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The Abominations of Scripture, No. 2
RV211-02© Berean Memorial Church of Irving, Texas, Inc. (1993)
We are studying "Ecclesiastical Babylon" in Revelation 17:1-18. This is segment number seven.
Pontifex Maximus
The high priest in the Babylon religion was the Pontifex Maximus. This title means "chief bridge builder." The bridge built by the Pontifex Maximus of ancient
Babylon was between lost humanity and Satan. The current holder of the title of Pontifex Maximus is the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church. The title
was originally passed down from Nimrod to subsequent high priests of Babylonian. And when Julius Caesar, the Roman Emperor, came on the scene as head
of the civil government, he assumed the title Pontifex Maximus, and he established himself, thereby, as not only the head of the state, but also the
head of the state religion.
The Roman Catholic Pope
When the Roman Empire finally fell in the fifth century, the Bishop of Rome, the Pope, assumed the pagan title of Pontifex Maximus with its claim of
supremacy over civil and religious realms. During the Middle Ages, therefore, the Roman Catholic Pope, as Pontifex Maximus exercised both civil and
religious authority over the nations. On occasions when the Pope wears his full crown, which is very high, you will notice, if you look closely, that
it is divided into three distinct segments. This is his declaration of supremacy over hell, and earth, and heaven. So, he wears the triple crown.
The Roman Catholics do not place their faith, as I'm sure you understand, in what the Bible says. Their faith is not is the principles of doctrine,
but rather in the faith of the teaching authority of the church, which flows from the Pope, who is the vicar of Christ on this earth, meaning that he
is the mouthpiece and the spokesman for God. The current Pontifex Maximus, the Pope of Rome, who has inherited Nimrod's title from the counterfeit
religion of Babylon, is now on tour in Colorado, as you are aware. And television is showing us how the Pope is wowing the people with his displays
of holiness – people who are blinded by Satan. And he is very dramatic and calculating. I watched him carefully. His hands are always slightly
raised to indicate the position of holiness. So, if you see me doing that with my hands, you know that I have shifted to the holiness mode. And he is
doing all that little smiling, and people are going bananas over him.
Roman Catholic Masses
Young people are particularly awed by him, because this is a tour which is designed for young people to learn what Nimrod taught in their religion.
These young people are rushing to hear and see the Pope, the current representative of the religion of Babylon. He is conducting for them Masses.
Anybody who has the faintest acquaintance with the Bible knows that you won't find anything like the Roman Catholic Mass in the Bible, where through
a magical procedure, you convert a piece of bread and some wine into the body and blood of your God, and then you eat it so that you will become one
with your God, and be qualified to enter your God's heaven. Nothing like that is to be found in the Bible. But that precise practice, which is called
the Mass, which means the Eucharist, which is a word for what we call the Lord's Supper – that precise procedures (the Mass), we have from
ancient records in Babylonianism. It came from Nimrod. It is one of the things that they did. This was one of the religious ceremonies of Nimrod,
and was absorbed by the medieval Catholic Church.
The pope is tricky, and probably sincere, because he does proclaim principles of morality. He does not stand up and act like a New Ager, and break
the rules of God. And he is certainly against abortion. Indeed, in that respect, he seems to be a true representative of God.
The One-World Religion of the Tribulation
The Pontifex Maximus is dignifying for all the world the religion of Nimrod under the guise of Christianity. What he is doing is indeed preparing
humanity for the church of the tribulation. Those of you that perhaps are too young, or you don't remember the past sequence of Popes, may have
forgotten that one thing is different about this pope from others in our lifetime; that is, that this is a traveling Pope. This Pope is constantly
on the move from country to country, getting himself before people, and getting his message out, and thereby bestirring enthusiasm for the religious
system he represents, and for the concept that he is the true religion, and it's the one that the whole world should be pursuing. He is preparing
mankind for the mentality of everybody under one world religion.
On one of the TV news reports, the Pope in Colorado, I noticed, was wearing his tall fish hat. That is the tall hat that has the open mouth in the
form of the open mouth of a fish. Did you see that? All the world is going gaga over the Pope, and on his head, he wears one of the identifying marks
of his contract (his association) with Nimrod's religion, because one of the great gods of the Babylonian system was Dagon the fish-god. And what the
Pope wears on his head in this tall hat that looks like the open mouth of a fish is connected back to his memory and his association with Dagon. Well,
his satanically blinded followers are milling about him in religious ecstasy, and they do not understand the meaning of the Pope's headgear –
that they are actually worshiping one of the great pagan gods, and the Pope is his representative. So, Pope John Paul II, as Pontifex Maximus, is
again identified as a representative of Babylonianism. Nimrod's religion is alive and well/
Abominations
The religion of Babylon, we have seen, is described by God, in His view, as a harlot woman because of its unfaithfulness to true doctrine. This vile
woman is outwardly portrayed as a person of royalty, and is dressed accordingly, and appears as a great beauty. Consequently, people are impressed
with her – the religious system that she represents. People are, furthermore, drawn to her to as a religion because she extends to them a cup
to drink which is filled with abominations and filthy practices which appeal to the lusts of the old sin nature in man. The world admires her for her
human good works. The Mother Teresas can find compatibility with all the religions of the world; with all the cults; and, with all the
representatives of Satan. She's going to be in a great meeting with them someplace in the world soon. The world is impressed with these human good
works that spew out from the old sin nature, performed by her devotees, so that they earn merit to be able to go to heaven. What blindness! And how
come we are not as spiritually dumb?
Do you have a new sense of appreciation for the doctrine of election? You stand and you watch this horrible display of spiritual insanity, and you
must say, "There's nothing in me that would have gone in the direction of God unless God Himself reached down and pulled me to Himself. That's true.
God, as always, does not look upon the outward appearance as we do. But He looks on the inward woman, and he is revolted and engaged by what He sees.
This harlot woman enrages God because she is the fountainhead, we've been told, of all the horrendous abominations which are practiced by unregenerate
humanities on earth – the things that totally revolt God, and the things that want to make deity vomit, if you can imagine such a picture.
So, we have been looking through the Bible at specifically what are the abominations that God is referring to here, that the Babylon religion is the
originator and promoter of, and which indeed are important to us because they still exist. We looked at the abomination of illicit and perverted sex.
We've looked at the abomination of spiritism, dealing with the spirit world – the occult. We looked at the abomination of worshiping God
through ritual prostitution. We looked at the abomination of child sacrifice.
Let me pause on that one for just a minute, and give you a little more update. The ancient world used to offer its little children alive by throwing
them in the flames, and sacrificing them to their gods. They killed their babies. I read to you from an article in "The New American," July 12th,
1993 issue, on page 7. The article is entitled "Hyping Hillary:"
"Lauraline Stackhouse, the wife of a Baptist pastor in Fort Wayne, Indiana, also testifies of firsthand experience with
Mrs. Clinton's dubious devotion to children. In January, Mrs. Stackhouse visited Washington, D.C. to participate in the annual March for Life.
Stackhouse managed to get into the pre-inauguration prayer service that was attended by Bill and Hillary Clinton. Stackhouse reports that at the end
of the service, she was able to shake Bill Clinton's hand, and offered him the admonition, 'America must stop killing babies.' According to
Stackhouse, 'He looked at me with a blank stare on his face.'
Mrs. Clinton, who was just behind her husband, hadn't heard Mrs. Stackhouse's comment, and reached out to offer her a hug. In a whisper just audible
to Mrs. Clinton, Stackhouse said, 'Hillary, it's against God's law to kill babies.' Stackhouse testified that Hillary Clinton stepped back, shaking
and trembling, and then grabbed my arm. Her countenance transformed from a pleasant demeanor to the appearance of being possessed. Her eyes were
enraged as she replied, 'It is God's law to kill babies.'" ...
So, here you have, from highest echelons of the American government, the position that Nimrod's position was right: we should kill our babies. Also,
when we need fetal research, we should bring the child partway out of the mother's womb where, while he is still alive (so that the parts are useful),
take pieces off the child and dismember him so that the fetal tissue program can be carried on. This was authorized recently by the president after
several presidents have recoiled with horror from the thought, and had outlawed it in the United States. It is God's will that we perform the
abomination of killing our babies? OK, quit kidding yourselves, people, and face up to the fact that you are in a nation that is going to be caught
up under the rage and vengeance of God in the very near future, and you're going to be suffering along with everybody else.
There's another way (a non-physical way) of sacrificing our children. I want to tell you about that, too, but I'm going to have to do it in the next
session.
Outcome-Based Education
There is now in the public school, meeting across the country and, of course, from California in our direction, a new system of education called
outcome-based education. Outcomes-based education is designed to restructure American society. It is not designed to teach academic skills and moral
values, but to teach correct New Age emotional responses and political responses. It seeks to condition the child in the public school to be the
agent of a complete radical restructuring of society from our Judeo-Christian base to the New Age principles for the acceptance of the antichrist.
The characteristics of outcome-based education are based upon one of the agents of education (B.F. Skinner), who said that people are just animals.
The claim that, like you can train a dog to do whatever you want him to do by rewarding him for doing the right response, so you can train people,
and children in school should be trained for political and emotional responses for a new society. I'll read to you some of the details in the next
session of what the objectives are of outcome based education. As always, this is going to become common knowledge on the news. You haven't heard
about it before?
Several years ago, some of you sat here and heard me say, "New Age movement." And I began telling you what the New Age movement is, and some of you
said, "What's he talking about? What's going on?" You didn't realize that you were on the cutting edge of information. Well, you've just been on the
cutting edge right now of what's happening in the educational world. This is going to impact on American society because this is where we are going.
We are no longer interested in teaching our children the academic subjects, and giving them a moral set of values to live by. This physical and
intellectual sacrifice of our children signals to me more than ever that a God who is going to be outraged by the abomination of sacrificing our
children here, not physically, but in their minds – that God is enraged, and the rapture is near.
I've found that some people think that I'm
lying about believing that the return of Christ is near. They think I'm joining the religious con men like Robert Tilton, Richard Roberts, Kenneth
Copeland, and Benny Hinn. I heard Hinn and Roberts together on TV this morning, and Roberts was just talking about how he wants to raise money to get
back on daily television so that he can teach youth. He wants to give young people an understanding about God. Can you imagine sending your child to
a charismatic school of Oral and Richard Roberts to be trained in the things of God, and to have their emotions and their attitudes formed? This man
is a con artist who speaks for Satan, and here I am being placed in their category.
Some people don't think I really believe that Jesus Christ is on the horizon. You can bet your bippy that I believe that. As always, with Rush
Limbaugh and I, you're going to find how right we are. Who in his right mind today would doubt the nearness of the climax of God's rage against
American society which will explode is His vengeance. It is only some person who is going along, living your shallow, little life, and out of touch
with what is happening under God's heaven all around you. I cannot believe that I see that Christians are still mostly preoccupied with preparing for
a future they don't have! Well, now, I've told you again, and I'm not lying.
The Abomination of American Education
This abomination of American education toward our children is why I knock myself out for Berean Christian Academy. Do parents want the best school
overall in the Metroplex? No, not always. But those children chosen of God are pressing in, with the guidance of their parents, to come under our
influence and our grace-oriented education, to the credit of their parents. I think right now I'm having one of those strong signals from God to
seek financial support in some way for a principle that is now available for Berean Christian Academy. Can you imagine what a help that would be to
carry my burden? More importantly, it would strengthen our public relations to promote year-round enrollment to stuff the classes to the gills. We
could refine our top quality academic; fine arts; and, spiritual impact – all these elements that are at the heart of what we do. We could
refine these on our students – the students who are capable of responding. Perhaps we're at a time when this is what needs to be done, and I
am agonizing to do it. I'm thinking night and day on how to get some of that money that's floating out there, being squandered by the world system,
and being squandered on the venture enterprise rat holes.
Some people in the oil business dig holes. I wish I had a bunch of rat holes. I thought just the other day about these rat holes down which people
pour money. People dig wells because there is valuable material there. But there is valuable material down rat holes. Did you ever realize that? I'm
looking around for rat holes, because I'm interested in flooding our classrooms from highways and byways with positive Christian parents. Maybe they
don't quite know what they potentially have before them, and how to get into it. And I'm first in line to help do it.
Mrs. Danish and I have only so many Social Security checks that get dumped into the academy every month, and so many spare funds that get dumped into
the academy. So, stand by for what I may ask you to do. I think we have a signal from above, and it may be more than you want to cope with, but I
think the time has come to stop pretending that we have a future.
Among the other abominations that we have looked at, along with this one of sacrificing our children, is the abomination of marriage to an
unbeliever. God says that that's a terrible abomination. There is the abomination of worshiping an idol instead of the real true God. There is the
abomination of transvestism (cross-dressing). There is the abomination of using money secured by sinful means to finance the work of God.
More Abominations from Scripture
There are some more abominations that the woman holds out in her cup.
The Abomination of Dishonest Business Dealings
One of the abominations is the abomination of dishonest business dealings. I
hardly need to remind you of how much of that we've been hearing in the public news media in people in great financial positions of power, and the
dishonesty of what they've been doing. Deuteronomy 25:13-16 lays down this abomination as God sees it. God says, "You shall not have in your bag
differing weights, a large and small. You shall not have in your house different measures, a large and small. You shall have a full and just weight,
and shall have a full and just measure, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the Lord your God gives. For everyone who does these
things, and everyone who acts unjustly is an abomination to the Lord your God."
Here, the dishonesty is in having false weights. We all used to hear about the old butcher who put the meat on the scale, and then would pretend to
stabilize the scale as it would go up and down, and push it down just a little bit. So, he had a dishonest weight as to how much he was selling you.
Well, here God says, "This is an abominable thing to do – for you to cheat people in dishonest business dealings." Furthermore, God says that
this is very dumb, because it shortens your days of life. When you proceed to cheat people in business, it shortens the days of your life.
All personal prosperity comes from the sovereign hand of God. That's the first point to remember. You get nothing unless the sovereign hand of God
says, "Here it is." Secondly, cheating in business implies that God is not going to supply your needs if you proceed by honest labor. That's a
terrible thing to insult God with. Cheating one's customers with false weights and measures is an abomination to God. God says, "Maintain your
integrity." And if, in the process of doing business, you have to take a loss, then do it. But don't cheat people that you do business with.
This includes not paying your bills for the services that you have received. I guarantee that there are some people who are at home today who ought
to be sitting here to hear some of these things. But as always, Satan says, "I don't want you to hear the stuff that's upsetting to you."
Proverbs 20:10 says, "Differing rates and differing measures – both of them are abominable to the Lord.
The Abomination of Offering Defective Animals in Sacrifice to God
Then there is the abomination of offering defective animals in sacrifice to God. Deuteronomy 17:1 presents this abomination: "You shall not sacrifice
to the Lord your God an ox or a sheep which has a blemish or any defect, for that is a detestable thing to the Lord your God." The animal which was
sacrificed under the Old Testament system was to be a representative of Jesus Christ. It was to be as perfect as possible. The Passover lamb had to
be selected three or four days before the Passover feast. Then it was tied to a post so that the family could observe him, and they could look at him
carefully, so that (as far as humanly possible), they could detect any blemish in this male lamb which was to be offered in sacrifice, representative
of Jesus Christ.
So, it was a great abomination that the Jews descended to. If they had an animal that was defective in any way, that's the one they brought for
sacrifice.
It was like a lady I heard one time who thought she would do a kindness to the missionaries. She was a tea-drinker, and she would just dip her bags
of tea for just simply one cup, and then take it out, and there was still a lot of good tea potential in those bags. Then she dried them up
and sent it to the missionaries, so that they could have the second cup of tea. She sent them her defective tea bags.
So, offering God a defective animal is in effect an expression of contempt for the holiness of God, because it reflects upon the holiness of Jesus
Christ. Offering a defective animal fails to acknowledge God as the provider of all that is best in life, and therefore He deserves our best in
return. It is an abomination to offer God something that is second rate and small, while preserving the best and the most for yourself.
Ananias and Sapphira did this. They preserved the best and the most for themselves, but they wanted to make a public display in the congregation
that they were the great philanthropic supporters and benefactors of the work of God. God said, "You didn't have to do that. My method is capitalism.
It's all yours. You can keep it. You can gobble it. You can gorge yourself on it. You can grasp it to yourself. You can die, and leave it behind in a
pile. Or you can use it to invest for eternity, and take it with you. But that's up to you. But don't lie about it." Don't give God the abomination
of second rate.
Seven Abominations that God Hates
In Proverbs 6:16-19, we have brought together a sevenfold abomination, where God the Holy Spirit almost explodes in bringing together things that
God regurgitates over: "There are six things which the Lord hates." And, by the way, if God hates something, what should your attitude be about it?
It is self-evident, I think, that we should hate it too. Ah, but what if it's a person? Then what? David faced that, and David came down on the
right side. He said, "The enemy of my God is my enemy." I don't grin and bear with people who demonstrate that they are the enemies of my God, and
all that He represents, such as we find it expressed throughout the Berean ministries. Those who become traitors to my God are my enemies as well.
"There are six things which the Lord hats. Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him. Haughty eyes (oh, that pride of the devil); a lying tongue
(you never can trust what the person is saying); hands that shed innocent blood (the murderer); the heart that devises wicked plans (a mind which is
conniving and seeking to do evil); feet that run rapidly to evil (they can't wait to do what's wrong); a false witness who utters lies" (a person who
said things that are not true). And part of the thing that I'm sure God hates here, as He has indicated elsewhere, is the slanderer and the gossip.
I really get mad. Somebody did this to me recently – giving me a bit of slander and gossip, and it was probably true. But this character
didn't have the sense, didn't have the Christian capacity to realize that that should have been kept to himself, because he couldn't be for sure
that he was not bearing a false witness.
"And one who spreads strife among brothers." Isn't that interesting? God said, "There is nothing that I want to throw up that is like somebody who
is spreading ill feelings between Christians and a congregation – one who spreads strife." These are the hateful seven – the abominable
seven.
The Abomination of the Religious Expressions of the Wicked
Then there is the abomination of the religious expressions of the wicked. Turn over to Proverbs 15:8-9. The wicked like to have their pretenses and
their religious expression – the hypocrite: "The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but the prayer if the upright is His
delight. The way of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but He loves him who pursues righteousness." That is very clear. We don't have to
interpret that. God says, "I'm disgusted when you're out of temporal fellowship and you're resisting My will, such that you should come along and
put on a pretense of worshiping Me, when there is a fracture between us.
The Abomination of Civil Rulers who Practice and Support Moral Evil
Then there is the abomination of civil Rulers who practice and support moral evil. Proverbs 16:12: "It is an abomination for kings to commit
wickedness, for a throne is established on righteousness." Anybody in political authority is called to govern by God as His agent. Consequently,
you are in a position of authority, and I don't care whether it's from the dog-catcher on up to the president of the United States. You are in a
position of authority set there by God, and within the realm of your influence, you are to set the moral standard that is compatible with the Word
of God. That's all there is.
If God's Word says that homosexuality and lesbianism is an abomination, you better not promote it as a political
administrator, if you know what's good for you. You better agree with God. And if God says that the killing of our pre-born children is an
abomination, you better not use your political authority to make it possible to do that, and to encourage it. And if you do, everybody else should
keep his eye upon you, because the God who speaks is no fool that you can thumb your nose at. Those of you who like to support vile rulers might
want to have a second thought, and may want to pull back, lest you come under the crack and the whip of God's authority when He comes down. It's an
abomination to set standards that are contrary to the moral laws of God.
The Abomination of Defending the Morally Evil while Condemning the Morally Right
Then there is the abomination of defending the morally evil while condemning the morally right. This is closely related to the previous one. In
Proverbs 17:15, God the Holy Spirit said, "He who justifies the wicked, and he who condemns the righteous – both of them alike are an
abomination to the Lord." I hope you are aware of the fact that I am not telling you what I think are abominations. I'm not saying that I think this
is abominable, and I think this is abominable. I'm taking you to Scripture, and I'm just quoting God. And isn't it amazing how many of these we have
found between the last session and this one? These are statements of the Almighty God. You can't just sluff them off.
Proverbs 17:15 connotes supporting those who are doing evil, and condemning those who are righteous. That's what He's talking about –
supporting those who do evil, and making it easy for those who do evil to be able to be accepted, like putting homosexuals into the military. It's
not just getting them into the military. You understand that. It is to make this normative in American society – that this abomination that
God condemns should become accepted as normative. The military is one of the key ways that you can do it.
So, here it is supporting evil while condemning the righteous. If you say "No, the Word of God condemns that, they say, "Well, you're a bigot. You're
chauvinist. You're judgmental. You're an extreme rightist."
Aimee Semple McPherson
A lady called me this week and asked me about one of the earlier generation's great charismatic Pentecostal women preachers, Aimee Semple McPherson,
out on the West Coast. I saw Aimee in action one night down at her temple. She came out on the stage with her flowing garments. I realized the
minute I saw Kathryn Kuhlman whom she was patterning herself after. It was Aimee. She came out, and the spotlight came on. I've often thought that
I'd love a spotlight when I step up here. It would just come aglow, and everybody would sit on the edges of their chairs. That auditorium was so
excited as Aimee flowed across the stage back and forth. And Aimee Semple McPherson's doctrine was called the Foursquare Gospel. We have one down
the street here – a Foursquare Gospel Church. One of the great elements was not only that Christ was Savior, but that He was the great healer
– healing, the gifts of the Spirit. That's one of the Foursquare Gospels, and Aimee was a great healer. Well, Aimee was a scum ball. The
newspapers had a field day with her moral antics.
Well, this lady that called me had seen something in the movie about Aimee Semple McPherson, and was so impressed with her, and wanted to know more
about her because here she was – a Pentecostal woman preaching, and so many people followed her, and she seemed to be such a voice of God. So,
I told this lady what I knew about McPherson, and she said, "Well, that sounds like you're judging her." I said, "No, I'm judging her doctrine."
There's a little version of that says, "By their fruits, you shall know them," and if you follow the context, you see that their fruits are not
indicative of how they live, but what they teach."
So I told this lady, "I just told you what Aimee Semple McPherson taught." And I heard on the
other end of the line, "Oh, my," because her house of cards had collapsed. She thought that maybe she could be a preacher. She said, "But
people followed her, and there were long lines at her funeral," and she just went on and on. I said, "Yes, they did that for Al Capone too. They
just kept coming and coming. Boy, there were long lines as Capone went on to his big distillery in the sky." I mean, I'm talking to somebody that's
been taught the Word of God. Is anybody listening out there, to even ask me questions like that? Are they not able to spot immediately that they are
dealing with a kind the con of Nimrod's religion?
So, you can call us whatever names you want, but the Word of God says that you don't defend what is morally wrong, and you expose it, and you defend
those who are morally right. Do not try to excuse the evildoers, but stand by those who call for decency. That's all the verse is saying.
Do you justify the wicked? And those of you who might be looking for a husband or wife, here's a little trick that you better remember. You may find
yourself pursuing somebody who is wicked. More people have gotten into terrible marriages because they have rationalized what this person is in his
wickedness. You have softened it. You have justified what they do. The Bible says, "Don't ever justify an evil that you see in a person." What is
scum is scum. I don't care how glamorous; how sophisticated; how smiley; how put on; how manly; or, how pretentious it is, it is still scum. He who
justifies the wicked, and on the other hand, condemns the righteous, are alike in abomination to God.
The Abomination of Prayers to God by One who is Violating the Laws of God
Then there is the abomination of prayers to God by one who is violating the laws of God. Proverbs 28:9: "He who turns away his ear from listening to
the law, even his prayer is an abomination." Now obviously, we should understand that. This is one who knowingly is out of temporal fellowship, and
who has the gall to pray to God. He is out of fellowship, and he has the gall to come together (to speak to God) without getting the fracture fixed
by ceasing and desisting what has broken that fellowship, and confessing it. An example of this is to come to prayer meeting to pray when you are out
of temporal fellowship. God says, "You make me throw up when you do that. It's an abomination." When God says that it's an abomination, He could not
have used a stronger word. That is a totally disgusting, revolting expression.
So, Revelation 17:5 tells us that this woman has on her forehead the name that represent the secret: "Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots"
– the one who is the source of all spiritual unfaithfulness, and of the abominations of the earth." She is the source of these abominations
that we have shown you through Scripture that God has portrayed with such vividness. As you see, the abominations are still here. This isn't
something that's just back there in ancient times. These are things that people are doing today. Worse than that, these are things that Christian
people are doing today. So, it would behoove us to review your notes on these abominations, and to clean up your act if necessary.
But now here's another business factor that is a loathsome abomination to God, and we'll pick that one up next time.
Dr. John E. Danish, 1993
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