Has Joseph Prince Changed the Keys to Success? – By Lim Ban Seng (Dated 26 Feb 2021)
In his sermon “Keys to good success” on 31 January 2021, there is no change in Joseph Prince’s goal to lead his followers to focus on abundant physical and material blessings.
He said “Meditating on His Word brings health, protection, and wholeness to every area of your life”. He claimed that “God wants to give you riches, health, … and pleasant days” as taught, for instance, in Joshua 1:8.
Joshua 1: 8 “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then YOU will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” (NKJV)
Joshua 1:8 promises abundant physical and material blessings. No question about that.
According to this verse, which is instrumental in bringing about prosperity and good success, the verse says “YOU will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”
The next question is how – what must YOU do? The verse says there are 2 things YOU must do:
(i) meditate on the book of the law day and night
(ii) do according to all that is written in the book of the law.
For the first point, Joseph Prince ignored the “day and night” requirement. Never once in his sermon did he emphasize that “day and night” is not an option but a requirement in Joshua 1:8.
With reference to the verse, he simply said: “Joshua 1:8 says that when you meditate on God’s Word, you will “make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”
For the second point, Joseph Prince simply brushed off the emphasis on obedience to God’s commandments in the book of the law as if it is not there in the verse. He just wanted his followers to focus on “prosperous” and “good success”, rather than the requirement TO DO according to ALL that God commanded in the book of the law.
The verse says “you may observe TO DO …”. It says to pay careful attention or keep a close watch TO DO according to all that is written in the book of the law – you can’t emphasize this enough.
Instead Joseph Prince deceptively made it sound like the verse is emphasizing the word “observe”, rather than the obedience part.
He said “As you meditate on the Word, you will observe and see with the eyes of your heart the wisdom in that passage – in picture form”. He was much more interested to make the verse support what he taught about “hazon vision”, rather than giving due emphasis to the requirement to obey, to do, to execute all that is written in the book of the law as stated in Joshua 1:8.
Joseph Prince had been telling his followers over the years that they just needed to declare it to achieve physical health and material success because it is all done on the cross.
He also told his followers that they are kings and priests; and just like kings, they can speak power from their mouths. Hence, they just need to declare it with their mouth to be physically and materially blessed.
Then he moved on to requiring that they have “hazon vision” to prosper physically and materially. This time he added a new requirement: they need to meditate on the book of the law.
His followers should ask him why bother about meditating on the book of the law when you can just declare it to get what you want. After all, and moreover, Joshua 1:8 is so onerous as it requires not only meditating on the book of the law. You also have to do it day and night. And that is not all: you have to also do according to all that is written in the book of the law. Then and then only will you be prosperous and have good success.
Joshua 1:8 is a lot about what YOU need to do. Isn’t it strange for Joseph Prince to teach this verse? Hasn’t he been emphasizing all these years that his followers need to just rest and not do? Resting on the cross and simply declaring success is no longer enough? No more power in the mouths of kings at New Creation Church?
Why is he again changing the keys to success? Is he saying that he has been giving the wrong keys to success to his followers at New Creation Church all these years? Let’s see what further strange contradictions will arise from the spirit that is prompting Joseph Prince as he continues to twist and change the plain word of God.
Lim Ban Seng
Attending Grace Fellowship, Singapore