enemies in a very real battle but you can also know that ultimately Jesus is victorious! Because of the power of the Holy Spirit in you; you can put off the flesh and walk by the Spirit. Because of the love of Jesus Christ you can live as a light in a world of darkness. Because of the cross of Christ, Satan has no ground to stand on to accuse you! - Your sin has been removed and there is no more condemnation. 1 John 4:4, “You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” What a glorious truth! Satan has been disarmed at the cross and we look forward to the day when Jesus returns and vanquishes him forever along with all evil and sickness and sin and death. We will reign forever with Jesus Christ – no tears, no pain; only unending joy. We have a mission in this present life to share the gospel and to battle for holiness and to shine the light and the love of Christ as we look towards that glorious day when we will see Jesus face to face completely unhindered by Satan and by sin. “Come, Lord Jesus.” (Rev. 22:20) 18/18
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