Dear: Reader

       Does my title offend you?  Well, it should, for that's why these words were invented and used.  But the problem comes (for some) when God, who says He is love, used them in His word and then tells us to be faithful witnesses of His word to ourselves, other Christians and to the world.  For many who are little concerned and little impressed with the honor to be a faithful witness of our King's decree find such realities paradoxical or hard to deal with.  But the reality of it is that it should not.  When you read, God is love, it should be no more difficult to repeat this to yourself and others as Christ calling you a fool. 

       The word for fool, in the Greek, is where we get our word for moron. I write this article for several reasons, one being that some have asked why I use such words in my writing and I image others ask themselves the same.  But as you will see later, if you ask this question, it is you who will be on trial and not I, for this question could be an indication of someone who is a judge of scripture and not its recipient of its grace; it could be an indicator of a person who is more concerned in proclaiming and preaching their goodness than Jesus Christ's.

       To understand this doctrine, (how are we to preach God's word to ourselves and to others), it is needful to do a quick run through concerning what is God's word and what it means for us to preach. Therefore:

Proverbs 20:6, "Most men will proclaim each his own goodness, But who can find a faithful man?"  This I will show at the need of this lesson is the heart of the mater, where the rubble meets the road, if you would.  Will you proclaim your goodness or God's?  Keep that question in mind as we move forward.

       Matthew 24:14, "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come."  Ok the question before is: what is this "preaching" that Jesus Christ has called all His followers to participate in?  First, the Greek word for preaching has a more literal meaning of herald or proclaim.  Why is that you might ask?  Back then there were no newspapers, or TV or internet.  There were no democracies, but Kings and Kingdoms.  The way a King would get the news concerning his newest decree for the land or such would be to write it down and have messengers sent out to all parts of the kingdom to proclaim or herald with their voices what the King has written.  And it was this Greek word which Jesus Christ and the New Testament writers used to tell us how to tell of Christ's gospel.

       Jesus Christ claimed to be our Lord and to have given His word to herald, or preach that is.  Now image if a messenger of the king went out to the eastern part of the kingdom to herald what the king wrote and choose to omit parts of it or even add it to?  What would be the fate of such an individual?  It is obvious the King would most likely have him killed for such treason and evil.   But Jesus Christ is the King of kings and is infinite goodness; therefore, how much more should his messengers be faithful to proclaim exactly what their King wrote in His gospel decree!

       Now in this next part I will show that to preach is at its core: being a faithful witness of what you have heard and seen. Thus, take note of, John 3:11: "Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness."  Here Jesus is about to embark in one of the most famous gospel "preaching" ever recorded.  But wait!  Jesus instead of calling it preaching says He is a "witness" who is "testifying."  What's going on here?  We need to note that Jesus came from Heaven[1] and was a "witness" to the plan of redemption His Father and Himself discussed and settled to do; furthermore, He was a witness of His own word and miracles done on earth.  Therefore, for Him to preach about His salvation of man was indeed a testifying of what He witnessed.  But He, also referring to His disciples, labeled what we would normally call preaching as "witnesses" for He said in our passage "we speak."   I believe the point it made; thus, it is time to discuss the implications for what this means.

      What does it mean for preaching if it is about heralding the king's gospel decree and being a faithful witness of it?  I believe this answer is self explanatory, and in particular if this was about any secular subject I would probably leave it alone at this point.  But for some reason, when it comes to the bible and godly matters, people seem to lose about 50% of their I.Q., so that I cannot leave it here.[2]

       What this all boils down to is if we are to be walking in a manner that is pleasing to our King Jesus Christ we must herald what He says without taking from it or adding it.  Simple right?  But so many have such a huge complicated problem with it!  Did our King ask for your opinion?  Did He ask for your interpretation?  Then do not give it or else you are an evil messenger!  So many seem to forget their beloved Savior is also their King and asked to be revered as one.  In our day of web blogs and open forum groups we have deceived ourselves about what gospel preaching is.  It is a decree of grace given from the King of Kings to all His kingdom.  All Christians are His messengers and are sent to herald what this marvelous and wonderful decree is.  The king did not ask you to give your opinion about His gospel decree but in it has asked you to bow in the dust and repent and find an ocean of grace to cover all your sins and redemption for every part of your life; and because of this He had commanded all to love His Son forever!  The king has "commanded" obedience to His gospel decree, not interpretations.  All who disobey His gospel command will be put in the prison of Hell forever for not complying with the king of Kings in His gospel decree.  Have you complied?  The King is offering His Son to be your Husband, will you not except such and offer!

        The disciples saw their King's miracles and so being a witness of them is obvious.   But how can we be a witness of them who were not there?  Our King was wise and wrote down what He wanted to be heralded throughout His Kingdom: The Scriptures (with God's glory and man's salvation in the gospel of His Son as its central message).  Moreover, He has sent His own Spirit in His messengers to empower them for such a grand task of proclaiming the decree of His good news of grace by His suffering love for the sins of His people, for His elected ones.  This is why there is no fundamental difference between a young single preaching to themselves God's gospel, a mother to her children, or a pastor to his church of thousands.  All are being a witness to what they have seen their King wrote in His decree.  A pastor or teacher, being empowered to see and understand more of their King's gospel decree, is doing nothing more than being a witness of what they have seen their King wrote as they stand at the pulpit.

       To conclude we will look together at some passages which sum up preaching in a clear direct manner.  Jonah 3:1-2, "Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the second time, saying, "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I tell you."  &  Jeremiah 7:1-2, "The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, "Stand in the gate of the LORD's house, and proclaim there this word, and say, 'Hear the word of the LORD, all you of Judah who enter in at these gates to worship the LORD!"  Here, like a king or Lord God tells His preachers or servant to say exactly what He tells them.   But in case you think this was only for the Old Testament here is Jesus equating Jonah's preaching as being the same as His, and His disciples: Matthew 12:41, "The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here."  The point is made.  Preaching is the servants of King Jesus saying exactly what He tells us to say.  What was it that our King tells us to say?  His fame being shown through His Son's suffering love and being Judge over all, which is found in all the Scriptures: this is what we His servants are to preach or herald. (2 Peter 1:3-4,21)  Christ said He would send His Spirit on His apostles to anoint them to be faithful witnesses of His life and salvation and the understanding to explain its meaning in scripture.  We have such books as Romans and Hebrews that are practically full length gospel sermons; so that we know what it means to herald the testimony of Jesus and what it actually looks like!  We know by these what being a faithful witness of the God's gospel and word looks like.

Now I wish to get down to specifics.  

       Back to the so-called problem of strong language in the bible such as: Isaiah 1:3 calling us more stupid than donkeys.  God calls the whole planet full of humans as less valuable than nothing in Isaiah 40:15-17. 

       People for some irrational sinful reason see the God of the Old Testament and the New as two different people, so that when Jesus in the New Testament starts calling people fools (i.e. morons) that it surprises them.  The God of the Old Testament who killed people did that, but Jesus is the God of love and so it bothers them to see Jesus name calling people as stupid.  First, as God, Jesus can name-call all He wants; He is God and has an infinite right to it.  Seeing that God is perfect in all that He does so that what he calls is true, then it is an infinitely beautify and righteous thing for Him to call all as fools, for we are, (that's why he saved us, now do you understand)!  Second, the God of the Old and New Testament are the same, in particular it is the same Jesus as John 12:41 shows us.  The LORD of the Old Testament was Jesus.  The God in the Old Testament ordering all those killings was the same Jesus who went to Calvary!  So many miss this point!  The Same Jesus whose died for our sins, in love for us, is the same Jesus Christ who in Revelation 19:15 is in fiery rage stomping on humans like grapes until being smashed under His feet their insides splatters His robes in their blood!  It's the same Jesus.  Lest we forget, He is God, the Infinite Existence who does all He pleases and no one stops Him or says what you have done.  Thanks be unto His Name, for His pleasure was to obey His Father to the point of the cross for His glory and our mercy!

       Matthew 23:19, "Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift?"  Here is Jesus Christ, God come down on the earth He created, calling people morons! There are two Greek words which are translated as fools or foolish (etc) in most Bible translations.  One is on the more offensive side such as moron or stupid, the other means unwise, irrational or ignorant. Here, Jesus is using the more offensive one.  The Jewish leaders had forfeited themselves from entering the Kingdom of God due to their moronic and irrational traditions that said such things as, "the gift is greater than the altar." Christ was telling them His Divine Nature, being God, has infinite value and as this is the altar it makes His human body an infinitely acceptable offering to His Father for our sins; thus, the altar is greater than the gift.  Christ was saying only God could save men from their sins, and He was there! 

I will show more of this in the following but Christ seems to ramp up the insults as the opposition to God and His gospel are ramped up.  This therefore, is also our rule in how and when or if we use such words as fool, irrational or moron. 

             Jesus used this more aggressive word of moron when referring to the stupid virgins who forfeited their soul, Matthew 25:2 "Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish[morons]." 

             Now there are other times Jesus uses the less harsh form for example in, Luke 24:25, "Then He said to them, "O foolish[irrational] ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!"  Jesus Christ is talking in disguise to His disciples right after His resurrection and is amazed how slow in the head they were in connecting the dots in the Old Testament, which spoke about His death and His glory.  Here, as I stated before, it appears that Christ lessens the harshness of His name calling depending now how hard He and His gospel are being resisted.  The disciples are trying to understand, yet have totally missed it.  Therefore, Jesus calls them irrational and slow to understand when so much of the Old Testament speaks of God's Son and the gospel.  See, Jesus Christ, our Almighty God who made us, in His infinite wisdom is simply calling things the way He sees it, which is called truth!  Did you get that?  Jesus calling particular classes of people fools is ultimate timeless truth!  

       People strongly resisting His gospel and their Creator are morons!  What will they give in exchange for their souls?  They are fools!  But people who are trying to understand but having a hard time Christ calls it how He sees it, they are ignorant and irrational and need some teaching, which is exactly what Jesus did in Luke 24;  He took the time to teach them.  He calls them foolish, although harsh, but as love to cause them to wake up and smell the coffee.  But because they were trying to understand Jesus takes the time to teach and lovingly instruct them.  Yet, for morons who strongly resist Him by making truth relative Jesus does not waste the time to teach them, but leaves them to their sinful stupidity such as in Matthew 21:25.

       Christ's apostles followed His example.  Galatians 3:1, "O foolish [irrational] Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified?"  Romans 1:22, "Professing to be wise, they became fools [morons]."  The biblical preachers of Christ in the bible followed both of Christ's examples in the use of name calling.  To the Galatians where they seemed to be honestly trying to understand Christ so Paul called them irrational and unwise.  Yet, in the book of Romans, to people resisting God so hard they are unwilling to yield to Christ, he calls them morons.

       Paul also said this, 2 Timothy 4:14, "Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm. May the Lord repay him according to his works."  But I thought you are to repay your enemies with mercy, prayers of mercy?  Yes, your personal enemies that is. 

        The doctrine before us is this: for enemies of the cross of Jesus the rules bend somewhat, not a lot, but a little.  Paul did not take up fits, but did ask the harm be brought back on Alexander so that he could stop hindering the gospel.  Alexander was an active cause against others receiving the gospel.  Paul did not say what he did out of personal hurt.  For personal hurt you do pray for mercy for the other person and protection for yourself; you also keep name calling out of your personal hurts.  For Christ said in Matthew 5 calling a person a fool or moron out of personal anger is a great evil!  But calling a person a moron for resisting the gospel and forfeiting their souls over riches, pride or lust is not just biblically allowed, but required! Required you say? Yes.

       See, as preachers we must repeat what our King Jesus wrote down for us to say.  Our King did not say, I am "allowing" you to preach my gospel, but instead our King commands that we herald "His" message of the Kingdom of God.  If you are a witness of our King's decree which says "God gives mercy" and repeat it, then you do well!  Yet, even demons proclaim some truths of God.  But if you read in our King's decree that those who resist His gospel are morons and you do not repeat it, you are an unfaithful and wicked servant! Who made you a judge over God and His word so that you judge what to repeat and not to repeat?  Did Jesus call you to judge or to obey?

       The horrific fact is that if you choose what to repeat and what not to, then you elevate yourself as a Judge over God's word!  Who do you think you are?  What evil this is!  Jesus never says repeat the parts that deal with mercy and skip over the harder parts.  If Jesus never made such a distinction in the "Bible" then you do indeed make yourself a Judge over God and His word if you preach in such a selective manner.  What you are doing is taking your intellect, experience, observations and present culture and are actually Judging God's word by it.   You say telling a person they are a moron makes them feel bad (well that's the point) --and so Christ must have not meant for me to say it; thus, it was only for Him and His disciples right, Oshea?  If the bible does not make that distinction (it was only for Jesus and His disciples to say fool or moron) then you are indeed judging the Bible.  You are no longer its follower, but you Judge the bible and make it follow you!  Who made you such a Judge?   Repent! for mercy is given to all who bow and follow Christ and His Bible, but if you want to Judge it, it will in return Judge you!

       Proverbs 20:6, "Most men will proclaim each his own goodness, But who can find a faithful man?"   When people say to me, you cannot say fool or moron for that is only for Jesus and the Apostle, what they are also doing, (in addition to Judging the gospel) are being an unfaithful witness to what they read in Christ's Scriptures by proclaiming their goodness.  They feel good that they are protecting themselves and other sensitive people from God's hurtful words.  The feel morally superior to God, for they care more about people being hurt by God's harsh words than God does.  They want to proclaim their goodness!  They are less concerned with God's Goodness; this is the issue.  Dear reader, will you be a faithful servant of your King Jesus Christ, or will you preach your goodness instead?

       But this is just one point from our King's decree.  For example: if you hear of disasters such as earthquakes and do not repeat and herald what your King wrote in the bible concerning the same issues then you are a wicked unfaithful servant who is trying to proclaim his own goodness at the expense of preaching your Kings gospel decree.  Amos chapter 1 shows God Himself is behind earthquakes.  God in the Scriptures shows He "causes" the snow, rain and many other nature laws of nature, which we suppose are only "allowed", but God in the bible shows Himself making them happen.  In Isaiah God says if an animal takes a nape after a meal God "caused" not allowed the animal to do so every single time! What our King wrote down was that He causes things and not merely allows them.  The scriptures show the whole earth under the curse of God for our sins.  We are under perpetual punishment for our sins on this earth, for that is what the "curse" is, punishment. Christ says in Luke 13 that in light of disasters that repentance should be preached!  Are you a faithful witness of this dear reader or do you proclaim our own goodness by protecting sensitive people from God's hurtful gospel which calls for immediate repentance in the mist of suffering and disasters?  Understand that Jesus' remarks in this passage are affirming these disasters as God's judgment!  So many miss this point.  It is only because Jesus affirms disasters as God's judgment that He has room to make His main point for repentance.  If these are not God's judgment why repent, what's the rush?  Jesus' main point is thus: do you think God judged these people because they are more evil than you?  You are all evil and all deserve God's judgment right now.  Because you are all sinners God is judging all the time and is itching to mix your blood; your time is coming soon!  Therefore, repent for I the ‘Prince of Peace' am standing before you ready to forgiven and love all who would only but ask for my salvation!  Are you willing?  And are you willing to repeat what your King wrote for you to herald?  Have you not counted the cost for following the King of Kings?

       The reverse is the same.  If your worse personal enemy shows signs of repentance to you and to God, will you repeat what your King wrote and give forgiveness; will you preach your mercy and God's mercy to them?  Or will you proclaim your own goodness and demand vengeance for your hurt and make yourself a Judge of God's word?  If a person rams through your house with a car because they are desperate for healing and God forgiveness, will you repeat what your King's decree says about such things?  Will you be glad and pray for their healing and preach Christ's forgiveness to them (Mark 2:4)?  Or will you choose to omit this part from what your King wrote and preach the second commandment to them instead, as if the other passage King Jesus wrote did not exist?  Whose goodness will you herald with the mouth God created on your body?  Will you be a faithful servant or unfaithful. 

        What have you read in the bible laying your hands?  Whatever you have read you are under the command of God your King to be a faithful witness of it! 

Is it only now you have realized the cost of being a Christian?

[1] John 3:12, "If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?"

[2]  What I mean by this is this: I have noticed that people who apply good reading comprehension skills when taking their ACT or SAT tests suddenly forget all they learned when they attempt to read and comprehend the bible and resort to the reading comprehension of a 3 year old.  The reason for this is sin and pride.  Most people seem to have the skills but sin turns their I.Q. to about 60, because of their pride against free grace, shame of their own sin, and hatred of God being God.