The Promise Jeopardized, Protected, and Fulfilled

All right, I guess today's scripture text is Genesis chapter 20 verse 1 through chapter 21 verse 7.! If you don't have a Bible, there are ones on the back table you're welcome to take as a gift.

Starting with chapter 20 verse 1. From there, Abraham journeyed toward the territory of the Negev and lived between Kadesh and Shur, and he sojourned in Gerar.

And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, she is my sister. And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah. But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night and said to him, Behold, you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man's wife.

Now Abimelech had not approached her, so he said, Lord, will you kill an innocent people? Did he not himself say to me, she is my sister? And she herself said, he is my brother.

In the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands I have done this. Then God said to him in the dream, Yes, I know that you have done this in the integrity of your heart, and it was I who kept you from sinning against me.

Therefore I did not let you touch her. Now then, return the man's wife, for he is a prophet, so that he will pray for you, and you shall live. But if you do not return her, know that you shall surely die, you and all who are yours.

So Abimelech rose early in the morning and called all his servants and told them all these things. And the men were very much afraid. Then Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, What have you done to us, and how have I sinned against you that you have brought on me in my kingdom a great sin?

You have done to me things that ought not be done. And Abimelech said to Abraham, What did you see that you did this wrong, did this thing?

Abraham said, I did it because I thought there is no fear of God at all in this place, and that they will kill me because of my wife. Besides, she is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father, though not the daughter of my mother.

And she became my wife. And when God caused me to wander from my father's house, I said to her, This is the kindness you must do to me. At every place to which we may come, say of me, He is my brother.

And Abimelech took sheep and oxen, male servants, female servants, and gave them to Abraham, and returned Sarah his wife to him. And Abimelech said, Behold, my land is before you.

Dwell where it pleases you. So to Sarah he said, Behold, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver. It is a sign of your innocence in the eyes of all who are with you.

And before everyone you are vindicated. Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, and also healed his wife and female slaves, so that they bore children.

For the Lord had closed all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham's wife. The Lord visited Sarah, and he said, The Lord visited as he had said, and the Lord did to Sarah as he promised.

And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him. Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, and Sarah bore him Isaac.

And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God commanded him. Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. And Sarah said, God has made laughter for me.

Everyone who hears will laugh over me. And she said, Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have born him a son in his old age.

This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Heavenly Father, I pray that you would speak through this word, Lord. Lord, you've already spoken to our hearts this morning.

Would you continue to do so from this text? In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Well, Harold just gave a better introduction than I possibly could. And I don't even know why I prepared a sermon, brother.

That was awesome. Thank you for sharing your story. Harold and Christine, we love you guys. We're so thankful for your ministry and just your vulnerability. And the ways that God has taught you and grown you through your own journey.

You know, I didn't plan this at all. But the lesson that we learn in this text is very similar to the word that Harold already preached over us this morning. And so we're just going to jump in here.

The title of today's sermon is The Promise Jeopardized, Protected, and Fulfilled. And you'll see this main point on the screen again. But this is it. Despite man's waffling faith, God remains unwaveringly faithful to fulfill his promises.

Despite man's waffling faith, God remains unwaveringly faithful to fulfill his promises. Now, if you were listening to Phil read and were feeling a sense of deja vu, if you've been here before, it's because the Genesis 20 account very closely mirrors what happened back in Genesis 12.

And so we're first going to cover the promise jeopardized and protected in chapter 20. And we see here in the first several verses, the first two verses, lie repeated, matriarch taken.

Back in Genesis 12, for those that were here, now we've been journeying with Abraham since 12. God called Abraham. He gave him these amazing promises. And then Abraham is forced, not forced, he goes to Egypt from Canaan, prompted by a famine.

And there in Egypt, he tells this half-truth that Sarah is just his sister. And she's taken into Pharaoh's harem. And Moses tells us, the author of this book, Moses tells us in Genesis 12, but the Lord afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram's wife.

So Pharaoh, we learn, he rebukes Abram. And he basically says, dude, get out of my land. Like, what are you doing here? And what was the lesson that we saw? For those that were here, what was the lesson that we saw back in Genesis 12?

That God is faithful. He's not going to abandon his chosen ones or break his promises, even when Abraham's faith wavered. And so the lesson is, Abraham, you can trust in God no matter what happens.

Lesson learned, right? Moving on. We're going to move on to new things. Well, apparently not. Because here in Genesis 20, Abraham does the exact same thing in a display of faithfulness.

And, you know, I was thinking, in light of the current weather, you know, we get a lot of Navy and Coast Guard folks that are here for a while, and then they leave. And I've never heard, in my 15 years living here, I've never heard a single Navy person say, my number one choice was Groton, Connecticut.

And, you know, it's not hard to see why, because the weather in New England is notably unpredictable, right? And I hate to tell you Navy folks and you coasties, that you are actually a lot more like New England than your number one choice, you know, Pearl Harbor, San Diego.

Now, I know there's actually a hurricane headed to Hawaii right now, but in general, the weather is, it's 85 and sunny every day, right? I hate to tell you, all of us are more like New England and the unpredictability, and God is like Hawaii, unwavering, predictable, faithful.

You know, I used to think when I would read this story, we used to think like, how in the world can Abraham do the exact same thing again? Like, didn't he already learn his lesson?

I don't think that anymore. I've lived a lot more life. I've failed in a lot more situations that are basically the same situation that you would have thought that I already learned my lesson.

And I don't know if anybody feels to be in the same place, it's falling again and again for the 10th time, 100th time. You know, but here in Genesis 20, the stakes are actually a lot higher than in Genesis 12.

God promised in Genesis 17 and 18 that Sarah will bear Abraham a son about this time next year. So right now, we're living between the specific promise, he's coming less than a year, and the fulfillment.

What's Abraham doing now? He's throwing God's program into jeopardy. He's compromising the promise. So he repeats this sister lie, and Sarah is taken, and then we re-look at your Bibles, verse 3.

But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, Behold, you are a dead man, because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man's wife. And so we see that God confronts King Abimelech.

You are a dead man. Or you are about to die. It's kind of humorous, but God's actually not joking. Adultery merited the death penalty, and that was not only in the Israelite law to come, but in the ancient world.

Now, we learn, though, that in the very next verse, Abimelech hasn't actually committed adultery. And further, he says, I was entirely unaware that Sarah was a married woman, and so he actually pleads with God, just like Abraham had done previously.

Previously, he declares his innocence, and God's response is amazing. God basically says, Yeah, I know you acted in innocence, and in fact, I'm the one who prevented you from committing adultery.

Look at verse 6. It was I who kept you from sinning against me, therefore I did not let you touch her. Now, this verse has massive implications, and I know I've got a few things on the screen, but I'm only going to talk about the third one for today.

And it's this, that what appears as coincidence is often divine providence. Abimelech is probably thinking, But God, it just so happens that I haven't even slept with this woman.

And God says, Yeah, because of me. Do you realize that? Because of my intervention. Proverbs 21.1 says, Now look, I can't fully explain the doctrine of God's providence to you.

You can read John Piper's 800-page book on it. You know, I can't fully explain it to you. But what I can tell you is that from cover to cover in Scripture, we see that God is intimately involved in the affairs of this world, and he's providentially governing humanity and history to, as Brad said back in Genesis 5, inevitably advance his purposes.

What a significant verse. I encourage you to spend time reflecting on verse 6. But we need to go on, because then God says something else shocking. He says to Abimelech, Now then, return the man's wife, for he is a prophet.

What? Wait, you mean this cowardly liar? He's your spokesperson, God? You've got to be kidding me. And God's like, Yeah, he is. And he's going to pray for you so that you live. And if you don't return his wife, you're going to die.

He tells him again. Now, how does Abimelech respond in this text? Abimelech confronts Abraham. He basically says, you know, he gets up in the morning, first thing, he tells his servants, my office, right now, team meeting, and then he relays the night's events, and they are stricken with fear.

And then with words just like Pharaoh's back in chapter 12, he says to Abraham, like, dude, what have you done? What did I ever do to you to deserve this? What were you even thinking?

Now, back in chapter 12, Abraham was speechless before Pharaoh. He had no good response. Now, it's very interesting that here in chapter 20, we see his response, and it reveals the state of his mind.

And I put it on the screen because I want us to consider what Abraham actually says. Okay? Let's think about this. He says, I did it because I thought there was no fear of God at all in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.

Is there fear of God in this place? We literally just saw that they were stricken with fear of God. He says, they will kill me because of my wife.

Who did God say is going to be the dead man? Not Abraham, Abimelech. Okay, so Abraham, he's not thinking, he's fearful, he's anxious, he's not perceiving reality correctly.

Okay, look at verse 12. Because she is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father, though not the daughter of my mother, and she became my wife. What is Abraham doing in verse 12? He's minimizing and he's rationalizing his sin.

Last week, Lot was like, can I please go to this city, this little city? And Abraham this week is like, it was just a little lie, practically not even a lie. He's rationalizing away his sin.

Look at verse 13. And when God caused me to wander from my father's house, he's subtly shifting blame to God, as if it's God's fault. God made him get into this precarious position.

He had no other choice. Who is Abraham a lot like in these verses? Adam and Eve in the garden. Then in verse 13, consider what this reveals about his character.

He says to his wife, this is the kindness you must do to me. At every place to which we come, say of me, he is my brother. He's willing, just like Lot, to put the women in his life that he is called to protect in harm's way.

Abraham has fallen greatly from the spiritual heights that we saw him in just the last few chapters. Right? He was portrayed as the intimate friend of God, sharing a meal, boldly interceding before his throne.

And now the pagan king is acting more like what he was acting like. The pagan king is fearing the Lord. And his resemblance to Lot is far greater than we thought last week.

And saints, this should actually comfort us. This should comfort us. Because we share, you and I share the same tendencies, don't we? We're in company with Abraham, the patriarch.

See, just like Abraham, in our waiting, in our waiting, we are prone to fear and anxiety. Abraham remains in a season of waiting, right? He's been given promises.

He's waiting on the fulfillment of God's promises. And he certainly has more reason now to trust God than before. He's seen God's faithfulness and yet he's still in this waiting season. And we too, and Harold mentioned a bunch of them, we go through all kinds of seasons of waiting.

On one level, all Christians are waiting. We're waiting for Christ to return and the renewal of all things and besides that, there are all kinds of small ways in which we go through seasons of waiting.

Waiting for the light to turn green when you're running late to work. Waiting for the class list to come out, right? To find out what class are you in when the school year starts. Waiting to find out whether you made the team, got the promotion.

Waiting for a house or a spouse or a child. Waiting for a season of conflict or suffering to end. And so whether we're in mundane seasons of waiting or more significant ones, we need to realize something, that we are prone to disordered fear and disordered anxiety in our waiting.

We lack the control that we want and so we're afraid of what might happen and we go increasingly worried that things might not work out how they want, how we want. The second thing, in our fear and anxiety, we're prone to misperceive reality and multiply sin.

Now friends, I just need to tell you, I'm preaching to myself and to you. That's always the case. But I just want you to realize that this morning. Now, let me just give you a practical example here.

I'm waiting on a lot of different things right now. One thing I'm waiting for, and I think a lot of you are in this same stage, I'm waiting for my children, Lord willing, to grow up into passionate followers of Christ.

I want my children to love God and love others and be sold out for the mission of the gospel. Now, it's not wrong to be anxious as in rightly concerned for this outcome.

There are actually good anxieties to have. But often, this degrades into a disordered level of anxiety and a disordered level of fear about the future. And then, what happens is, I start to notice more of my children's failures.

And I start to think about how that reflects on me and how bad of a father I am and how much I've failed. And then what I start to do is try to take more control because I want to guide the outcome.

Do you see the negative spiral that's at work? And that's just one example. Is anybody else with me here? Any other parents with me here? Thank you. I appreciate you not leaving me alone up here. Now, here's the other thing.

In our sin, we're prone to rationalize and to minimize. And blame shift. In the scenario I just described, it would be easy for me to rationalize maybe some overly harsh words I spoke by saying, well, they're just little sinners and they need correction.

Brittany's not here, but it would be easy for me to shift blame onto Brittany and be like, well, if you think about it, she spends two-thirds of the time with them, so this is really her fault. Now, I'm obviously being a little facetious, but I don't think I'm actually that far off the mark for myself and for you guys in this room.

Now, when you look at these words in black and white, like, it's a pretty ugly picture. But remember, Abraham had the same tendencies. And it exalts God's grace.

And that's really what we see in the last verses of chapter 20. We see God's plans and his promises advancing. Right? Despite Abraham's pathetic reply, Abimelech gifts him with all this stuff, sheep and cattle and servants, and then he gives him the pick of the land to settle in, and he gives Sarah, or he gives Abraham a thousand shekels of silver.

That's like $10 million in our economy. Just an insane amount of money. Now, of course, Abimelech needs Abraham to be on his side because he needs Abraham to pray for him. So we shouldn't see this as like just generosity.

And he also, did you notice the jab? He says to Sarah, Behold, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver. But we see here that in spite of the fact that Abraham was faithless and fell again into the same sin, fear and anxiety, putting God's promise at the most crucial time into jeopardy.

God intervenes to protect the promise and then also to bring this greater and totally undeserved blessing to his chosen one, Abraham, and not just to Abraham, but even to this foreign nation.

This itself was God's promise. I will bless you and make your name great so that you will be a blessing, and him who blesses you I will bless and him who dishonors you I will curse and in you, Abraham, all families of the earth shall be blessed.

So here we see, in our waiting, even when we waffle in faith, God remains faithful. God remains faithful. Now we've seen this reality time and again in Genesis.

Our lack of faith, our fear and anxiety leading to sin, our rationalization and blame shifting, and it's all truly ugly and dishonoring to the Lord and yet, saints, it's not the final word over you.

It's not the final word over us. As New Testament believers in the gospel of Jesus Christ, we know that the final word over us is his word, the word of the cross, the word of the blood of Jesus.

It's his declaration, whoever comes to me, I will never cast out. John 6, 37. Whoever comes to me, I will never cast out. Dane Ortlund writes in Gentle and Lowly, listen to this, our strength of resolve is not part of the formula of retaining Christ's good will.

When my two-year-old Benjamin begins to wade into the swimming pool near our home, he instinctively grabs hold of my hand. He holds on tight as the water gradually gets deeper, but a two-year-old's grip is not very strong.

Before long, it is not he holding on to me, but me holding on to him. Left to his own strength, he will certainly slip out of my hand, but if I have determined that he will not fall out of my grasp, he is secure.

He can't get away from me if he tried. So with Christ, Ortlund goes on, we cling to him to be sure, but our grip is that of a two-year-old. Amid the stormy waves of life, his sure grasp never falters.

Friends, even when we waffle, God remains faithful. And here's the other thing, in our waiting, we have every reason to wait with active trust and with hope.

We have every reason. That negative spiral of fear and anxiety and sin and blame shifting, we don't actually have to go down that path. Our flesh takes us down that path.

We don't have to go down that path through earnest and honest prayer, through meditating and studying the word of God, through humbly inviting the counsel and correction of others.

We can guard ourselves from that path. And we have every reason to go down it because we've seen God's proven faithfulness time and time again. We have stories of God's faithfulness in the lives of others that we know and love.

Two things I would refer you, if you want more on that topic of waiting, trusting God in times of waiting. I refer you to Matt's sermon from July 19th in Psalm 62. It was all about that, trusting God in times of waiting.

Second is the book, Waiting Isn't a Waste by Mark Vrogop. I have one copy that I will give away to someone and we'll get more for next week. But here's the overall point again for today. Despite man's waffling faith, God remains unwaveringly faithful to fulfill his promise.

And we see the promise fulfilled in the very next verses. The first thing we see in here in verses 1 and 2 of chapter 21 is God's faithfulness magnified in Isaac's birth.

The Lord visited Sarah as he had said and the Lord did to Sarah as he had promised. And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him.

As he said, as he promised, just at the time of which God had spoken. That is like the threefold sounding of the ship's whistle, making an unmistakable announcement. And what's it saying?

God is faithful. God is faithful. God is faithful. faithful. Between that original promise and the fulfillment here, 25 long years of Abraham and Sarah waiting, of them struggling, of them doubting.

You know, again, in light of the weather and people that are on the sea all the time, right, they were like the rising and the fall of the waves. Just good days, bad days, faith, doubt, over and over again.

But guess what? The captain never lost control of the ship. The captain never lost course. We see here that neither physical impossibility nor human fallibility could prevent God from fulfilling his word and promise.

He's the God of infinite power. He's the God of unwavering faithfulness. We see then in the next few verses, Abraham responds obediently. He names Isaac.

Just as God told him. He circumcises Isaac just as God commanded. As God had commanded him. It recalls that past faithfulness or obedience that we saw in Noah and in Abraham's own life.

He truly belongs to the godly line of promise. Now, to be sure, this is by sheer grace. Right? We talked before about how the fount of God's grace produces faith-filled obedience in God's people.

But this obedience is motivated all the more by the faithfulness of God. And the last thing that we see is Sarah's joyful laughter at God doing the impossible.

Abraham was 100 years old when his son Isaac was born to him. And Sarah said, God has made laughter for me. Everyone who hears will laugh over me. And she said, Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children and yet I have born him a son in his old age?

Remember in chapter 17, God told Abraham that Sarah's going to bear a son. And Abraham fell on his face and laughed. And then in chapter 18, Sarah overhears the conversation that God had with Abraham.

And the same thing happens. She laughs at this promise. And now her laughter, Abraham's laughter of disbelief, it's turned into the laughter of joy, celebration, because God has done the impossible.

Is anything too hard for the Lord? God had said. Now this becomes a theme throughout scripture. Not only God doing the impossible, but specifically, God bringing about miracle children to those who cannot bear.

And when you consider the fact, remember the promise of Genesis 3.15 that we've been tracing, that one from Eve's line is going to come and crush the serpent and undo the curse of sin.

When you consider that that promise requires children to be born in the line of Eve, then you begin to realize that barrenness in scripture is more than just barrenness.

It's a sign of the brokenness of this world. It's a sign of the curse for sin. It's a sign of the inability for humanity to bring about redemption. And do you know almost 2,000 years later, another announcement would be made.

Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son and you shall call his name Jesus. Mary said to the angel, How will this be since I am a virgin? And the angel answered her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.

Therefore, the child to be born will be called Holy, the Son of God. For nothing will be impossible with God. Friends, God must act to save.

God must do the impossible. And the virgin birth of Christ, it shows us that God has done the impossible. Jesus taking on human flesh and then going to the cross to become the promised victor from the line of Eve to undo sin's curse ultimately and to bring us freedom from sin and Satan and death.

Listen, neither physical impossibility nor human fallibility would prevent God from being faithful to His word and promises. We've seen that magnified in the gospel of Jesus Christ and that is a booming declaration.

God is faithful. God is faithful. God is faithful. He's done what He's promised. He's done what He's promised. He's done what He's promised. Friends, if you're here this morning and you have not believed in Jesus Christ, I urge you this day to repent of your sin and turn to Him.

You can become today a child of Abraham, a child of promise, a child of the King, of God, the Father, brothers and heirs with Christ.

If you want to know more about how to do that, please come talk to me. And saints, there's two final points of application here. Here's the first thing in light of this. God has fulfilled His promises. Rejoice!

Rejoice! Sarah rejoices at God's promise being fulfilled and we've beheld greater fulfillment of greater promises in Jesus Christ. And joy ought to mark disciples of Jesus.

And this is not some cheap, flimsy joy. This is a joy that weathers the storm. Right? No matter what Nor'easters can blow our way, it's a joy that's solid and weighty. Jesus says, these things I have spoken to you that my joy may be in you and your joy may be full.

But let's be honest, it's a fight to experience that kind of joy, isn't it? You know, there are so many moments in my own life where my disposition could not be described as joyful, but down, discouraged, blah, you know?

It's just a blah day. Whether in the mundane, the day-to-day, or the more profound suffering and loss, it's a fight. But I want to exhort you, brothers and sisters, it's a fight that is worth fighting.

It's worth fighting. Okay? And we don't fight with physical weapons, but with spiritual weapons. We fight by earnestly seeking the Lord. Deep abiding joy really exists.

It really exists. It is really possible to find, and it's only found in Jesus Christ. And listen, it's not going to come from you checking off enough of your to-do list.

It's not going to come from the Red Sox winning the World Series. Okay? It's not going to come from you finally getting the promotion that you've been seeking. Now listen, none of those things are bad. And there is a measure of happiness that comes from those things, but those are all fleeting.

True and lasting happiness is found only in Christ. And listen, that joy persists even when your to-do list grows and grows and becomes overwhelming.

Even when the Red Sox lose the wild card round, even, you know? Even when you don't get the promotion that you want. God has fulfilled his promises of rejoice. And the last thing I have up there, God will fulfill all his promises.

And so trust and obey. You know, we live here in the already, not yet. The already, not yet. Already, so many promises have been fulfilled in Christ, but not yet all of them.

It's coming. We're awaiting the fullness, the redemption of all things. Sin and Satan eradicated, this world made new. It's coming. And in light of this, we're called to trust God and to obey and to wait with active trust, to wait with hope, to wait on him because he's faithful and he's a God of grace and a God of mercy.

Let's go before him now before we partake of the Lord's Supper. Lord, we thank you for this word. Even though, God, we waffle in our faith, you remain faithful, unwaveringly faithful.

God, we have every reason, no matter what storms life brings our way, we have every reason to trust you. And God, when it is a fight for the joy that we have access to in Christ, Lord, I pray that we would fight on our knees in prayer, in your word, earnestly seeking you.

God, eternal pleasures are found at your right hand. It's joy in your presence, Lord. God, fill us with your joy this morning. We pray this in Christ's name. Amen. Well, I know the time's getting on, but we are going to spend a few minutes here partaking of the Lord's Supper together.

Paul reminds the Corinthians that they are waiting for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

God is faithful, Paul says, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Saints, as we eat the bread and drink the cup, I want us to see this act here as one significant way that we actively wait with trust.

We're waiting for the return of Christ. We're waiting for the return or the fulfillment of all God's promises. And as we do this, as we participate in the Lord's Supper, we're reminding ourselves that even though our faith has waffled, maybe your faith has waffled this week.

I know mine has in different points. Even still, God remains faithful. That cup and the bread, it speaks a word of the broken body of Jesus Christ for you, the shed blood of Jesus Christ for you.

And because of that, God remains ever faithful to his children. The price has been paid. He's holding your tiny two-year-old hand and he will not let it go.

So if you've waffled in faith this week, you're in good company. Come to the table that Christ has prepared for you. Be renewed by his grace. Be awed by his faithfulness.

This meal is for baptized believers who belong to this church or to another local church. That is, it's for those who have repented of their sin and believed in Christ as Savior and Lord and committed them to Christ and to his body.

And so if that's you and you've examined your heart and can partake worthily, then we welcome you to receive the bread and the cup. And partaking worthily does not mean perfectly. It means repentantly.

It means you've dealt with your sin between you and God, between you and others if necessary. If that's not you, then we simply ask you to forego the bread and the cup. If you've not received Christ as Savior and Lord again today, it could be the day that you do.

Come talk to me after the service about that. We're going to sing a song today as a reflection and as worship. And so let's remain seated for this. Feel free to freedom. Feel the freedom to spend time in prayer if you want.

And when ready, during the song, just get up. The elements are on either side of the room. So grab those, return to your seats, and we'll partake together. may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may