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If you would turn, if you could
turn to Acts 27. I know it's a long passage, but
I think we need to read the entire chapter to appreciate what is
going on. So Acts chapter 27, verses 1
through 44, I am going to read it for us, but I'll be reading
from NAS. When it was decided that we would
sail for Italy, they proceeded to deliver Paul and some other
prisoners to a centurion of the Augustan cohort named Julius.
And embarking in an Argometean ship, which was about to sail
to the regions along the coast of Asia, we put out to sea accompanied
by Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica. The next day,
we put in at Sidon. And Julius treated Paul with
consideration and allowed him to go to his friends and receive
care. From there, we put out to sea
and sailed under the shelter of Cyprus because the winds were
contrary. When we had sailed through the
sea along the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we landed at Myra
in Lycia. There the centurion found an
Alexandrian ship sailing for Italy, and he put us aboard it. When we had sailed slowly for
a good many days, and with difficulty had arrived off Nidus, since
the wind did not permit us to go farther, we sailed under the
shelter of Crete of Salmone. And with difficulty sailing past
it, we came to a place called Fair Havens, near which was the
city of La Silla. When considerable time had passed,
and the voyage was now dangerous since even the fast was already
over, Paul began to admonish them and said to them, men, I
perceive that the voyage will certainly be with damage and
great loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our
lives. But the centurion was more persuaded
by the pilot and the captain of the ship than by what was
being said by Paul. Because the harbor was not suitable
for wintering, the majority reached a decision to put out to sea
from there if somehow they could reach Phoenix, a harbor of Crete,
facing southwest and northwest and spend the winter there. When
a moderate south wind came up, supposing that they had attained
their purpose, they weighed anchor and began sailing along Crete
close inshore. But before very long, there rushed
down from the land a violent wind called Uroculo, and when
the ship was caught in it and could not face the wind, we gave
way to it and let ourselves be driven along. Running under the
shelter of a small island called Clowda, we were scarcely able
to get the ship's boat under control. After they had hoisted
it up, they used supporting cables in under guarding the ship and
fearing that they might run aground on the shallows of Sirtis, they
let down the sea anchor and in this way let themselves be driven
along. The next day, as we were being
violently storm-tossed, they began to jettison the cargo. And on the third day, they threw
the ship's tackle overboard with their own hands. Since neither
sun nor stars appeared for many days and no small storm was assailing
us, from then on, all hope of our being saved was gradually
abandoned. When they had gone a long time
without food, then Paul stood up in their midst and said, Man,
you ought to have followed my advice and not to have set sail
from Crete and incurred this damage and loss. Yet now I urge
you to keep up your courage, for there will be no loss of
life among you, but only of the ship. For this very night, an
angel of God, to whom I belong and whom I serve, stood before
me, saying, Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand before Caesar,
and behold, God has granted you all those who are sailing with
you. Therefore, keep up your courage, men, for I believe,
God, that I will that it will turn out exactly as I've been
told, but we must run aground on a certain island. But when
the 14th night came, As we were being driven about in the Adriatic
Sea, about midnight, the sailors began to surmise that they were
approaching some land. They took soundings and found
it to be 20 fathoms, and a little farther on, they took another
sounding and found it to be 15 fathoms. Fearing that we might
run aground and somewhere on the rocks, they cast four anchors
from the stern and wished for daybreak. But as the sailors
were trying to escape from the ship and had let down the ship's
boat into the sea on the pretense of intending to lay out anchors
from the bow, Port said to the centurion and to the soldiers,
unless these men remain in the ship, you yourselves cannot be
saved. Then the soldiers cut away the
ropes of the ship's boat and let it fall away. Until the day
was about to dawn, Paul was encouraging them all to take some food, saying,
Today is the fourteenth day that you have been constantly watching
and going without eating, having taken nothing. Therefore I encourage
you to take some food, for this is for your preservation, for
not a hair from the head of any of you will perish. Having said
this, he took the bread and gave thanks to God in the presence
of all, and he broke it, and he began to eat. All of them
were encouraged, and they themselves also took food. All of us in
the ship were 276 persons. When they had eaten enough, they
began to lighten the ship by throwing out the wheat into the
sea. When they came, they could not
recognize the land, but they did observe a bay with a beach,
and they resolved to drive the ship onto it if they could. And casting off the anchors,
they left them in the sea while at the same time they were loosening
the ropes of the rudders. And hoisting the foresail to
the wind, they were heading for the beach, but striking a reef
Where two seas met, they ran the vessel aground, and prow
stuck fast and remained immovable, but the stern began to be broken
up by the force of the waves. The soldier's plan was to kill
the prisoners so that none of them would swim away and escape.
But the centurion, wanting to bring Paul safely through, kept
them from their intention and commanded that those who could
swim should jump overboard first and get to the land. And the
rest should follow, some on planks and others on various things
from the ship. And so it happened that they all were brought safely
to land. Amen. Excuse me. There was a
long passage, and that was my last sermon on Book of Acts. And when I read this long passage,
two things came to my mind. First was the verse from 2 Chronicles
69, For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the
earth, that he may strongly support those whose heart is completely
his. That verse came to my mind because
in the midst of this epic journey to Rome, full of details, really,
and full of drama, I thought God's eyes were squarely on his
servant Paul. That's what I felt after reading
this long story. Right, God was looking at Paul
even in the midst of the storm was my first thought that came
to my mind. Second thought came to my mind
was this. I said to myself, seriously? Seriously? This is the final phase in Book
of Acts, but also in Paul's life as well. Journey to Rome took
place around 80, 60, somewhere between 64, 60 to 64. And Apostle Paul will die around
AD 64 to 68, somewhere in between. So, Paul, at this time, don't
you think he has learned a lesson about hardship? Acts 23 11, Lord stood by his side and what
did he say to Paul to him? To Paul he said, take courage
for as you have solemnly witnessed to my cause at Jerusalem, so
you must witness at Rome also. That was what Christ said to
Paul. So he is not a Jonah running
away from God's will. This is relatively late in his
life. He's a mature man, Christian
man, godly man. And he is going through all these
things, sufferings and persecutions from Jerusalem and on in obedience
to God's will. He's not Jonah, not running away.
And he's in the storm. Second Corinthians 11, I gave
you, I read one verse, but the rest of the verse goes something
like this, as you know. 11.24 says, five times I received from
the Jews 39 lashes. Three times I was beaten with
rods. Once I was stoned at Lystra. And here is this information.
Three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent
in the deep, he says. What's interesting about that
is this 2 Corinthians written around 8055. So this 2 Corinthians was written
way before X27. So if anything, today's passage,
this account of this big two-week lasting storm, would be his fourth
shipwreck. 1125 said, three times I was
shipwrecked. But it was about five years before
this would happen to him. So just imagine, this is his,
if anything, fourth. There could have been more, but
fourth shipwreck. So if you would tell Paul why
this storm, And we say, well, you know, maybe God is trying
to teach you a lesson. What would Paul say? Paul would
say, you know, I have learned my lesson. This is my fourth
shipwreck. Can you imagine? Really? Imagine
a scenario. Let's say I like to go to, let's
say, summer missions often. And summer missions, I go to
summer missions. Let's say I went to Guatemala this summer. and
I had a satellite phone and I was in a shipwreck, let's say just
river. I'm floating down the river holding
onto a log and I called my elder. and said, you know, I'm floating
down the river. I don't know. I'm going to die. Could you send
somebody, a contact embassy or something like that, United States
Embassy in Guatemala, and send a chopper to save me? And probably
one of our elders would say, my gosh. Just hold on a minute. He will call, and he will send
a chopper and will save me. I hope so. Let's say next year,
in the middle of the night, I'm in a mission trip. He receives
another phone call. Hey, elder, I am in jungle, Amazonian
jungle. I am still floating down somewhere.
Could you send me a chopper? Following here. Hey, I don't
know, I'm in Asia somewhere. Hey, once again, I'm in a shipwreck,
third time. Following here, I call him again
in the middle of the night and say, I'm in another shipwreck,
fourth shipwreck. Now, first, it was all good.
It was cute. Second and third time, you know
what my elders would think? They would think, maybe Sam is
not the man of God. Maybe he's not real pastor. What are the chances that he
would be in shipwreck for the fourth time? That's the argument
from Corinthian church. If you're man of God, why so
many bad luck? Why so much suffering? Do you
understand? And the verse that I've given
you, 1123, I am more so of a laborer, servant of Christ. All these
sufferings that I go through authenticates me as an apostle
of Christ Jesus. But even you hearing this, aren't
you tempted to think that way? So after reading this whole story,
I'm thinking, seriously, Another shipwreck. If I were to be a little more
angry, angrier, that I could see myself standing in that ship,
crying out to God like this, God, what is the point of this? I've learned my lesson. Why can't
we go to Rome just like normal people? Why this drama? For what purpose? I just don't
understand. If I'm angry, you know, God,
I'm done with this stuff. I'm obeying you, and you throw
me into another storm, another shipwreck. I am done. I am going
to jump off the ship. You better save me. I'm done
with this whole thing. I could see myself screaming
like that, really, in this story. I will try to structure my sermon under those
two headings, God's eyes and really God, seriously, those
two headings. But let's examine that 2 Chronicles 69, the eyes of God,
for the eyes of the Lord. Now, as you have read in this
chapter, What's happening really is that commercial activities
are happening here. The wheels of the ancient times
and even now, the wheels of the world are turning because of
commerce in the world. There are few groups in this
story. First group who are in this activity, commercial activity,
would be the sailors. What are they doing? They're
simply doing their job to get paid. First ship that this group
of people get onto in verse two is Andromachean ship. What in the world is Andromachean
ship? It is a regional name. It's a region in the western
coast of Turkey. What that tells us is that this
ship is not a government ship. This ship is not a Navy ship,
not owned by Roman government. This is a merchant ship. carrying
cargoes and people, whatever the thing that they would pay
to get on that boat, they are simply transferring group of
things to another port. That's what is happening. Second
ship too. Second ship they get onto is
the Alexandrian ship sailing for Italy. What is going on here
is that The time is really around mid-October when the sea journey,
seafaring, is dangerous at the time. But there's a side information. Claudius, 41 to 54, offered a
bounty to sheep owners who are willing to sail in this dangerous
season to bring extra grain to Rome. As you know, at the time,
Rome already had to rely on Egypt for supplying the grain, just
like Manhattan would not survive on its own, so they rely on this
Great grain that was coming, but nobody really was going to
come and deliver the goods because it was dangerous season. Bible
doesn't say this was the reason, but maybe that was in the back
of minds. And there was a recompense promised
for those risk-taking ships by the emperor. So one group here
involved in this commercial transaction is sailors. Another group that I see is soldiers. What are they doing on the ship?
They're transporting the prisoners, more than poor. We see there
are a few more prisoners. We don't know how many. Julius
was a centurion, but I don't think all 100 soldiers were on
there, but few. But what were they doing on the
ship in this scenario? Once again, they're simply doing
their job. They need to get paid to provide for their family.
Now, third group, prisoners. We see prisoners here. We don't
know how many, but they are there along with how many people? 276 people. When I read that
number, I just remembered, oh, I remember something like, and
I went up and I Googled it. 1492, when Columbus had his first voyage,
he has four, but first one, he comes with three ships, as you
know, Nina, Pinta, Santa Maria. Put together, you know how many
people traveled first time to the West Indies? 87 men in three
different ship, a small ship. Now, about 1500s prior to that,
we see a ship, Alexandrian ship, full of people, 276 people. That means this is a big ship. This is a ocean liner. And I
was wondering, wow, even back then they had technology to build
such a big ship. Now, my question at this point
is this, in this situation, They are transporting Paul and
the groups of prisoners to Rome. They are able to do this because
of these commercial activities here. Everybody's making money
somewhere, somehow. But my question is this, who
is Paul in this situation? What is Paul? Well, Paul is nobody because
he's not really paying anything to anybody. He's not really directly
involved in this transaction. He's not buying, he's not selling,
he's not paying anyone, at least not himself. Therefore, he is
not in the decision-making circle. As you saw, it was pilot, merchants,
centurion, and the soldiers. They are the decision-making
power. What's worse, he's nobody because
he doesn't possess any money to pay anybody significant sum
of money to anybody to be counted among the power structure to
make decisions. Not only that, what's worse is
that when the storm comes, those groups that I've mentioned all
put Paul's life in danger. Now, they were sailors just sailing
along. We don't know what the internal motivation exactly is
other than what Bible says, but because of their foolish decisions,
maybe they had profit, big profit in mind. If I just risk this,
like, you remember like ice road truckers you see in the TVs?
If I take more risk, there'll be more reward. Maybe that was
in the back of their minds, but because of their bad judgments,
These sailors are now what? Threatening poor's life. What
about soldiers? Once again, they were simply
doing their job. Nobody wanted to go on a ship, but they are
simply doing their job to pay for families and whatever. They
just wanted to get paid. But when the storm hit, what
happens? These soldiers turn to kill the prisoners who are
going to escape, as you know. Otherwise, they have to pay with
their own lives. So suddenly, when the storm hits,
everything gets worse, and these soldiers are now armed and dangerous. Forget about the storm. They're
about to plunge that big dagger into Paul's heart, really, literally.
What about prisoners? Until storm hit, prisoners were
prisoners. They were just going along. But when storm came, these
fellow prisoners of Paul have become liability to Paul's life. If Paul was the only exclusive
prisoner here, then he could have been treated in a whole
new way. But because of these other prisoners, now Paul is
counted among them, and if they're going to escape, they're going
to kill the prisoners, now Paul is going to die as well. So you
see, what's happening is, Paul didn't have any money to be counted
anything worthy and significant from world's eye view. And also
when storm hit, everybody turned against him. Now, I understand
as a Christian and as a man, if I do something wrong and I
suffer for it, I am okay with that. If I make foolish decisions
on my own and if I suffer for it, hey, that's my thing. I have to deal with it, I understand. But so many times we find ourselves
like Paul, it really is not Paul's fault. He's been warning, he's
been admonishing them. But because of other people,
Now Paul has to suffer, and Paul's life is in mortal danger because
of all these things. Not him, he didn't do anything
wrong. He's been advising them not to go, but they don't listen,
and because of all these foolish decisions, now Paul will suffer. And now what is the attitude
of yours when such things happen. It's not my fault, but because
of that person's decision, now I have to go through this suffering. Oftentimes, that's when we get
frustrated. That's when we get angry. But
here, in the middle of the storm, who is Paul? I would say, He's a child of
God. Luke is on board. Aristarchus
is on board. Maybe a few more. I don't know
how many Christians are there. 276 in all. Let's say there are
not Christians then. On this ship, God would care
for Paul. Yes, he's an apostle. He has
a mission. But what distinguishes him from others at this point
is not the amount of money he has, which he has none, not any
other things, qualities in him, but the fact that Apostle Paul
is a child of God. Because of his faith in Christ
Jesus, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ,
that makes him not only a saved sinner, but a child of God. So who is Paul on this ship,
on that ship? A child of God. Why should God care? Because
Apostle Paul is a child of God. Now, let me read you 2 Chronicles
69 again. For the eyes of the Lord move
to and for throughout the earth that he may strongly support
those whose heart is completely his. We nod, we agree, and we
understand and we expect God to say that, or any gods to say
that. But if I say, God's eyes are
on you, person, individual, single person, and you substitute your
name, eyes of the Lord is on me. I wonder how many of you
could say, that's right, God's eyes are on me. Only way that verse becomes, 2 Chronicles 69 becomes
a gospel to you and to me is when we accept that verse through
Jesus Christ, whose heart was completely His, whose life was
perfected in this life, and paid for my penalty and at
the same time fulfilled all the commands of God. So, That verse, we expect God's eyes
to be on Paul because Paul is Paul. He's a great guy, great
Christian. But do you have the confidence
when it comes to you? Who am I on that ship? If I was
on the ship, why would God care? Why would God do anything for
me? I'm telling you, good news is God's eyes are on you because
you are a child of God. That doesn't mean much to modern
Christians, I understand. When I preached this, at the
time was Reformation month and Reformation Day. Reformation
comes, day comes, the month comes, we all celebrate justification
by faith alone. Sola Fide, the great doctrine
of Reformation and we celebrate and gloat over the great truth.
That's all good, I'm not denying anything. But imagine a scenario. Let's
say there was a convicted killer, and he had a court date. He appeared
before the judge. And judge said, instead of sentencing
him to death, he says, you know, someone else volunteered to take
your place, so you are free to go. So a man was exonerated from
that crime, OK, free to go, and he walks out. Now he goes out
of that courtroom, he goes out and he realizes he doesn't have
a place to go, he doesn't have money to buy food, clothing,
he doesn't have a shelter, anything. So he said, oh, I'm gonna wait. And he waits until Judge exits
the door. And keeping some distance, he
follows Judge to his home. He was shy person, let's say,
couple hours later, he knocks on the door. And judge opens
the door, and this freed convict now, freed sinner, he tells the
judge, judge, thank you for setting me free, but I don't have anything
to go on. Can I come in and eat your dinner? Can you give me a clothing? Can
you provide me with a shelter tonight? Or give me some, you
know, start up money? What would judge say? I mean, I have freed you, that
was my job, that's all I will do for you, excuse me, I have
family to attend to, goodnight. Oftentimes, when we talk about salvation,
we talk about salvation in that way. You know what Sola Fide
does? Only thing Sola Fide does, as
important as it is, as foundational as it is, I'm not denying that,
but it leaves you like that man who is freed from death penalty. But the heart of the gospel is
not simply God saving the sinners so that we could go to heaven
when we die, but the heart of the gospel is what? Adoption. So let me read you
a few verses. Romans 8, 15 says this. For you have not received a spirit
of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit
of adoption as sons, by which we cry out, Abba, Father. Without adoption, that is, if
I'm only saved by faith alone, sinner now freed from my penalty,
I cannot cry, Abba father because maybe Abba judge or something
like that, but he is not my father. Judge is a judge, a good judge,
judge, merciful judge who set me free, that's good. But if
you only have sola fide and people try to reduce the gospel into
one single benefit, no. Heart of the gospel is adoption,
adoption. Oftentimes we forget that. Only
sons cry out Abba father. Galatians 4, 4 to 8 says something
like this. But when the fullness of time
came, God sent forth his son, born of a woman, born under the
law, so that, there's a purpose clause, so that he might redeem
those who are under the law. We understand. God sent his son
to save us, redeem those who are under the law. There's another
clause right attached to, right next to it. It says, another
purpose clause, that. We might receive the adoption
as sons. Again, same thing, because you
are sons, God has sent forth the spirit of his Son into our
hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Final verse that I'm going to
read for you is Ephesians 1. Ephesians 1 is about what? Predestination. Is it? Verse 5, he predestined
us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to himself according to the kind intention
of his will. Now, In that storm, God's eyes are
on Paul because Paul was God's child. And for us to think about adoption
without really digging through it, it sounds very superficial
because we understand there's a natural son and adopted son,
there's difference. But God's point, the purpose
of God predestinating the sinners was not simply to free the sinners
so that they could go to heaven and I'll see you in heaven, but
was to adopt us as sons and co-heirs with Christ. So Robert Letham would say something
like this. Regeneration makes you a member
of God's kingdom, but the adoption will make you a member of God's
family. Huge difference, huge difference. Don't think of yourselves simply
as saved, forgiven sinner. That's
not a good news. That is not a complete story.
What comfort is there going down with the ship saying, I'm saved
sinner? There's no comfort in it. My comfort is in knowing
that I am adopted son of God, knowing that God is my father,
so I am able to cry out to him as Abba father, just as Christ
himself in Mark 14 was able to cry out in Gethsemane as Abba
father, same privilege, same access to the father. I'm saying,
I want you to know, as you live in this fallen world, you will
face moral dangers and all kinds of spiritual, whatever, financial,
whatever things. We will face that. Not because
you have done something wrong, because we live in fallen world,
and people, all these people who make mistakes, try to get
us. But remember in those times who
you are. Who are you? Who are you? It's a cool thing to say, Bond,
James Bond, who are you? Bond, James Bond. It's not a
cool thing to say, who are you? A child of God. But there's so
much comfort and confidence knowing that we are adopted sons of God,
daughters of God, children of God, and God's eyes are squarely
on you as well. is that comfort and confidence
you have, you and I have in Christ Jesus. That's the first part,
knowing that we are adopted sons of God. Second part, I will spend
less time, just briefly, was that, remember, seriously?
I was asking, seriously? I'm looking at this, this verse,
this chapter, and thinking, wow. What is the point of all these,
why? Okay, God wanted to save some
people, it's great. But from Paul's perspective,
at his old age, in obedience to will, God's will, he's going
through another storm. Can you imagine going through
that? But what do you see there, though? I think this spoke to me greatly,
at least to my own heart. he apostle Paul does not stop
and go down to I don't know basement of that ship the lower deck of
the ship and have this theological conversation with God asking
him why Why would God send that storm? Or did you allow that natural
phenomenon to hit this ship? Who caused it? Why? Why this time? You could ask
this question over and over again, and often I ask that question. Don't you ask those questions?
I ask those questions. Why? Why am I in this situation? Why am I going through this?
I mean, I'm trying to live Godly life. I'm trying to do your thing.
And you put me through another storm? God, I have learned my
lesson. Stop with this. Stop with this
storm. Don't you say that often? I say
that often. And why? Senseless suffering. And I learned my lesson from
this chapter. If I were to ask Paul, this is my imagination,
so there's no infallible Bible verse to back this up, but I'm
simply observing what Paul is doing, he's everywhere, he's
commanding, admonishing, giving advices, and he's encouraging,
witnessing in public, he's doing all that. But if I were to ask
Paul, don't you wonder why would God Why would God send another
storm while you are going to Rome to witness about you in
Rome in front of Caesar? Why would God do that? I suspect
this is what Paul would say. Paul probably would say, you
know, Sam, I have big answers and that's enough for me. That's what I sense that he would
say to me. What are the big answers? We
all have from the Bible, we have big questions and big answers,
such as creation, fall, redemption, and upcoming consummation. Those are the big answers from
the Bible. I do not see Paul spending much time thinking about
why, why, why, why, until I'm clear on this, I'm not gonna
do this. He's not doing any of that. I don't think he's asking
that question at all. Seriously? No, he doesn't have
that. He doesn't ask God, I've learned
my lesson. He doesn't have that. And you learn from Romans 8,
the following verses of that Abba Father verse. And it goes
something like this. Verse 17, if children heirs also,
heirs of God, and fellows heirs with Christ, if indeed, what? If we suffer with him so that
we may also be glorified with him. identity, our identity of sons
of God, daughters of God, but included in that. Sons of God
built with it is suffering. That is mark of sonship is suffering. Because we are adopted in Christ,
Christ is suffering servant. So whatever comes this, let's
say, fourth storm in Paul's life, Paul does not have to ask the
question to God, and Paul does not really need an answer. But
he could go on and doing about God's ministry, knowing the big
picture. Having the big answers, I believe,
was enough for Paul. I will end with the verse 44. This long story ends with this
verse. So it happened that they all
were brought safely to land. So it will be for us, as children
of God, we will arrive safely to the end, in the end. And I'm not talking about physical
safety, obviously. But all of us who are in Christ,
all of us who are adopted as sons in the Son, at the end of
the day, we will arrive just like this story, we will arrive
in the city of God, safely and we will persevere because God
will preserve us to the end. May the Lord bless you and keep
you for the rest of your lives. Let's pray. We learn from the apostle's example. There's no groaning, there's
no wasting time thinking about the
small questions sometimes that get to us. And if we were prone to get discouraged
from the things that happen around us, I pray that you will help
us to fix our eyes on Christ, other things trying to get our
attention. But would you give us this assurance
of salvation assurance of our spiritual identity. And really
when we are in the storm, we forget that. Often we forget that identity
immediately and we start to get frustrated and sometimes angry,
sometimes really discouraged. But it has been granted for us,
for Christ's sake, not only to believe in him, but also to suffer
for his sake and help us to receive that and help us to live our
life, rest of our lives in really glorifying you instead of focusing
on why question. So would you be with us? Would you preserve us? Because in our own strength,
we will fail. But by the Spirit's help, we
will be more than conquerors. So be with this church, be with
us. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.
The Eyes Of The Lord
| Sermon ID | 12819173327104 |
| Duration | 44:39 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday - PM |
| Bible Text | Acts 27 |
| Language | English |
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