Let us turn again to God's Word. In the portion of Scripture we
read, and those opening verses that we have in the third chapter,
Ezekiel chapter 3, and the first three verses. Moreover, he said
unto me, Son of man, eat that thou findest. Eat this roll,
and go speak unto the house of Israel. So I opened my mouth,
and he caused me to eat that roll. And he said unto me, Son
of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this
roll that I give thee. Then did I eat it, and it was
in my mouth as honey for sweetness. The subject matter that I want
to address, the message that I want to center upon is that
of what it means to be a partaker of the word of God, the partaking
of God's words. In other words, what it means
when there's an application to us of the words of God, and we
see it in the experience of the Prophet. It's only as he receives
the words of God and eats and digests the word of God that
he is then able to speak the Lord's message. But there's a
principle. This is a truth that doesn't
just apply to the Prophet, or those who minister the Word of
God, but truly there's a truth here that has its application
to all the Lord's people. When we come together as we do
this morning, we come of course to worship God, but we come also
expecting the Lord to minister to us. We look to the Lord to
address the needs of our deepest soul. We want, as it were, to
feed upon the Word of God. We have spiritual needs because
when God made man he created his body of the dust of the earth
but breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and he became
a living soul and as God feeds our bodies we receive our sustenance
from our food so God also attends to the needs of our never-dying
soul And therefore, this is the theme that I want to try to address
from what we have in these three verses before us this morning,
the partaking of God's Word, its application. And what do
we see? Well, we see that it is both a humbling and also an
exalting experience in the case of Ezekiel. Furthermore, we see
here that it is a bitter and a sweet experience. Moreover, he said unto me, Son
of man, eat that thou findest, eat this roll, and go speak unto
the house of Israel. So I opened my mouth, and he
caused me to eat that roll, and he said unto me, Son of man,
cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that
I give thee. Then did I eat it, and it was
in my mouth as honey for sweetness. First of all then, to say something
with regards to the humbling of God's words. When God comes
and speaks to us, He will cause us to see something of what we
are, to feel something of what we are. And we see it in the
way in which the Lord God addresses the prophets. Moreover, He said
unto me, son of man. He calls him son of man. Literally, it's son of Adam. It's the Hebrew name Adam, which
means man. If it was just transliterated,
it would be the word Adam, straight over from the Hebrew. And the
significance, of course, of that name that was given to the first
man is that it is a reminder of man's origin. And what is man's origin? By
the Lord God's formed man of the dust of the earth. The very name Adam has regard
to that. Red Earth might be a proper translation
of the works. He was made out of the dust of
the ground. And so, here, the Prophet is
being reminded of his origin. Reminded of his origin. Reminded
also, we might say, of his ends. Because after Adam and Eve had
transgressed the commandment of God there in Genesis chapter
3 after the fall, remember what God says to Adam, and unto dust
shalt thou return. All man's origin is very base.
What are our bodies? What becomes of our bodies at
the end? Then shall the dust return to
the earth as it was, we're taught, and the spirit to God that gave
it. Why this very name is a reminder
then of man's base origin and his sad end. But also, this name,
Son of Man, is a reminder of man's frailty. We think of the
language of the Psalmist, in Psalm 9 and verse 2. Put them
in fear, it says, that the nations may know themselves to be but
men. See you later. All men imagine
great things, Men think they're very clever. But what are men? At the end of the day, they are
but mortal beings, feeble, frail creatures of the dust. And there the Prophet Jeremiah,
when he comes to address the nation of Israel and the Gentile
nations, there in Jeremiah 22, 29, he says, O earth, earth,
earth, hear the words of the Lord. Now when God's Word comes
to men then it will remind them of their frailty. They must recognize
what they are. They are but creatures and they
are those who are all of them accountable to the One who is
their Creator, the Great God. But here also there is this reminder
in the name of man's unworthiness. We can think again of the language
of the psalmist. Remember the words of Psalm 8,
What is man, that thou art mindful of him, or the son of man, that
thou visitest him? And we find similar words, similar
questions being put in another psalm, Psalm 144 at verse 3, But also we have the same truth
set before us in the book of Job, in Job chapter 7 and verse
17. So, on three separate occasions
in Scripture, we have that question, what is man? Or what is man? Or that men would but stop and
consider themselves. and their base origins, their
bitter ends, their great frailty, their utter unworthiness as those
who have transgressed against the God who has made them and
the God who constantly sustains them. It's a very humbling word
then that is spoken here to the Prophet. He said unto me, son
of man, son of Adam, son of the earth and observe just who it
is who is speaking these words this is God's own voice that
the prophet is hearing back in chapter 2 and verse 4 thus saith
the Lord God thus saith the Lord God and observe the name that he's
given here. It's Lord. It's God. It's those two names
that we have in the Old Testament. It's that name Elohim that reminds
us of the greatness of God, the power of God. But it's also the
covenant name. It's the great Jehovah, the I
Am that I Am that he's speaking. Oh, God is a great God, a mighty
God. And every revelation that God
gives must have that humbling effect upon man. If we know anything
of God, we will, and we must know something of what it is
to be humbled before Him. To recognize that He is the Creator,
that we are the creatures. To recognize that He is that
One who is faithful, and we are so unfaithful. But He is that
One who is holy. Why? He is three times holy.
Holy Father, Holy Son, and Holy Spirit. That great mystery of
the Trinity. That God is One, and God is three,
and glorious in holiness. And we are those who have sinned
against Him and transgressed His holy laws, if we know anything.
of God, if we've ever heard the voice of God it will have that
humbling effect upon us. What effect does all this have
upon the Prophet Ezekiel? We read through from the beginning,
we read right through chapter 1 and then chapter 2 to the beginning
of this third chapter and as I said there in the opening chapter
we have the record of this remarkable vision that is granted unto the
Prophet as he's being called to this particular work. He's
going to minister to the children of Israel who are there, languishing
in captivity. It's the period of the Babylonian
exile they're going to spend. Seventy years, Jerusalem had
fallen to the Babylonians, the Temple of the Lord had been destroyed,
and the people had been taken away into exile, into captivity. But that people taken away, there
is the true Israel of God. There is that little remnant
that God is going to preserve, because there's a great purpose
yet to be fulfilled. The temple must be rebuilt. The
Lord Jesus Christ to himself is the fulfillment of all that
is typified in the temple, is yet to come. but it's the period
of their exile, how black, how dark matters were. And God raises up this man to
be his prophet and he has this remarkable vision, a vision of
the glory that belongs unto God and it has its effect. There at the end of the opening
chapter it says this was the appearance of the likeness of
the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell upon
my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake. When I saw
it, I fell upon my face. Oh, he lies prostrate before
the glory of the Lord. Was it not a similar experience
that John had on the Isle of Patmos, there in the opening
chapter of the Revelation, when he saw the risen Christ? "'I
fell at his feet as dead,' he says. And he laid his hand upon
me and said, "'Fear not.'" The effect, you see, the effect
is to humble. When God's word comes to us,
if God's word is ever going to come to us with any prophet,
it will have that effect of humbling us. Ezekiel, like John then,
fell upon his face, fell down before the vision of God as one
that was dead. And then you can think of the
experience also of the prophet Isaiah when we have the record
there in chapter 6 of how God calls him. to be his prophets probably over a hundred years
before the ministry of Ezekiel the children of Israel were still
there in Jerusalem the temple was still standing but judgments
would come but God sends his servant the prophet Isaiah he
receives his call there in that sixth chapter and remember what
he says when he also is favoured with such a vision of God, the
throne of God, and the seraphims, the burning angels round about
that throne of God. When I saw him, what does the
prophet say? Woe, woe is mine, for I am undone,
for I am a man of unclean lips, I dwell in the midst of a people
of unclean lips. For mine eyes have seen the King,
the Lord of hosts." All he pronounces woe upon himself is undone because
he's seen the glories of the Holy One of Israel. God has mercy
and one of the angels takes a living coal from the fire there at the
brazen altar in the temple and applies it to his lips and purges
his lips of all his sin. And it's a wonderful picture,
isn't it, there, of the application of all that took place at the
brazen altar. It was a place of sacrifice. There they offered
the burnt offerings. It's all fulfilled in the Lord
Jesus Christ. It's Christ who is purging the
mouth of the prophet that he might speak truly the words of
God. But how Isaiah, just like Ezekiel,
he pronounces, Woe! Woe is mine! I am undone! and then coming to the New Testament.
I've already referred to the experience of the Apostle John
there in chapter of the Revelation seeing the glorified Christ.
But remember Peter's reaction in the days of the Lord's humiliation. He was favored, of course, to
be there in the Mount of Transfiguration And he saw then something of
Christ's glory, he saw through the veil of all his humiliation,
and he saw the glories that belonged to Christ, the eternal Son of
God. He confesses Him of course, thou
art the Christ, the Son of the living God, there in Matthew
chapter 16. But I think of that incident in Luke, in Luke chapter
5, where the Lord again performs a great miracle, the miraculous
draft, of fish. And what does Peter say? He was
an experienced fisherman. And they seem to have been toiling
in vain. But then the Lord comes and there's a miraculous catch. And we have Peter's words recorded
there in Luke chapter 5 and verse 8. He says, Depart from them,
for I am a sinful man, O Lord. Strange words. Oh, he wants the
Lord Christ to depart. He cannot bear to be in the presence
of one who is so glorious, one who is truly God, and God manifest
in the flesh. You see, every real revelation
of the Lord God himself will have that effect. It humbles
me. It humbles men. It humbles them to the dust.
They fall down before Him. They pronounce woe. They want
the Lord to depart. They cannot bear such a manifestation
of the Divine. This is the experiencing of the
people of God as we find it recorded here in Holy Scripture. And you know, there is such a
strange mixture in the Word of God. Isn't it a truth that God's
Word, to us in many ways, is a bittersweet thing? It's a bittersweet
thing. Why, when God's Word comes, we
discover it is Law and it is Gospel. That's what the Bible
is full of. It's full of Law and Gospel.
And I don't mean by that that the Old Testament is all Law
and the New Testament is all Gospel. No, we have to be more
discerning than that. There's gospel, there's much
gospel in the Old Testament. I trust we'll see that there's
some gospel here in what we're considering this morning in Ezekiel.
The prophets are full of the gospel. And when we come to the
New Testament there's also a ministration of the law, that bitter thing
that the law of God is. By the law is the knowledge of
sin, Whatever things the law said, it said to them who are
under the law that every mouth may be stopped and all the world
become guilty before God. That's a bitter thing when God
stops our mouths when we have to confess what we are and acknowledge
our sins. And see what comes to the Prophet
here. This book that he must eat. We have it at the end of chapter
2 of course. Verse 9, When I looked, behold, and hand was sent unto
me, and lo, a roll of a book was therein. Not a book as we
think of it, bound, pages that we turn the leaves of, but a
scroll, a roll. He spread it before me, and it
was written within and without, it's written on both sides. and
there was written therein it says lamentation and mourning
and woe oh what a book is this it's full of lamentations and
mourning and woe it's a bitter thing it's a bitter thing that
he said before the prophet of course he's going to have to
speak to this nation that God is dealing with in the way of
judgment because of their sins and they're still a hard-hearted
people. The rebellious nation, it says,
who have rebelled against me. That's the sort of people they
are. He's got to speak hard words. And that's the ministry of the
Lord, isn't it? When God comes to the sinner to break the sinner's
heart, to humble the sinner to the dust. Oh, there's bitterness there.
I think, again, of the experience of John, because he also makes
reference to a book in the Revelation. Revelation 10, 10. I took the
little book, he says, and ate it up, and it was in my mouth
sweet as honey, and as soon as I had eaten, my belly was bitter.
What John received there in the Revelation, again, is a sweet
thing, but a bitter thing. And we have to know something
of each of these things if the Lord is dealing with us. If we're
receiving the Word of God, we have to know and experience that
great bitter thing that sin is. How can we know anything of the
Savior and the wonder of salvation if we don't know what we are
as sinners? They that are whole have no need
of the physician, says Christ, but they that are sick. I came
not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. All the
self-righteous have no need. The self-righteous are so secure,
they imagine all is well, they've done enough. They can save themselves. That's how they think. That was
how Saul of Tarsus used to think when he was a Pharisee, remember?
Touching the righteousness which is in the law, he said he was
blameless. Why? He kept the commandments of God.
But then he had to learn what a bitter thing sin really is. And when we've tasted the bitter,
you know, we will really appreciate the sweet. To the hungry soul,
the wise man says every bitter thing is sweet. Yes, there is
a ministry of the law, but it's all preparation for the gospel,
really. The gospel is paramount. or the gospel must have the priority. The Lord must serve the gospel.
The Lord is that schoolmaster changing the figure to bring
the sinner onto Christ. But now we need to know something
of this strange, this strange mixture. I think, again, of the language
of the wise man in Proverbs. He says, "...the heart knoweth
his own bitterness, and the stranger doth not intermeddle with his
joy." Although there's bitterness, ultimately there is joy. And what makes the joy such a
reality is that previous experience of the bitterness. Remember the
Paschal Lamb in that second hymn that we sang of Gadsby's. Of course he's using all these
various figures of the Lord Jesus Christ in the Old Testament to
speak of all the fullness that is in Christ. And he makes mention
of the Paschal Lamb. It's a wonderful type of the
Lord Jesus. He is that Lamb of God slain
from the foundation of the world, but how were they to eat the
Paschal Lamb? Well, it tells us here in Exodus
chapter 12, they must eat it with bitter herbs. With bitter
herbs. And it was the bitter herbs that made the Lamb so sweet. He says here at the end of verse
3, Then did I eat it, and it was in my mouth as honey for
sweetness. Oh, there's the sweetness then
of the Gospel again. We sang it in our opening praise. Without thy sovereign power,
O Lord, no sweets the Gospel can afford. No drops of heavenly
love will fall to cheer the weary, thirsting soul. It's the power
of God. It's the power of God when God
comes to humble us in the dust, when God comes to reveal something
of His greatness. And we're made to feel what we
are before Him, we're made to feel the horror of which is our
sin, our mouth shut. All we can do is plead guilty
before Him. But how all of that makes the
Gospel such a sweet thing. All the heart knoweth his own
bitterness. And a stranger doth not intermeddle
with his joy. Well, let's turn in the second
place to that joy. How God doesn't just humble sinners.
God doesn't just do that. God also exalts sinners. That's
the gospel. God exalts the sinner. And we
see it here, don't we? How God exalts this man. Though
he addresses him as son of man. eat that thou findest, eat this
roll and go speak unto the house of Israel. So I opened my mouth
and he caused me to eat that roll. God says to him, he gives
a command, eat this roll. But then in verse 2 he opens
his mouth and God causes him to eat it. Oh, this is God working, you
see. This is the sovereignty of God. Wasn't it Augustine of
Hippo, long ago, who said, when God commands, He empowers. Give me what thou commandest,
and command what thou wilt, said Augustine. Give me what thou
commandest, and command what thou wilt. It's God who has to
empower in order that we don't only hear his word but obey his
word. He makes his people a willing
people in the day of his power. Again, we see it in that previous
chapter. And there in the opening verses,
chapter 2 verse 1, he said unto me, son of man, stand upon my
feet and I will speak unto thee. and the spirit entered into me
when he spake unto me and set me upon my feet that I heard
him that spake unto me notice it is God who sets him upon his
feet stand upon my feet there is the command but the very thing
that God commands is what God does that's the gospel As Berridge says in his quaint
way concerning the gospel, it bids us fly and gives us wings. You see, faith is such an impossible
thing to us. How can we fly to God? Only as
the Lord himself draws us. Oh, it's the work of God. Again,
think of the language of the Psalm, Psalm 27, then verse 8,
when thou sayest, Seek ye my face. My heart said, Thy face,
O Lord, will I seek. Oh, it's when God says it. When
God says it. And we see it so wonderfully
in the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. Here is God manifest
in the flesh, as we've said. What mighty work! What great
miracles does the Lord Jesus Christ perform? He raises the
dead to life. And we see Him there in John
11 at the tomb of Lazarus. He had been dead for days. Why? His sister said, Behold,
he stinketh. He was really dead. And what
does the Lord do? He cried with a loud voice, Lazarus,
come forth. Lazarus come forth, and he that
was dead came forth, bound in his grave clothes. And what does
the Lord do? Loose him and let him go. Oh there, there's power there
where the word of a king is. Oh what power we see in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now here in this book, in Ezekiel,
in chapter 18 and verse 31 God says to the people make you a
new heart a new spirit there's the command you see make you
a new heart and a new spirit but what else does God say? He doesn't just give the command
does it? look at chapter 11 and there at verse 19 I will give them one heart and
I will put a new spirit within you and I will take the stony
heart out of their flesh and I will give them a heart of flesh
that they may walk in my statues and keep my ordinances and do
them and they shall be my people and I will be their God and it's
not only there but we have it again later in chapter 36 such similar words repeated chapter
36 and there at verse 26 a new heart also will I give you and
a new spirit will I put within you and I will take away the
stony heart out of your flesh and I will give you a heart of
flesh and I will put my spirit within you. God says to them make you a new
heart and a new spirit But that's not law. That's the message of
the Gospel. What God commands, He gives. Give me what thou commandest,
and command what thou wilt. In the language of that great
Church Father Augustine of Hippo. This is the Gospel you see. This
is the sovereignty of God in the gospel, the sovereign grace
of God. He sets the prophet upon his
feet in chapter 2. And as he sets him upon his feet,
so it was that he could hear what God was saying. He set me
upon my feet that I heard him that spake unto me. In order
that I heard, he'd never hear. but for God and the work of God
and the activity of God in the soul of this man and so here
it is God who causes him to eat this role it's all of God it's
all of grace it's all the gracious work of the Holy Spirit God says in the New Testament
behold I send the promise of my father upon you but tarry
ye in Jerusalem until ye be endued with power from on high." The
words of Christ, the words of God, God manifest in the flesh
at the end of His ministry. He's now risen from the dead,
He's about to ascend on high, He's going to return to the Father.
I send the promise of my Father upon you, He says. And what is
that promise? The promise of the new covenant. Why? It's the Holy Ghost. It's the Holy Ghost. When the
day of Pentecost was fully come, what happens? The Spirit descends,
and Peter preaches, and Peter tells him plainly what is happening. This is the gift of the Holy
Ghost from whence has He come. He's come from Christ, Him being
by the right hand of God exalted, having received of the Father
the promise of the Spirit, He has shed forth this which ye
now see and hear. And this is the day in which
we're living. This is the Gospel's hour. What a blessed and favoured
people are we. What a blessed and favoured people
are we even now at this moment that we should have God's Word
before us. And that God should be addressing your soul and my
soul. How we need that miniature of
the Spirit then to come and to apply the Word to us. So it's
not just a matter of our minds and our intellect being informed,
but there's something more than that. There's something to take
place in the very depths of our being, in our souls. Or the blessed
ministry of the Holy Ghost. Christ said, it is the Spirit
that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing. The words that I speak
unto you, they are Spirit and they are life. All that Spirit,
the Spirit quickeneth. What does it mean to produce
life, to make alive, to cause to live? It's all the work of
God, it's all the work of the blessed Spirit of God. The Lord
again tells us, verily, verily, except a man be born again, born
from above, he cannot see the Kingdom of God. Now what is it? Two things as we come to close. What is His blessed application?
What is His exaltation? Firstly, it's the revealing of
the Lord Jesus Christ. It's the revealing of Christ. As I said, it's the Spirit who
causes the sinner to hear. As we have it there in the second
verse of chapter 2, the Spirit says Ezekiel, the Spirit, that
is the Holy Ghost, the Holy Spirit entered into me when He spake
unto me and set me upon my feet that I heard Him that spake unto
me. No good just hearing the preacher,
no good just hearing my voice. We need to be those who are hearing
His voice, the Spirit entering in, setting upon the feet causing
to hear the word that is being spoken. All God hath revealed unto us
by his Spirit, says the Apostle. The Spirit searcheth all things
yea, the deep things of God. What knoweth a man, say the Spirit
of man, which is in him? Neither know any man the things
of the Spirit of God, except by the Spirit of God. The natural
man, he doesn't receive these things, have foolishness to him.
Neither can he know them, they're all spiritually discerned. And
what does he come as? He comes as the Spirit of Christ.
That's his ministry. As the Lord says, He shall glorify
me, for he shall take of mine and shall show it unto you. That's
his ministry. He's the Spirit of Truth which
proceeds from the Father and Christ says, He shall testify
of me. Or do we look to God to grant
that best of all donations, that best of all gifts? The Lord said,
If ye being evil know how to give good gifts unto your children,
how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to
them that ask Him? Do we ask that we might know
the Spirit Himself, applying that Word, revealing the Lord
Jesus Christ? No, man! No man can say that
Jesus Christ is Lord, but by the Holy Ghost. And how sweet. Then did I eat it, and it was
in my mouth as honey for sweetness. Oh, the sweetness. How sweet
the name of Jesus sounds in a believer's ear. Oh, the sweetness of it.
Life eternal. to know thee the only true God
and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." There must be then that
revelation, the Spirit revealing the things of Christ, applying
the Gospel to us, working faith in our hearts, even a simple
faith of trusting and leaning upon the Lord Jesus Christ. so
humbled we have no strength of our own we have nothing of our
own all we can do is cast ourselves upon him the revealing of Christ
and then also this as we conclude oh there's a naming after Christ
isn't there moreover he said unto me son of man son of man why it's a humbling
name yes but it's an exalting name also Isn't it a title that's
given to the Lord Christ himself? There in Daniel's book, in Daniel's
prophecy, Daniel chapter 7, verse 13, Daniel says, I saw in the
night visions, and behold, one like the Son of Man. One like
the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven and came to
the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him there before Him.
And there was given Him dominion and glory and a kingdom that
all people, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion
is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away, and His
kingdom that which shall not be destroyed. The Son of Man. Isn't it a name that's given
to the Lord Jesus Christ repeatedly? Dockwood, 40 times we're told
in the New Testament. But you know the strange thing
is that here in this book of Ezekiel, the old Puritan William
Greenhill says that this name is given to the Prophet 80 times! The very name that's given to
the Lord Jesus Christ is the name by which the Lord God calls
His servant the Prophet. The only other person in Scripture
who is ever referred to as Son of Man, besides Christ and Ezekiel,
is Daniel. Just once, in Daniel 8.17. Son of Man. He said unto me, Son of Man. Oh, isn't it a mark of the favor
of God? Verily Christ took not on him
the nature of angels, but he took on him the seed of Abraham.
And forasmuch as the children were partakers of flesh and blood,
he likewise took part of the same. The great mystery of godliness,
God, manifest in the flesh, that the eternal Son of God in the
fullness of the time became the Son of Man. Now the prophet here
is ministering as I said to those in the exile in Babylon and what
must he do? Well he tells us in chapter 3
and verse 13 I heard also the noise of the wings of the living
creatures all those living creatures that we read of in chapter 1
I heard the noise of the wings of the living creatures that
touched one another and the noise of the wheels over against them and the noise of a great rushing
so the Spirit lifted me up and took me away and I went in bitterness
in the heat of my spirit but the hand of the Lord was strong
upon me then I came to them of the captivity at Talebib, that
dwelt by the river of Caber, and I sat where they sat, and
remained among them seven days." I sat where they sat. Isn't that what the Lord Jesus
Christ has done as the Son of Man? He has come to sit where
we sit, He is bone of our bone, He is flesh of our flesh, He's
touched with the feeling of our infirmities, In all points He
was tempted like as we are, yet without sin. He is the Son of
Man. And that is a precious, precious
title that's given to Him. He's one. He's one with the sinful
sons of men, though there was no sin in Him. He was made in
the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin. Oh, this is the
man, you say. This is the man that receiveth
sinners. and eat us with them. Or that
the Lord would come then, and meet with us, and eat with us,
and sup with us, and feed us, and grant such a gracious application
of His truth that we might know something of that bitter sweet,
that we might feel what we are as sinners, and yet see all that
sweetness that is in the gospel of the grace of God. Then did
I eat it, and it was in my mouth as honey. for sweetness. Amen. Let us now conclude our
worship this morning as we sing the hymn 979, the tune Malcolm
369. Jesus those happy souls does
bless, who hunger for his righteousness, who seek the smilings of his
face, and thirst for fresh supplies
of grace. 9792369 Jesus, those happy souls that
blest, Who hunger for His righteousness, Who seek the smiles of His face,
And thirst for praise, the place of grace.