Provoke One Another

Hebrews 10:19-24 and the New and Living Way

My list to do today. I'm not doing it. Reason being why? It's because Andy did admonish one another back in November, so I didn't think it was necessary to reteach the same thing over again. But what I am going to do is move on, and if you go to Hebrews 10, we're going to do verse 24, and I'm going to begin reading in Hebrews 10 and verse 19.

It said, A new and living way. That's the heading for this passage. It says, Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, his own flesh, and since we have a great high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good works, not forsaking our own assembling together as the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the day drawing near.

Now, what we're going to focus on is considering, it actually says in the New American Standard, let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good works. I'm going to actually show you that when they, the translation, we're actually to consider one another, not stimulate one another.

And I'm going to explain that here in just a second. But as we were reading through that, there are three things that it says here. I want us to in that paragraph, it says, let us, meaning once again, we're talking about a community of believers, correct?

When we say us, it says, let us draw near with full assurance, with a sincere heart. Then you go on down and it says in verse 23, let us hold fast the confession of our hope. Then it goes on in verse 24 and once again, it says, let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds.

So we can see right here that this part of Hebrews is talking about a community effort. Would we agree? Let us, who's the us? What's that? The church. That's right. It's the church. And who's he, who's Paul?

If he is the writer or Luke or whoever the writer is in the book of Hebrews, who's he talking to? The name of the book would give it away. The Hebrews. This is a letter to the Hebrews around the church in that area.

Well, when we get down to verse 24, it says, let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds. Who is anybody in here? You've got the King James, don't you? Actually read yours. Yours sounds a little different, doesn't it?

That actually sounds clearer, although it's kind of choppy sounding, isn't it? It doesn't flow as good, but actually his translation and the ASV and some of your older translations around the 1901, 1915 translations actually translate it more like yours.

And it is a better way of saying it. But when we read it, it sounds like, let us consider how to stimulate one another to good works. It was translated that way so that it would flow better. But if you know anything, and I wish that Lee and Ann were here, because Ann's an English teacher, isn't she?

Or was? But she would tell you there's a prepositional phrase here. I'm sorry, got to get in some grammar. There's a prepositional phrase here that qualifies the direct object, which changes. That's why yours sounds clearer.

Look, unto, yours says unto, doesn't it? To what? Love and good works. That is a prepositional phrase. Prepositions always modify the direct object. The direct object is who in this? It's one another.

So it's really, let us not consider how to do something, which most of our translations we read it, it sounds like, let us consider how to do something. Is that not how it sounds when you read it? What does yours say, Andy?

His sounds a lot like that. The New American Standard, who has the NIV? Anybody in here? It's not how to do something. It's actually, let us consider one another. That's actually it. Consider one another.

Not consider how to do something to one another, but consider one another. And then it goes on to say, well, how do we consider one another? And it uses a word that's actually, the words used and translated in the King James is provoke.

And the New American Standard is to stimulate. Anybody else have something different other than that? To stir. The word there is poxaromas, and it's only used twice in the New Testament. And the only other time that it's used is when y 'all remember when Paul and Barnabas had a dispute about what they were going to do with John Mark.

Anybody remember that situation? And it says that a paroximus had arisen between the two and it's translated to bitter dispute. So this actually has a wide range in the vernacular. It can mean a bitter dispute, or it actually could mean to a provocation.

Or it's been translated to stimulate. Well, what does that mean? Was anybody provoked this week with something? Anybody got provoked this week? I know I did. Anybody else? Yeah. Well, when we think of provocation, we automatically have a negative connotation to it, don't we?

Like, hey man, that person provoked me to anger. Well, that's not what this is saying. This is provoking one another to love and good deeds. Well, what does that look like? What does it look like? That's a legitimate question.

Love is an action. There's something to write with. We said at the beginning that love and this in our study is a verb. So what does love look like? Examples. We're going to consider one another and we want to stir one another up to good works.

Now what does love look like? Okay, what else? Putting somebody before yourself. Let's see, how do we do that? Yeah, a little bit. I was going to say humility. Yeah. Selflessness. There we go. We'll do that.

A lot of S's in there. Selflessness. What else? Kindness. What else would love look like? That would be humility. Okay. A lot of people don't see that. I'll leave it like that. A lot of people don't see that, but that can be very loving.

That can be very loving. So God just leaves it. He's so good, we don't have to think about it in the first place. Love is patient and kind. Love does not envy or boast. It is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way.

It is not irritable or resentful. It does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. That's right, and the majority of those.

Are adjectives describing what those actions will look like. One of the most important ones, in dealing with one another, Andy taught this a while back, and this covers a wide range. Bearing one another.

Bearing one, and I didn't write one another because y 'all probably won't see it. Bearing one another, and sometimes that's just plain putting up with each other. Man, sometimes it's just, you know what?

We just got to keep our mouth shut and just love one another. Well, what's another way for us to stimulate in good deeds? All right, so if we're considering one another to love, what about the good deeds?

Remember, love's an action. I'm not saying that patience isn't an action. I'm not saying that selflessness, kindness, but all of this is a description of it. What's the actual flowing out of love? Andy, I've seen your eyebrow go up.

No, I was just thinking of a jungle.

I try to buzz them every week. They grow like roaches. I was thinking about it, but love exemplifies, is an example, and so when we think about considering one another, it has to do with our example that we portray, what we portray that others can see, because that would be a way to stir up others.

That would be a way of provoking one another by an example. Yes.

I was just thinking, when we know what God and Christ done for us, those attributes, I guess you could say, to a Christian, they should come natural.

Do you agree or not agree? I agree to a certain extent in this, because now we have, if we're going to have love and good deeds, then we have to consider, what does the word consider mean? Think about, to ponder, for us to actually give deep thought and reflection to something.

Now, everybody in this room that's married says, okay, if I love my spouse, I'm going to do some form of action to do that, correct? You love somebody, you love your wife, you love your husband, it's going to flow.

Hey, but everybody can need somebody to show them how to do that better. As Andy was saying, an example, we should look to one another as an example. What was your question again? It's part of a statement.

I know we still have our fleshly heart, but when we've been regenerated, when that change has been made, those attributes should come out of us willingly.

Sure, but those fruit to the spirits don't always, as he was reading, some of those are the fruit of the spirit. Those are not always as evident, and that's why God prunes us. You go back to, I think it's John 14, where he is the vine, we are the branches, and he talks about pruning.

If you want the fruit to produce more fruit, what has to happen? If anybody knows anything about growing plants, you've got to go out there and cut it off, but when you cut something off, sometimes that can be very difficult, and it can hurt.

If you were that branch, and somebody starts hacking on you, man, that would hurt, but what's the purpose of it? So that it'll produce more fruit. The fruit of the spirit is not going to be abundant in someone's life, but it should produce more the longer you grow in the faith and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.

So it certainly should be an outflowing of what Christ has done in our life. In this particular case, if we're going to consider one another, we're going to have to consider one another for the purpose of good deeds and love, and not just our own thoughts and desires.

If I want to serve Andy and Candy in some purpose, I have to do it in such a way that it's meeting a need for them, correct? If they have a need, I've got to go, okay, how can I serve them? Not go, I'm going to do it my way, because if I do it my way, it may not meet their need, and I would even say this, as we consider to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, do we do it in such a way that we are reflecting happiness and joy in doing so?

Does that make sense? Hey, I know people that serve, and it looks like it's a bear. I've been some places, maybe like, oh man, that guy acts like this absolutely stinketh, you know? And we should get joy in serving one another.

We should get joy in considering how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds. Should we not? Yay? Nay? Yeah?

But the world creeps in sometimes, and sometimes it's difficult, you know, when you're overworked or over busy or over something, and you're trying to help and trying to work, sometimes you forget that you should be joyful in serving somebody.

Yeah, you're right, but that shouldn't be the pattern. Yeah, the pattern of the whole one another should have a pattern of joy.

Because we love one another. Not like the donkey on Winnie the Pooh. It's a lovely day.

Yeah, and there's some people that go, oh man, I have to do this again, or I have to help this.

Person. Looks like it's going to be a good day today.

But in the efforts of trying to serve one another in a community of believers, there has to be love for one another. I tell you, it has to flow out of love. You're not going to have love, you're not going to have good deeds and love flow out of someone who don't have genuine care for someone.

What are other ways we can stimulate one another? We said, what was it, Andy? He said exemplify, right? I think that is the major one, though. Because Paul did say, none of us are Paul. Paul said, you and I ought to follow Christ.

What did he say then? Paul said, look at me. I would never say that. Don't look at me. I'm an utter failure at stuff. But Paul could say, you want to see how to follow Christ? You look at me. Now, there were men in my life that I could look at and go, you know what?

I want that characteristic in my life. So I've surrounded myself by those men. And they were always older men. Hey, man, younger guys, don't surround yourself by younger dudes. Sorry. Hey, if you're a younger guy, fight some guys with no hair or gray hair.

Yeah. What are, what else? No offense, young guys. Sorry. No wisdom yet. Hair ain't gray. Oh, I'm sorry. Go ahead. Correct. That's what Jesus said there. Yep. My disciples will know by their love for one another.

Provoking One Another by Example, Correction, and Fellowship

So what other ways can we stimulate other than example?

Could correction be a form of that? Sure. She said it a minute ago. Yeah. Confrontation.

Obviously in a Godly way, but yeah. Yeah. All right. Give me an example. Correction's not always bad. Sometimes we have the bad connotation that correction is wrong, but give me an example. Just an example.

Well, I mean, even just in here, like when.

You were teaching on forgiveness, like I realized that I had an improper view of sometimes when someone does something wrong, an aspect of forgiveness. And so you helped correct that. You didn't do it in a way where it was like, oh, you know, you need to change this about your theology, but it was helpful.

And that actually has a playing out in good works. Like forgiveness is an aspect of good works. And so you didn't know it, but you were actually teaching me correcting in a way that was helpful. Correction.

Oh.

Hey, correction is not always disciplinarian. For those of you that have kids, every time your kid did something wrong, did you beat the tar out of them? No, I'm just kidding. We wanted to. Hey, but what we did is we correct, then we go, okay, hey, this is wrong what you're doing.

Let's do it this way. Now, if they did it again, now, okay, here, here it comes. You know, lift the belt off and beat them. Very important how we receive that. Correction. And I, hey, and this here, how you receive correction is going to be a determination of your spiritual growth.

Hey, if somebody who said you said that, who said, yeah, I just said, that's right. Yeah. Yeah. Because do we want to be by and large who walks around going, man, I can't wait to be corrected today. I wish somebody would take me outside and correct me today.

Hey, but when a brother comes to you and says, hey, I just want to talk to you, there's an area in your life that I think, or that I'm noticing is inconsistent with the word of God, or that's going to be detrimental to your growth in Christ, man, I'll tell you what I can remember when a guy pulled me to the side and he said, so I went, oh, wow, man, I didn't see that.

And I was, I was very thankful what he said. I was like, man, I had no idea, you know, well, I appreciate that. So spiritual growth is, are you willing to receive correction? Then how that, how you go to someone in correction?

Don't go to that person as a chainsaw to a blade of grass, which I was at a lot of the time. Was I not? Yeah. That'd be a chainsaw to a blade of grass. That's not showing love. So if we go to someone in correction, it needs to be in love.

Good. What else? Examples, correction, what else?

Not just example. It probably is a part of the example, but we're really going to provoke one another. I just think what it says in Proverbs where it talks about if someone is considered as wise, there's something basically there's something stupid.

It stands out much more because that person is considered as wise. So I guess what I'm thinking of is, if we're really going to provoke one another and consider one another, we really have to consider it in the longer term rather than the short term.

Not just being a once and done,.

But just the consistency in our life. Which means we have to spend more time with one another. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. How, if someone was to come to you and say, hey, I need to, the way that you're doing something needs some honing or some correction.

Hey, what if you didn't know that dude or chick, woman? What if you didn't know that person? You know, what if you didn't know that person? Are you going to be, how willing would you be, how willing would you be to receive that correction?

Honestly, does this person even have any right in the sense to come and talk to me? They don't understand what's going on. I think we need to know people. Now, we're not talking about a, correction's not always talking about a sin issue.

If it's a sin, we have to go to that person in private. Have to go to that person in private. What else? What was that, so what would you put that under, Andy, would you say? Example correction, what was it you said?

I said consistency. Okay. Consistency. We have to be consistent with one another. What else? Fellowship with someone or inclusion. Fellowship. Okay. If we don't spend time with one another, how are we going to stimulate one another to love and good works?

How? I mean, it's probably impossible. I mean, if we don't spend any time together, if me and Andy and Keith didn't spend any time together, how would we work through issues in serving you guys and shepherding you?

It'd probably be very difficult. I'll have an answer and you might not like it. Yes, ma 'am. You don't make me forget.

The question. How do you do that? Like our church, we're scattered all over and all around, so how do you have that fellowship other than we do have fellowship at church, coming to church, and we have dinners and different things, but how do we do that?

How do we accomplish it? It has to.

Be intentional. It has to be intentional times together, and hey, this is difficult. You're right. Me and Sybil are 34 miles to the beach. Is it difficult to get together with people? Sure, it is. Yeah, it's got to make an effort.

Now, we were at a church when we planted that church in 2010, and this is no kidding. There was probably about this size, about 60 people, and this is no kidding. If we had a little get together, remember that we got to get together at your house, Brian?

60 people show up at Brian's house for a pool party. The church, okay? Hey, we're going to go to the beach this afternoon, and me and Sybil, we'll be out there at two o 'clock, show up. The next thing you know, the church is at the beach.

Hey, we're got the fireworks are out at the on the 4th of July. Anybody wants to stop by the house, y 'all come by the house. You can park. We'll walk down to the beach. Next thing you know, there's cars all the way to the hospital.

Park down 13th. There's 60 people at my house. Now, that was not the norm, okay? That was not the norm, and so when we came to another church here, we were like, oh, wow. Things aren't going to be that way, you know, but it has to be an intentionality.

Does that mean that every one of us hangs out in the same manner? No. Hey, you can call it cliques. You can call it groups. You can call it whatever you want. Not everybody wants to hang out with everybody in the same amount because we all don't have the same interest.

Yes, yeah, and to bring back to the church we were going to, by and large, the interest, we were all in the construction group. We're all in construction, and we all worked within the same vicinity except Brian.

He didn't work with us, but Brian was already going, but he was in the construction industry, so I mean, it was just weird how that's how it worked, but to answer your question, it's going to be some intentionality.

Intentionality. Let me put that up here because it has to be intentional. It doesn't happen on its own in the sense that you're not going to make friends without spending time, without fellowshipping with one another.

You're not going to. It's not going to. Any, you know, what else? That would be warning. Yeah, that could fall under this category. Admonish means to do what? November, yep, November 8th. Andy taught on that.

What does that mean? It means to warn someone. It means to, sometimes it can mean to encourage, but it actually means to warn someone, and sometimes in correcting, we're warning someone that what they're doing could be detrimental to their church life community, okay?

You could cause a problem, not intentionally, but what you're could cause a conflict, or we could be warning someone, hey man, you're going down a path. What if a person's going down a path of unbelief?

You better admonish that person. You better admonish that person because if a person's going down, let's say someone started to go, you know what, man, I've been looking at these guys on YouTube, and they're saying that, you know, man, the Bible's been written in so many different languages and blah, blah, blah, and you know, I just begin to wonder that, you know what, man, maybe what is, what is, some of it's not true.

How dangerous is that? That is the first card to fall before the everything else falls. You, the minute that you begin to doubt that God's word is true,.

It'll all, it'll all collapse. Yes? Yeah, I also have to say that a true person who is called one of the elect, you don't question God's word. It's more of a higher understanding. You would never, it is not in you because when the, when the Father calls you, when he selects you, you have no other path to go but that.

Eventually you will get on the path. So questioning God's word, I just don't think people who question God's word are being called.

At all. There is a, there is a, and I think we probably need to qualify question, when, is there times in a believer's life when they question has God, is God's, is the Bible's claim to what it is to be true?

I honestly, I think at in, at some point in a person's Christian walk, I think that's a good question to ask. You go, well, I can't believe you'd say that. There's not a preacher. There's not a, a, a preacher in the world that has not had that question.

Annie, you asked that question, didn't you? You have to. Billy Graham, you know where Billy Graham is? All right. I don't agree with all of Billy Graham's theology. I don't agree with all of his altar call and all that nonsense.

Okay. But Billy Graham actually said, I'm going to do an investigation to see if what this says is true. He was already an evangelist. That is a good question. Now, the other thing is, okay, let's just take for instance, God's working out all things that counseled his own will.

And then we go that God's working out all things for the, for the good, for those who are called according to his purpose. Okay. Now, what if someone begins to doubt that? That's a different story. That's a different story.

I mean, look at John the Baptist. When he said, disciples back to Christ. Oh yeah. He said, are you the one? Are you the one? Yeah. I mean, that, that was, that was a question. And I think that's not what I think.

That was a question I was posed. And there's someone who had such.

Intimate relation with Christ. Hey, imagine that. He saw, the son of God walked up to John the Baptist and said, you're going to have to baptize me. And he says, I can't do it. He said, but you got to.

And then he baptizes the son of God, the second person of Trinity, God in human flesh. He sees the Holy Spirit descend down on him. And then Jesus goes about doing his thing. Now John's in prison and John goes, man, is this really the guy?

Well, why was John thinking that? Because John was fixing to get his head cut off. And John was fixing to get his head cut off because he had told Philip Herod that he was sleeping with his brother's wife.

And he was thinking that Jesus was going to set him free, didn't he? I don't know if y 'all remember that story. That's what it was. So he's in, he's in the, uh, he's in the prison and he goes, well, man, and John, and where it says off a deduction or an inference to the text, John's going, well, why hasn't he released me?

I don't know if anybody ever thought about that. That's probably what John's saying. You know, I was, I'm the prophet. I'm the forerunner. Why hasn't he let me out? Jesus said, don't be offended.

Don't be offended. Well, I think we all do that because we, when we ask the Lord for something, or we look at our lives, we want it to be X. And you know, if it doesn't get to that point, we start to ask that question, why, why me?

Or, you know, you take like brother Lee, I mean, look at all that he's gone through in the last year. And it's definitely a question that I'm sure that he can ask is why all of this for me, Lord, you know, uh, with a loss of life and everything that has stricken his family.

I think it's very easy to question in a sense of not disbelief, but you know, why is all this on me? Yeah. What is, and the better question.

Is why is, why, what is God trying to teach me in this? And that's usually not what we, that's usually not, it's usually why me? Yeah. Why me? But that's different than what he would, I think you're saying is saying, Hey, God's word's not true.

That, and I think when I say question, I think we all, you know, you're thinking about we, Paul even says that we need to increase our faith. Yeah. If our faith was increased, we wouldn't question God's will.

We wouldn't question a lot of things in our lives. We would know that, Hey, everything that happens is in God's will. He already planned it. I just need to praise him in it and keep on going forward. And I think that is one of the hardest things to pray with somebody, especially at other believers that when they're going through something, Hey, I want to pray to increase your faith.

What, who are you? No, not Kenneth Copeland. I don't understand that it is true. It is. The more faith you have, whatever's put up on your.

Plate, I'm not worried about it. God has this. Just like a muscle. You want a muscle to get bigger. What do you have to do? It's got to be worked. So if faith is going, if you're going to learn to trust God, what do you have?

What does God have to do in order for you to trust him more, but put you in places and times in your life where you trust him and you trust that what he's doing is faithful and true. And what he is doing is, is bringing about his, his eternal will.

There was a guy a number of weeks ago, actually, it's probably been two months ago. I went and preached at another church on a Wednesday night. And, um, he was doing this series and I went over there and I preached and he had another guy come in a few weeks later.

And, um, I'll let Sybil here. Um, he, he got up there and he said that, um, Romans eight, nine, and 10 was in his church. His quote was BS. And I was like, oh my goodness, you know, I'm in the gong show, but you remember the big hook.

I just wish that I could have been there to have one in big hooks. And I just snatched that dude off the stage. He said that, you know, God's not working out all things for the good for those who are called according to his purpose.

That's exactly what he said. I had to play it back again. Now, is that a man that is doubting? And his reason is because people are dying. So he said, if God, if, if Christians were, Christians are dying, so God can't be working out all things for the good for those who are called.

It's like, is that a man.

That's doubted. God's word? What do you mean. Christians are dying? What do you mean? COVID.

Yeah. Yeah. Well, what he did is he, he doubled down on it and says that, that, that, that exact quote, that is not true. Well, how about Christians have always died? Dude, I know that. That's why the big hook needed to come out and snatch that dude off the stage.

And my friend that was there was sitting behind him up on the stage. And dude, I'm just telling you, if that ever happened here, I will tackle whoever it is right off the platform. And then Andy will pick it up and preach in a man's place.

But he doubted God's word that does not stimulate love and good works.

I think you're making a really good point that he didn't understand because we have to die. We can't undo God's law. He says the penalty of sin is death. We have to die to see the father. There's no way around it.

And so him even saying that shows his adolescence in the spiritual world.

Oh yeah. But if you were to tell this man, buddy, he was a stallion.

Joseph. What did Joseph tell his brother? He meant it for evil, but God meant it for good. And if Romans 8, 9, and 10 is wrong and he's saying Genesis is wrong, when you start taking out parts of the Bible, where do you start?

Stop.

Yeah. And my thing was when hearing that was, man, you do realize what he just said, the harm that he did to stimulating, provoking people to love and good works. Huh? He asked me to come back. The guy asked me to come back.

He asked me to come back and preach. I was like, well, I mean, I'll come back, but you know, I'm going to, when I preach, you can't ice the kicker. By the way, when I did go there, oh man, I got a 20 minute intro before I got up there to preach.

I'm like, dude, that's like icing the kicker. Anyway, he did ask me, he asked me last week and I said, I'd have to think about it. But anyway, doubting God's word is not stimulating or calling into question God's word is not stimulating one another or provoking people to love and good works.

What it is standing on the promises of God is stimulating and provoking one another to love and good works to say, Hey, uh, when we are going through difficult times, what do we have to do? We have to stand on God's word because it's the only foundation that we have that's true.

Look, our lens that we see things through are obscured. They're obscured through sin and our own and our own, um, inhibitions and own desires. I mean, if you go on and, and read this, when it says here, he says, and consider how we should stimulate one another to love and good works, then what does he say right after that?

Do not forsake the assembling together. That's what he said. So what, what is, what is very important for us to continue to consider one another? You got to be assembled together. If we don't assemble together, how are we going to consider one another?

How are we going to think on how to serve one another? If we don't assemble, and that is part of being in fellowship and all of that, it's impossible. All the one and others, and we're getting to the end of them here shortly in a few weeks, all of them have to do with, we have to be together.

We have to spend time together. If we don't spend time together, they're not going to make sense. They're just going to be, little proverbs, basically to look at and go, oh, that'd be a good idea. Well, it's not a good idea.

It's a command. You know, every one of these are reciprocal imperative, meaning I'm to do this to you. You're to do this to me. You remember that we were at the beginning, and he said, these are reciprocal.

What is reciprocal? It's back and forth. It's not you give to me and I take. No, you give to me and I give back. Yeah. Right. For demonstrations, we got five minutes to do so. Now, burst of anger.

Take heed of doctrine and to meditate on it, and that in doing so, he will not only save himself, but others that hear him. So, when I think about considering, and maybe that's something we don't always think about, we need to be prepared in order to consider.

So, again, that whole thought that you brought up and talked about, ignorance of God's word is an impediment to truly considering one another, that we really need to study to show ourselves a proof unto God and to be able.

To consider one another. Yeah. And ignorance is legitimately not knowing. I think that's what you meant by that. Yeah. Not a person who knows it and then rejects it. That's what I think you were talking about.

Someone who goes, I know what it says, but you know what? I'm going to choose not to believe that. Ignorance is not knowing. Well, if you don't study to show yourself approved, a workmanship created in Christ Jesus, well, how are you going to be able to stand on the promises of God if you don't know God's word?

I'm not saying everybody's got to know it in the same capacity, but do you know it? Do you know it? Well, I think you'll want to know it.

It should be a desire. It should be a desire because, you know, obedience is the highest form of praise. Yes, it is. And when we study, when the Lord calls us, our hearts should change. Our desires should change.