Romans 10 vs 9 - 13
9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” We cannot earn our salvation, rather our salvation is by faith. But what is our faith in? Our faith is not measured based on our feelings or even how strong it is, the subject of our faith is what truly matters. Our faith is in the Lord Jesus Christ, his death and resurrection. Faith is not a blind leap into the dark or a wishful thinking for things that we want to be true. Instead, faith is grounded in the objective work of God in history, His revelation in nature and in Scripture serving as evidence that what we believe is true. The preaching of the gospel is always grounded in reality, referencing what the Lord has done for His people in the historical acts of Christ’s incarnation, ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension. If we confess this truth then we will be saved. It does not say “you might be saved” but “you will be saved”. Salvation is not dependent on us or even our confession but is the work of God. we do not create faith in ourselves but instead Faith is a gift from God. This should give us great assurance of salvation, it is not the strength of our faith that saves but rather the object of it. Born in Adam, we are disinclined to admit our sin and inability to save ourselves; we need the gift of faith to receive and rest on the Lord’s promises in Jesus. “With the heart one believes and is justified”. It is this promise that makes one justified before God. This is cause for joy and assurance for the Christian, yet many of us often self-doubt about our salvation. Does they reflect that im maybe not saved? Unlikely, much of Scripture supports assertion that true Christians can sometimes doubt the authenticity of their faith. For example, the psalmist testifies to what many have called “the dark night of the soul,” a period of intense spiritual depression wherein we have significant doubts about the Lord’s presence and goodness (Ps. 88). So the faithful can sometimes feel faithless but how does relate to our saving confession in Christ? Take the analogy of two Jews in the Temple making sacrifices to atone for their sins. One is fully assured that this sacrifice will atone for his sin, while the other is filled with doubt and fear, he can barely see the altar through his tear-filled eyes so much is his anguish. Which one is forgiven and saved? Both! Why? Because God is the one who saves, it doesn’t matter how imperfect the faith he is! God is the one who promises to save those who call upon his name. You do not need to have perfect assurance to be saved, so be assured! All of us will struggle with doubt at times, but that is not necessarily a sign that our faith is not genuine. When we have doubts, it is important to talk them over with those who are mature in the faith, so make sure that you have trusted friends and counselors with whom you can talk. Regular participation in corporate worship and our efforts to mortify our own sin will also help us grow in our assurance that we belong to Christ.
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Genesis 9 vs 8 - 17
8 Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, 9 “Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your offspring after you, 10 and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark; it is for every beast of the earth. 11 I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” 12 And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: 13 I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16 When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” 17 God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.” The story of Noah is a well-known story. Most of us I'm sure are well aware of many details of the story. Images of the great and mighty Ark come to mind, or all the animals going into it two by two. Or perhaps is the dove being set forth and returning with an olive branch, dry land had been discovered! However, I think we undervalue the great importance of this story, we often view it as children's story to be taught at Sunday school. We even, I would argue, often overlook the single most important detail of this amazing story. The passage we have just read in Gensis chapter 9 I believe contains the most important part of this wellknown narrative. Here we read of God’s promise to us, his covenant with the whole world. What we learn from this story is that God has promised not to destroy the world again with water, but rather he offers a way of mercy. The amazing thing about this covenant is that it demands nothing on our part, it is unconditional. We can’t nullify this covenant with our failings, God is the only party who has to keep it. This promise can’t fail, God never lies nor does He ever fail. This promise is not just for human beings but with nature itself, he makes a promise to animals the and the earth itself! God cares for all of his creation and in his grace he offers an image to confirm this love, the rainbow. Rainbows are most often appreciated for their beauty and colours, and that is true. Who doesn’t appreciate the breaking of a rainbow as the sun gleams through the clouds enlightening the sky? Well, what if I were to tell that same bow of colours is also the sign of a weapon and judgement? You may seem confused but let's look at verse 13, “I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.” Bow here is quite literal, it refers to the weapon of an archer which could fire fatal arrows. So, why then is an image of a weapon being used as the symbol in this unconditional covenant of mercy? It may seem rather odd for God to choose this symbolic image but, where is this bow pointing? It is not pointing towards the earth, which is filled with sinful human beings like us but is instead pointed towards the heavens, the place of God. This image of the rainbow is actually signifying amazing good news! God has forever turned his bow of judgement away from the whole earth. God will forever bestow his mercy upon the earth and not destroy it in righteous anger. This truth is further revealed in the person of Christ and the New Testament. Here we find that God has in fact turned his bow of righteous judgment towards himself, in the person of Christ. God in his covenant of mercy no longer pours out his mercy on the earth but instead Christ deals with it himself. The rainbow promise in Gensis points us to God’s mercy in the cross, God deals with the wrath we deserve ourself. God is a covenant saving God, he makes promises and keeps them. He promises mercy to the world in the Noahic Covenant and in his covenant of grace he saves sinners to salvation with Christ’s victory over sin and death. This victory does not only bring salvation to those who trust in him but in fact, just like the promise in Genesis 9, it brings salvation to the earth too. Now you may be thinking what in earth am I talking about, the earth needs salvation? Well yes! Ever since the fall in the garden it not just us who has been negatively affected by sin but nature itself. Romans 8:20-23, “For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.” We see here that God’s mercy is not just to redeem us but the whole world. Sin causes much suffering in our lives, we face heartbreak and betrayal. This fallenness extends to earth too, we see the damage of famines and earthquakes across the world. But God has promised us that he will not destroy it, but rather preserve and redeem it. We are reminded of this promise in every rainbow, the unconditional promise of God to the whole world in Gensis 9. And ultimately in the person of Christ, God has dealt with his judgment directly so that we don’t have to. The bow of wrath has been pointed towards Christ on the cross. Through his death and resurrection, we and all the earth will be saved. What good news to have a God who keeps his promises and who does for us that we can’t do for ourselves, this is what the rainbow reminds us of. Matthew 4 vs 1 - 11
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written," 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” 5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and" 'On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’” 7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’”11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him. What is Lent all about? I would argue that Lent is ultimately about sacrifice, the giving up something which isn’t easy. Many people during this period of the church calendar try to give up bad habits, maybe it is overindulgence of social media or junk food. But these “sacrifices” pale in comparison to the 40 days of the first ever Lent in history. The 40 days in which our Lord gave up all his comfort and made himself subject to the temptations of Satan. Christ began his ministry by giving up his reliance on food and instead relying entirely on the spirit, no easy task for human being just like us. Now, fasting in the desert, he is sharply confronted with the reality and vulnerability of his human weakness. The devil, watching closely, sees his opportunity, and strikes. His aim, by any means at all, is to turn Jesus aside from his chosen pathway of humility and obedience; of suffering, death and resurrection. Christ is faced with a choice, just like we are, do we give in to our human weakness and do what is easy and satisfies our own desires? Or instead, do we put to death our temptations and remain obedient? Do we give up those sins that are difficult to let go of? Do we offer up our lives as a living sacrifice just as Christ did? Speaking for myself I know I too often fail in this regard, I do what is easy rather than what is right. Thankfully Christ succeeds where we fail, he doesn’t give into temptation but is perfectly obedient. Satan firstly attacks Christ’s physical weakness, his severe hunger. Satan is no fool, he knows where Jesus is weak and seeks to exploit it. Satan too often attempts to take advantage of our circumstances and wants to tempt us. He takes our need and tempts us to meet the need in wrong ways. We may feel justified by; our need to give in to temptation, but this always leads to disaster. How can we resist such a cunning foe? How did Christ resist such temptation to give in? He answers with scripture, God is his ultimate source of satisfaction. When one is led by the spirit and wields the word of God, he can resist Satan’s temptations. Satan then attempts to tempt Jesus for a second time, he wants Jesus to prove His identity by throwing Himself down from the pinnacle the Temple. He is trying to incite Jesus to prove his sonship. However, Christ once again responds from scripture, “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test”. Christ reminds us that we shouldn’t fall into Satan’s tramp and become presumptuous of what we think God must do for us. God owes us nothing, we owe him everything. In the final temptation Satan offers Christ power over the whole world, something which Christ is entitled to as King. However, Satan demands that Christ fall before him in worship, an act of idolatry. Christ rejects any idea semblance of immediate gratification and again remains faithful to God, he alone is to be worshipped. Satan tries his best to tempt Jesus to giving in, but he does not concede his obedience to God in exchange for comfort. He knows who he is and what his purpose is, and therefore he trusts in God completely no matter the personal the cost. The temptations of Christ are just one insight to self-sacrificial ministry of Christ. The work of the man who did what we couldn’t, keep the promise of Lent to not to given into the temptation. In every case Jesus turned Satan back by quoting Scripture. Let us follow His example. I like the way the story ends. In verse 11, we read: that the devil left Him angels began to minister to Him. As Mark (1:13) writes the story, the angels “were ministering to Him” throughout the temptation. These are not contradictory stories. The angels ministered to Christ throughout the forty days and in a special way at the end of the temptations. All this gives us great assurance. Our God will never leave us alone. In the middle of all the trials and tests He is with us. He may seem to be unseen, but He is there. His angels will minister to us. Let us put our trust in God today! Lenten Dawn! – Isaiah 58 vs 5 - 7
At this time of the year, we often hear people say things like ‘I’m giving this up for Lent.’ While Lent is a religious practice, finding its roots in the ‘fasting’ of Jesus in the wilderness, many who talk about it hold no Christian conviction. Whether Christian or not, it usually involves giving up things like chocolate, alcohol, coffee or some other food or drink. Many see it as an opportunity to lose weight. There are, however, some people of a more religious nature who see this ‘fasting’ time as another tick-box activity: church attendance? Tick. Regular Bible study? Tick. Daily prayers? Tick. Taking communion? Tick. Fasting? Tick. It’s all part of their spiritual picture which the world and the church can see and be impressed. Sadly, God may not be so easily impressed. There is a real danger here that we may allow true acts of devotion and worship to become meaningless rituals, going through the motions without engaging the heart. There is a further group of ‘fasting’ enthusiasts who are convinced that unless the church engages in regular fasting (usually accompanied by prayer) there will be no blessing from God. It almost becomes a large stick with which to beat God into doing what they want. Elevating this practice above other spiritual disciplines empties the gospel of its power. Isaiah 58 shows how God sees ‘fasting’ as He exposes and redirects the hypocritical ‘fasting’ of the Israelites, “Is this the kind of fast I have chosen...?” (5). They were going through the motions of religious rituals, like fasting, and then treating others unjustly and without compassion. Here we find God calling His people to true acts of worship THAT REFLECT WHO HE IS. A true fast denies self in order to serve others. In 58:6-7, God points out His kind of fasting: “to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke, to share your food with the hungry, to provide the homeless with shelter, to clothe the naked, to care for God's family.” We don't fast to suffer, or to get anything for ourselves and we certainly cannot impress God. We fast so that our spirits can focus on spiritual things; so that sin may be counteracted in our lives; so that a hunger for God and His ways can be satisfied and let loose in a needy world. Interestingly, Jesus said the same thing in Matthew 25:31-46. The true sheep are those who go out on a limb to serve the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick and the prisoner. This is what reveals hearts of true righteousness (58:8)...lives that belong to Jesus, “who made himself nothing...taking the nature of a servant...becoming obedient unto death – even death on a cross!” (Phil.2:7-8). ‘Fasting’ God’s way! Certainly, observe Lent this year but let’s make sure that we deny ourselves to serve others. Then, God says, “Your light will break forth like the dawn...” (58:8). After all, we are supposed to be the light of the world in Jesus’ name! Whatever became of sin? – Joel 2 vs 1 - 2 & 12 - 13
Once upon a time, on this day, Ash Wednesday, many people would be seen with that little cross of grey ash on their foreheads. It was a sign of the beginning of Lent, a forty-day time of meditation, fasting, prayer, acknowledgement of sin and a turning back to God in preparation for Easter. In this year I’m not sure how this will work but one thing is clear, there will be many more people wearing facemasks than there ever were with ash on their heads! They are the new norm right across the world. Covid-19 has brought a heightened sense of our mortality. The masks are a daily reminder of death and our susceptibility to it. That’s what the ash is for: “for dust you are and unto dust you shall return” (Gen.3:19). Joel 2:1-2, 12-13 is a reading for Ash Wednesday. It encourages us to consider this human frailty. We are given a picture of a plague. Not of a virus but of locusts. We should be able to get in tune with this after what we have been through over the past year. It spreads with military precision across the land. Even the garden of Eden becomes a desert when this plague has passed (2:3). This word is a trumpet blast, an alarm (2:1) to Israel of bad times coming. It warns them of their mortality, that death is all around them and will finally culminate in the “day of the Lord” (2). They are on the brink of judgement for their sin. This is what we are supposed to reflect on during Lent. But do we? In 1973 the psychiatrist Karl Menninger wrote an astute book entitled, Whatever Became of Sin? He warned that should this concept of sin become eliminated from open cultural discourse, any hope or thought of a moral society would inevitably vanish. 48 years later what do we find? This man was something of a prophet! Largely ignored! He was right to ask. Through most of Christian history, you came to church to be encouraged to confess and have your sins forgiven; now people come to hang out with people they like, and to see if the preacher agrees with their views of the world. In our culture, it’s an uphill battle to persuade people, even Christians, that they are in fact sinners. What must we do from within these modern plague days? “Return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning” (2:12). That’s all about serious repentance, turning away from sin. God wants Israel to return to Him...to taste His grace, His compassion, His abounding love (2:13). It’s not an outward thing. It’s not about church, or religion, even putting some ash on your head. It’s about the heart. The place where our sin holds sway and then flows out into our lives to cause chaos. There is hope! What is this hope? “Everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved” (2:32). The whole Bible makes it plain that this is Jesus. No other way to survive the coming day of the Lord. On the day of the Lord the unstoppable army of judgement will pass over the Israelites...at the end of time, those who are found in Jesus will be saved...forever! In Lent we are moving forward to Easter...called to make room for Jesus...our Saviour from sin! Four Sweaty Men! – Mark 2 vs 1 - 12
Yes, that’s the title of today’s Around Twelve...Four Sweaty Men! Why? Because by the time the four friends of this paralysed man had carried him to the cottage meeting in Capernaum, had a think about a Plan B to get near to Jesus, battled their way through the growing crowd, struggled with him up the narrow outside stairs of the house to the roof, and tore open a hole big enough to lower their friend inside...they would have been fairly sweaty! What does this say to us? Faith in Jesus is the gift of God’s grace, nothing at all to do with us (Ephesians 2:8), but its outworking is often a sleeves-rolled-up messy business. This is not the place to do theological nit-picking about the connection between ‘faith’ and ‘healing,’ but it is the place to notice these words: “When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralysed man, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven,’” (5). If this man had one encouraging word which gave his life meaning in his despair, it was ‘friends.’ He had “some men” (3) who were his friends and there were “four of them” (3) who were extra special and, come what may, they would carry him to Jesus. These determined men wanted their friend to walk again and get his life back. They didn’t even have speak to Jesus. He saw THEIR faith and mercy flowed from Him. It was what Jesus saw that captured His heart. When it does, He sees that the paralysis is deeper that it appears. Within that emaciated body lies a soul paralysed by sin...“Son, your sins are forgiven” (5). First things first. To be forgiven is critical. Unless this root cause of all suffering is addressed, any solution to illness, and other problems is temporary at best. Restoring his mobility is ultimately useless if he remains cut off from his Creator. But four sweaty friends and a hole brought him into the glory of another kingdom and its King ...forgiven! Perhaps this passage should remind us of those who carried us to Jesus. No matter what excuses we made, they refused to leave us on our bed of sin. No matter what obstacles, physical or spiritual, they kept digging until we lay at the feet of Jesus. This is God’s messy grace...thankfully! Is there someone who needs us to be a friend with our sleeves rolled up, ready to break into a sweat in our efforts to show them Jesus. Perhaps we need to consider what our ‘through-the-roof’ ministry should look like! Try praying along these lines: Father God, thank You for the handful of faithful friends who carried me on their shoulders and brought me to you. Thank You for all the trouble they went to, that no matter how lame my excuses, they refused to leave me on my mat. Thank You for ........ and ........ and ........ . Father, thank You for the gift of faith which You have given me. Please now help me to be a friend to those who are in need...whether illness or disability, loneliness or depression; whether stunned by the circumstances of their lives or paralysed by that deep disease of the soul...sin. May I roll up my sleeves to do whatever it takes to get them to the mercy of Jesus. Especially I pray for........ and ........ and ....... . We’re sorry that technical problems yesterday prevented you hearing and joining in the song “God the uncreated One”. Listen to it now by clicking on the link below. May God the Holy Spirit minister to you as you listen and we hope that listening will turn to worship. Matthew 7 vs 13 - 14. 13 Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. There are times when a satnav comes in very handy as it did a few weeks ago when we were diverted of the main Newcastle to Belfast Road into a road I’d never travelled before in the pitch black of a winter evening. A few years ago we would really have been travelled on our instincts but on this occasion the satnav, the first we’ve ever had on a car kept us on the straight and narrow, and by the way, it was narrow. There is no need for a guide on the broad road Jesus describes here, there are few restrictions, and it is wide enough to accommodate any belief, as long as it’s sincere of course. That’s why so many people travel on it. The narrow gate that leads to life is easy to miss, the road narrow and the going sometimes difficult, the challenges are many and perseverance is required but our God has provided a guide, two in fact his word and his Spirit. I’ve never had great faith in a satnav though on the occasion described above it proved reliable. When we trust in Jesus, follow his lead, believe his word and trust his Spirit he will never fail to lead us through green pastures and dark valleys safely to eternal life in his presence. Matthew 7 vs 7 - 11
7 ‘Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. 9 ‘Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! Prayer you know is a funny old business, funny in the sense of peculiar. We are told to ask for things that we might well receive anyway, or secure by hard work, like our daily bread, and superficially at least, we are told here, without any restriction, to ask and it will be given us. Clearly that can’t be right for many times we’ve asked for things and haven’t received them. So, either prayer doesn’t work or we haven’t understood correctly what Jesus is teaching us. Let’s think about this first of all, prayer acknowledges that we are not all powerful but ultimately dependent on the grace of God even for the things we seem to get without any trouble. We haven’t always realised that or taken it into account. Any prayer then must by definition be an act of submission to God and to his will. Secondly, do we have the wisdom to ask for what is right? Turn the illustration of Jesus around and ask what parent would give a stone to their son for a meal if he asked for it, or a venomous snake to their daughter because she thought it would be a nice change from fish? The question is not hard.... no parent with an ounce of sense. You see the key word for understanding here is the word “good”. Even the worst most violent parents know what is good for their children even though they may not give it. Turn it around again and God knows what is good for us even when we don’t and as a wise heavenly Father he will not give to us things that are harmful for our physical good and spiritual growth. If that is the case, how should we pray? Well we should ask wisely, and the best way to do that is to walk daily and closely with God, to be in constant communion with him and our prayers will be shaped by his word. Then we can ask with confidence and faith. We should also be persistent in prayer; ask, seek, knock. When we are confident that we are asking well, for good things that accord with God’s will and word then we should be persistent and not give up at the first discouragement. Having said all this, we shouldn’t think this is all that can be said; prayer will continue to be a gift of grace but a deep mystery for us all. PRAYER: Abba, Father, sometimes I am very selfish in my prayer requests and very often foolish in what I ask for; at other times I lack both persistence and faith. Jesus tells me here to ask with wisdom and to ask with confidence for the things that are good. Guide me by your word and draw close by your Spirit and lead me by both to ask for good things so that your name will be glorified. I ask as always, in Jesus name. AMEN Matthew 7 vs 21 - 23
21 ‘Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?” 23 Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!” If you’re unsettled after reading Jesus’ words let me first reassure you, that’s probably a good thing. It’s a good thing if these words of Jesus cause us to dwell deeply on the veracity of our faith and discipleship. Clearly not everyone who speaks respectfully about Jesus and calls him Lord, or those who speak intensely of him.... “Lord, Lord” are actually known to Jesus. Nor is it a guarantee of genuine faith when people either preach about Jesus or seem to do dramatic miracles. Though we are often impressed by what appear to be spectacular gifts there is no certainty that these either are any proof of real faith. What then should we look for as the evidence of real faith in ourselves and others? Well, something more than words or dramatic gifts, something in fact that is not very dramatic at all, which most of us overlook or pay little attention to, obedience to the will of God. So it is the thing that is least in your face; that is apparently the most mundane, and least attractive which is the best indication of a true relationship with Jesus and the title of a book I bought a few years ago sums it up admirably, it is “A Long Obedience in the Same Direction” It is faithful living week on week, month on end as year follows year. That kind of life is the proving ground of faith for that one does the will of God the Father. PRAYER: Heavenly Father very often I get it all wrong, especially when I delight in the gifts and talents that bring glory to me rather than inconspicuously day by day thinking, acting and living in obedience to your word. As my heart is revealed by your word and that word is understood with the help of the Holy Spirit then I see more and more of your undeserved mercy to me. Lord make and keep me humble and so produce in me the kind of fruit that is wholesome and not rotten, sweet and not bitter to you and those around me. In Jesus name I ask it. AMEN |