Luke 7:1-10; Great Faith!

Well, I'll say it to you again, good morning. It's

good to be here again. Well, we finished Luke 6,

and then I took vacation, and now we come back

and we're going to start Luke 7. So we come

to Luke 7, and this chapter is just filled with

all kinds of good things. And as Dr. Ironside says,

this chapter just so wonderfully, marvelously illustrates the grace of God.

In the first 10 chapters, or it's 10 chapters, first

10 verses where I'm going to be today, we have

the centurion's servant healed. Then in 11 through 18... We

have the resurrection of the widow of Nain's son. In

verses 19 through 23, we have Jesus comforting the disciples

of John. And then in 24 through 30, after the

disciples of John leave, Jesus gives us a little discourse

to the folks that are there with him about John.

So we'll talk about that on a Sunday. Okay. In

31 through 35, we have the parable comparing the elders

to John the Baptist. And then in Luke 7, 36

through 50, we have the dinner at the Pharisee's house

with the woman who came in with the alabaster box.

And so that's a rather long piece. What was it,

36 through 50? So that's quite a bit. I may

break that up a little bit. I don't know yet.

But that's chapter 7 in just a little nutshell. So

today we're going to start in Capernaum where there lived

a centurion. So we're going to read today 7 verses

1 through 10. Now in verse 1 you'll notice it says,

When he had ended all his sayings in the audience

of the people, he entered into Capernaum. So he's finished

with the Sermon on the Plain. That was chapter 6.

the majority of chapter 6, and now we come to 7,

and he goes back to Capernaum where we're going to

see this take place. So why don't we just go

ahead and read 7, 1 through 10. Now when he

had ended all his sayings in the audience of the people,

he entered into Capernaum, and a certain centurion's servant who

was dear to him was sick and ready to die.

And when he heard of Jesus... he sent unto him

the elders of the Jews, beseeching him that he would

come and heal his servant. And when they came to Jesus,

they besought him instantly, saying that he was worthy for

whom that he should do this. For he loveth our nation,

and he hath built us a synagogue. Then Jesus went

with him. And when he was now not far from

the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying unto him, Lord,

trouble not thyself, for I am not worthy that thou

shouldest enter under my roof. Wherefore, neither thought I myself

worthy to come unto thee, but say a word, and

my servant shall be healed. For I also am a

man set under authority, having under me soldiers, and I

say unto one, go, and he goeth, and to another, come,

and he cometh, and to my servant, do this, and

he doeth it. When Jesus heard these things, he marveled

at him, and turned to and turned him about and

said to the people that followed him, I say unto you,

I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.

And they that were sent, returning to the house, found

the servant whole that had been sick. Father, that you

would open our eyes today to your word and help us.

Give me, Father, today unction, help me to rightly divide

the word of truth. Speak to every heart this morning.

We thank you for the presence, your presence here among us.

You are all in all, your presence here at the table,

your presence here in your word. Father, we have experienced

your presence in the music that we've sung today as

we praise your name. We thank you for all of

those things. Now, Lord, as we commune with you in

your word, we ask that you would speak to our hearts.

We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. So being stationed

near the border, Capernaum, that is, probably this centurion was

there to protect the customs office and the officers who

oversaw the taxation of merchandise coming into and going out

of that region. It could have been other reasons for

a centurion to be in Capernaum. They are the... The

Romans stationed garrisons in strategic locations. And so him being here,

and I remember a centurion is an officer over 100

men in the Roman legion. So you just imagine we've

got at least 101 Roman soldiers there in Capernaum, probably

more than that. There may have been another centurion there

with his 100. So they're there and... It could be,

some have suggested, and that's why I bring it up,

that he is protecting the custom offices, the tax collectors,

the other officers who oversaw the taxation of the merchandise

that came into that region. And perhaps he knew Matthew.

Matthew was in the customs house. So it could be

that this centurion knew Matthew or Matthew knew of him.

But this man was a contradiction. You notice that it says,

and a certain centurion's servant who was dear unto him

was sick and ready to die. Now he was a

Roman officer stationed among a people who despised his nation

and their presence, yet he created such a healthy reputation

with the Jews that he was able to ask a

favor of them, as we see in the next verse.

Not only that, but this centurion said, who you know

didn't make it to that position by political appointment, but

rather by proficiency on the battlefield, yet he was filled

with compassion for a dear servant of his. That doesn't

seem to match, does it? He could have gotten another servant,

but no, he loved this man. Notice it says, who

was dear unto him. So he was moved with compassion

for for this fellow who was under his care. This

man was a wise man. You notice it says there

in verse 3, when he heard of Jesus, what do

you think he heard? Well, I mean, as we've gone

through Luke, we can just fill out that, couldn't we?

What did he hear of Jesus? We can just go

back through Luke and list all the things that he

heard about Jesus. Maybe he heard about the demoniac in

the synagogue or the leopard that Jesus touched or Peter's

mother or the man and his four friends that let

the man down through the roof. Maybe one of those

or maybe any of the thousands of others that Jesus

had touched and healed and delivered. We could probably write

up our own newspaper account of all that Jesus had done.

So he heard of Jesus. And what's marvelous here is

the fact that he didn't look to another source for help.

Or maybe he did. And this person was so dear

to him, so important to him, he was touched by

this illness so deeply that once he heard of Jesus,

all the other sources or resources that he could have had,

he dropped them down. and went directly to Jesus for help.

And I think that should cause us to stop and

ask ourselves the question, what am I not bringing to Jesus?

What is dear to you that you're not taking to him?

We should be ashamed to say if there's anything that's

dear to us that we don't take to him in prayer.

And you notice also that he didn't lean into his

position or authority to try to manipulate Jesus in any way.

It says there, he sent unto him the elders of

the Jews, beseeching him that he would come and heal

his servant. So it wasn't like he showed up and

he said, hey, I'm a centurion Roman soldier, you better

come and heal my servant. He didn't do that. He

didn't pose before Jesus to be somebody. As a matter

of fact, he was so humble that he asked the

Jewish elders to go in his stead. He wasn't trying

to make a show at all. So as I say,

this man's sort of a contrarian. in the way he behaves.

Notice the Jews testimony about him in verse 4. So

the Jews here are very invested in speaking on behalf

of this man. You notice verse 4 it says And

when they came to Jesus, they besought him instantly, saying. Now,

the word besought means to beseech, to beg, to invite.

It's that idea of please come. Please, please come. And

it says that they did it instantly. That word instantly there,

the Greek word means earnest. They were very earnest in

their pleas. So they go to Jesus and they plea

on this man's behalf. please come. You know, they don't

wait around, they don't make small talk. They are right

now earnestly asking Jesus, would you please come and do

this work? You notice, and of course this just indicates,

I think, about the Jews, these elders, just how much

they loved and respected this Roman centurion. Again, It's just

out of the ordinary. Most of the time, elders of

the Jews would have despised the Roman centurions because they

would have abused their position and did, just like the

tax collectors did, and there was nothing the Jews could

do about it. Not a thing. They just had to

swallow it. Not this guy, though. They loved him. They

respected him. And then they tell us why. Notice. Notice.

that he was worthy for whom he should do this.

Notice that they use that word worthy. What is it

that makes a man worthy? For these men, it meant

good works or good works in their opinion, right? Things

that this fellow had done that they liked. That's what,

you know, whenever we say, oh, he's a pretty good fellow,

it's because that fellow has done something that we approve of,

you know. And it depends on the group that you're in.

If you're a carouser and you call somebody a pretty

good fellow, well, what they may have done is a

lot more carousing than you. If he's a Roman centurion,

maybe he's done something that you approve of if you're

Jewish that lines up with your Jewish ideas. So he's worthy.

Good works, or good works in their opinion. And this

reveals just how Captured they were with the idea of

approved performance within their system of performance. He's worthy. They

would never have used that language if he had colored

outside of their lines. But he didn't. He colored inside

of their lines. And so they're so captured with this

idea of good works, you know, making a way to God,

that they said to Jesus, he's worthy. He's worthy. Of

your going to him. Is anyone really worthy. To go

to Jesus. Do we stand before him. Based on our performance. Worthy.

Good question. Yeah. Of course this is not just a problem.

For the elders of the Jews is it. So many think.

That a good performance. Is. Or checking all the to-do

boxes is a way to ingratiate themselves to God. And then,

not only do they say he's worthy, but then they

give an example of why he's worthy. He loveth our nation.

A healthy love for Israel. This man was a lover

of Israel. Anti-Semitism has been and today still is a problem.

As a matter of fact, since the slaughter of the

Israelis on October the 7th, there has been a marked

increase in anti-Jewish sentiment in America, and it is still growing,

and it has found its way into the church. As

Paul writes in Timothy and Titus, it has crept in.

I remember my son not long ago called me and

he said, Dad, he said, I need to ask you

a question. He said, why are Christian people talking poorly

of Israel? And I said, son, that's just plain anti-Semitism,

and it somehow made its way amongst young men in

the Christian church, in the evangelical church, or so-called. Hatred

for the Jews has no place in any church or

among any group of believers. No place. Remember what Paul said.

I hope that this will put to rest that idea

of anti-Semitism. Paul wrote, I say then, hath God cast

away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite,

the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God

hath not cast away his people, which he foreknew. You see,

these elders must have been impressed by this idea. man's

love for Israel, since so many hate the Jewish people,

and especially the Romans, who had no love for them whatsoever.

As a matter of fact, to the Roman nation, to

the Roman Empire, the Jewish nation was a problem. It

was like a problem child. They did not like dealing

with them. They just wanted things to go smooth. And

the Jews never did let that happen. And so for

this man to love the Jews... was unique. Next, it says,

he built us a synagogue. Isn't that marvelous? He not

only loves the Jewish people, but he built a synagogue.

He sought to advance their worship. Charles Simeon says in

his collection of sermons, Here in this passage, he says,

he even built a synagogue for the Jews at his

own expense. What an admirable pattern of liberality and candor.

How different from those who will not do anything for

their own church. Surely he never afterwards regretted that he

had so deplied his wealth. He built them a synagogue.

He loved the Jewish people. And he had a good

relationship with these elders or they would never have gone

to Jesus on his behalf. Now, I want you to notice,

we've gone through this list, that the elders come and

they say, you know, they beseech him instantly, earnestly. Come,

you know, this man is worthy for you to do this.

He loves our nation. This is the list of his works.

He loves our nation. He's built us a synagogue today.

And then in verse 6 it says, then Jesus went

with him. But notice that Jesus has been silent this

whole time. He's not said anything. Not a thing. I

just imagine Christ kind of going with him with a

little smile on his face. Yeah. Yeah. they thought that

their list of good works had done the trick. But

no one gets the attention of God with a list

of filthy deeds, no matter how good they might seem.

Jesus went with them because he knew that the centurion

was about to blow up their confidence in his actions. So,

Don't know how long it was, how far it was.

Maybe the elders of the Jews caught Jesus as he

was coming into Capernaum from the Sermon on the Plain

and they come to him, they make their plea, Jesus

goes with them. Maybe they had to walk across the

city or walk through the city to another place outside

of it where the centurion's compound would have been. Who knows?

But he goes with them. And then we have The

centurion's testimony about himself. Now, we've heard the Jews or

the elders testify about him. He's worthy. He loves our nation.

He's built us a synagogue. But notice what happens next.

And when he was now not far from the house,

the centurion sent friends to him, saying unto him, Lord,

trouble not thyself, for I am not worthy that thou

shouldst enter under my roof. It's good to have friends,

isn't it? Especially friends that you can entrust with a

spiritual errand. We entrust friends with lots of things. But

with a spiritual errand, it's important. And notice that while

the elders said he was worthy, he said something else.

He said, Lord, trouble not yourself, for I am not worthy.

I am not worthy for you to come to me.

He thought so little of himself and so much of

Christ Jesus that he refused to go to him himself.

Because he wasn't worthy to stand. in the presence of

the Son of God. That tells us something about what

he thought of himself and what he thought of Jesus.

So he humbles himself by asking the elders to go

do it because he's a Roman. He's an outsider and

he's lost and he knows it. He thought of beneath

the person of Christ for him to enter his house.

Beneath Jesus to enter his house. And of course, I'm

sure that this just wasn't any old house. He's a

Roman centurion. This has been built by the empire of Rome, probably.

It is probably pretty nice with servants and guards and

a wonderful office and a reception area and a huge foyer.

and a dining hall. It was probably a pretty good place.

He says, you know, I'm not worthy for you to

walk in here because this, what is this compared to you?

What is this compared to you? Oh, if only we

had that kind of humility to Christ ourselves. And you

know what he is? He's the opposite of another Gentile

that we read about in 2 Kings. In 2 Kings

2 Kings 5 · chapter mention

chapter 5, we have the story of Naaman, the Syrian.

He was a leper. And he comes to Elisha. And

I just want to read for you just a couple

of verses there from 2 Kings chapter 5. If you

2 Kings 5 · chapter mention

have your Bibles, you want to turn over there, that's fine.

These are verses 10 through 12. So just the background

of Naaman's story, the young servant girl who's a Jewish,

a Jew, she heard that, she knew that her master

had leprosy, and she said, oh, if he could only

go to the prophet, for God would heal him. So

he goes to Israel, he goes to the king. The

king says, I can't do anything. He says, why don't

you go down to Elisha, maybe he can help. He

goes to Elisha, knocks on his door, and Elisha does this,

verse 10. 2 Kings 5.10, May I not wash in

them and be clean? So he turned and went away

in a rage. You see the difference between this fellow

and the centurion. The centurion says, I'm not worthy. But

you see in Naaman, he thought he was pretty worthy,

didn't he? He wanted the prophet to come out and

do the whole religious thing. I mean, this looks like

a charismatic healing service, doesn't it? That's what he expected.

He expected Elisha to come out and, oh, trembling with

his hands and his hands raised and his eyes closed

and hit the, you know, maybe he thought he was

going to fall back, you know, like they do in

those charismatic healing lines. That's what he had in mind.

He wanted a show. He wanted somebody to come out

and show him some respect because he's Naaman, you know.

Come out and heal him. Crack that hand over that

dirty spot. Call on the name of the Lord his

God and strike his hand and recover the leper. But

Elisha doesn't do it. What does Elisha do? He sends messengers.

Elisha sends messengers to the door. A messenger to the door.

He said, this is what Elisha said, go and wash

the Jordan. He wanted enough for Naaman. No, but you

see the difference. the the centurion expects nothing I am

not worthy of you to come under my roof Naaman

says well I'm really worthy but not the centurion no

no no no he knew better because he knew who

Jesus was he knew the authority that Jesus was under

he knew what he had done And the centurion, with

all of his accolades, with all of his rank, with

all of his money, with all of his position, with

all of the men and the servants looking up to him,

knew he was nothing before Jesus. Oh, friends, if we

could just have that attitude. All our money and position

and wealth and homes and cars and everything that we have,

all that stuff, could we just cast it on the

bonfire of vanity? Because that's where it's going to go anyway.

And bow ourselves before the cross and say, I am

nothing before this one. The Son of God. Who is everything.

He is all in all. You see, that's the attitude

of the centurion. It's not the attitude of Naaman, but

it is the attitude of the centurion. And then he

says it again. There in verse 7. Notice. Notice. Wherefore

neither thought I myself worthy to come unto thee. I

am not worthy to come to you. You are not

worthy to come into my house and I am not

worthy to come to you. This is the second not worthy.

You remember what the elder said? The elder said he's worthy.

They get to him and he says I'm not worthy.

He says it twice. He had a right attitude about

himself and about Jesus. And The Bible surely teaches us that.

In Psalm 34, 18, David writes, The Lord is nigh

unto them that are of a broken heart, and saveth

such as be of a contrite spirit. In Psalm 51,

we have it again. The sacrifices of God are a

broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart, O God, thou

will not despise. You see now why Jesus says, went

with them? It wasn't because of his good works. Isaiah 57, 15.

For thus saith the high and lofty one, one that

inhabiteth eternity, whose name is holy. I dwell in the

high and holy place with him also that is of

a contrite and humble spirit to revive the spirit of

the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.

And then the very last chapter of Isaiah in 66,

the prophet quoting the Lord says, For all those things

hath my hand made, and all those things have been,

saith the Lord. But to this man will I look,

even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit,

and trembleth at my word. You hear anything in there

about building a synagogue, loving the nation? Being worthy because

you've done the good things? Nothing. No, sir. It's all

about a poor and contrite and broken heart. That's the

man that the Lord looks to. That's why Jesus went

with them. Because he knew. He knew the heart of

this man. And he went. That's the one Isaiah said

that the Lord, as he quotes the Lord, says, you know,

he's the one that I'm going to look to. David said,

him I will not despise. Again in 34, he saves

such as be of a contrite spirit and trembleth at

my word. He was not only humble, this centurion, but

he trembled at the word of God. Notice in the

next part there in 7, but say in a word

and my servant shall be healed. So he gives this illustration,

what happens next in verses 8 through 10, 8 and 9,

is it? Is it 8 and 9? 7, 8, yes,

7 and 8. He gives this illustration. For I also

am a man set under authority, having under me soldiers,

and I say unto one, go and he goeth, another,

come and he cometh, And to my servant, do this,

and he doeth it. So this is a perfect illustration

of how authority works. He says, I also. Notice that.

Notice that. I also. Who's the also for? Jesus. He

knew Jesus was a man set under authority. Not an

earthly authority, but a heavenly one. I am a man

set under authority, having under me soldiers. And some authority

under the authority of Caesar had placed this man in

charge of 100 men. But that's as far up as

his authority went. His authority went through the chain of command,

through the generals and the field marshals and all the rest,

and through the Roman Senate who appointed them, and then

all the way up to the Caesar who was over

all of it. But that was it. That was the

top of the authority mountain for this man. And he

looks at Jesus and he says, I know you're set

under it. authority but your authority happens to be much

much higher than mine. I also am a man set

under authority but my authority only reaches up to Caesar.

Pretty slim pickings really. So he understands the authority which

Jesus was under and Therefore, he understood the gravity of

his words. He says, I say unto one, go and

he goeth. Just as the soldiers did as he commanded.

And why did they do as he commanded? Because he

was given the authority by the generals and the so

forth and the marshals and the senate and the Caesar.

All of that authority was in the mouth of that

one fellow, that centurion. And when he said, go, buddy,

you better go. And to another, come and he cometh.

Then we come back. Here to the soldier again. And

he goes one way and then he comes another way.

And it doesn't matter whether he agrees with that or not.

He's going to do it because of the authority of

the centurion. And then notice, he comes right back to

his servant. And to my servant. He has this servant

on his heart, doesn't he? And he doesn't want to

ask Jesus. Because he sees himself so small. before Christ.

But he mentions him here. I say to my servant,

do this, and he does it. Now the servant's not

a soldier, most likely not, but he still honored the

command of his master because he's under the authority of

his master in that house. So he understands, this fellow

understands the whole process of authority and command. And notice

how this illustration beautifies the authority of God's word. Because

it has the power not just over people, but over

all creation. And Jesus, as the word of God, speaks

the word of God. He can simply speak the word

and tell the illness to go, and it will go.

Because he has that kind of authority. Naaman had no

respect for the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah.

As a matter of fact, he walked off in a huff.

But this man, he says, I understand. All you must

do is say the word because that's who you are.

The very son of God, the word of God who

spoke all things into existence. And so if you say go,

guess what? It's got to go. Yeah, Naaman had no

respect for the word of the Lord spoken by Elisha,

but the centurion had complete trust in the word spoken

by Jesus. And then we have here in verse 9,

we have the testimony of Jesus about the centurion. So

we've talked about the centurion's character, the Jews' testimony of him,

his own testimony of himself, and now Jesus' testimony. gives

us a testimony about this man. Notice verse 9, when

Jesus heard these things, he marveled at him and turned

about and said to the people that followed him, I

say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no,

not in Israel. Now Israel should have been the place

where the faith in God's word was a common thing.

A religious people with the worship ordained and ordered by God,

with the history of the prophetic words spoken and recorded

in the past, were accomplished promises, were accounted for and anticipated,

they should have been the ones to recognize this fellow's faith.

But they didn't because they put their faith in deeds,

in things, in actions. Jesus marveled. That's really kind of

a dark sentence, isn't it? isn't it? He marveled at him.

He's a Gentile living in Israel with more faith than

anyone that Jesus has found in Israel. That's sad. So

Jesus marvels at him because of this faith is so

profoundly pure. It's clean. It's a trust in God's word

that he has not seen in anybody else. I went

through the Gospels quickly just to see where else Jesus marveled.

And I found one other place. He marveled at the

unbelief of the people who lived in Nazareth. Mark 6,

Mark 6:6

verse 6. He marveled because of their unbelief. And he

went around the villages teaching. So Jesus marvels here at

this man's pure faith and he marvels at unbelief. The

elders showed us where they put their faith, and in

so doing, teach us where not to place our faith.

And they did so in, they placed their faith in

what they could see, and what they could approve. But

biblical faith is now and has always been in God's word, period.

That's where faith is placed, in God's word. Faith is

not in how you feel. You don't place your faith

in your grandmother's prophecy. You do not place your faith

in what some modern day charlatan spoke over your head

with a trembling hand. It is not in your good works.

You do not place your faith in your finances. You

do not place your faith in your position or status

in the community. No. Faith is always and forever in

God's word. That's where faith abides. Jesus marveled at this

man's faith because he simply said, speak the word. He

trusted in the word of Christ without any other trappings,

any other hang-ons, no more threads, nothing else, just in

the word of Christ. You speak the word, my servant

will be healed forever. I believe it. Jesus marveled. So

how do we apply this? Well, the first thing is

that we have the result in verse 10. And we're

not surprised at this, are we? And do you notice

that in Luke's account here, Jesus never says anything? He

never said, may your servant be healed. He didn't say anything.

He just marveled. at this man's faith. That's all we

have Jesus saying. But when they were sent, when they

that were sent, the friends, returned to the house, they

found the servant whole that had been sick. And remember,

I think we talked about this some time back, maybe

when we were doing chapter 4, chapter 5, all those

people that came to Jesus, you know, Jesus didn't say,

take two aspirin and call me in the morning. No,

they were instantly okay. They were whole. No more therapy.

They didn't need therapy. They didn't need to get another

prescription filled. They were whole, completely well. And so this

fellow was on his sickbed, well, actually on his deathbed,

this dear servant was that sick that he was dying,

and now all of a sudden he's up, he's probably

in the kitchen getting supper ready. And the guys come in,

the friends come in from the centurions, and they look

and they say, What's going on in the kitchen? And

the centurion probably smiled and looked at them and said,

Jesus gave the word. He's healed. It's all done. So

we see the result. But how do we get there? Well, first,

I think we must, I know the Bible teaches that

we must, follow the centurion's example and humble ourselves. We

are nobody at best. filthy sinners at worst, who deserve

the judgment of God. When were we going to understand that?

We too are not worthy to go to him, or

for him to come to us. And yet, ladies and gentlemen,

he seeks us. How wonderful that is. We must, number one,

humble ourselves. Second, we must trust the word of God.

The word says, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and

you should be saved. The word says call. Romans chapter 10,

Romans 10 · chapter mention

10 through 13. We have this over and over. We

hear this word call. For with the heart man believes

unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

For the scripture saith, whosoever believeth on him shall not

be ashamed. For there is no difference between Jew and

the Greek. For the same Lord over all is rich

unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call

upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Humble

yourself before the Lord and call on the Lord. He

is ready and willing to listen and to come to you.

And I wonder if when Paul wrote that in Romans

Romans 10 · chapter mention

chapter 10, he didn't have this fellow in mind. There

is no difference between the Jew and the Greek, and

maybe he thought about that centurion servant whose simple faith

in God's word led to the healing of his dear servant.

And then finally, thirdly, Don't trust in your good deeds.

They will do you no good. Even if you build

the largest church building on the planet and give all

your money to do it. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 13,

Though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor,

and though I give my body to be burned and

have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. You have the

love of God first, then maybe there's a profit there.

But if you're just doing it to do it because

you think it's going to ingratiate you to the heavenly throne, friends, no.

Please no. Humble yourself. Call on the Lord. Follow the

example of this centurion. What a beautiful picture of gospel

grace we have here in this passage. Father, we thank

you so much for this beautiful picture of gospel grace.

And we ask, Lord, that now as we consider it,

that you would speak to us as we conclude our

preaching service with the singing of this final hymn. For

we pray in Jesus' name, amen.