Rev George Ong: False understanding of ‘tares & wheat,’ & ‘where two or three’ regarding Joseph Prince’s heresies can lead to harmful outcomes

False understanding of ‘tares & wheat,’ & ‘where two or three’ regarding Joseph Prince’s heresies can lead to harmful outcomes – By Rev George Ong (Dated 13 Oct 2023)

Preface:

There are 2 parts to this Article:

Part 1: Tares & Wheat (Matthew 13:24-30)

Part 2: Where Two or Three (Matthew 18:15-20)

Excerpt No 1 of the Article:

In my last article, I surfaced 11 Local Bishops/Pastors/Theologian who have written or said in sermons that Joseph Prince is a false teacher:

Bishop Ho Chee Sin, Bishop Kuan Kim Seng, Rev Henry Hong, Rev Tan Cheng Huat, Rev David Liew, Rev Eric Chua, Rev Yang Tuck Yuen, Rev Lawrence Yam, Pastor Jason Lim, Dr Roland Chia and Rev Derek Hong.

But that is not all.

There are another 65 believers, which makes a total of 76 (65 + 11 = 76), who publicly declared Joseph Prince is a false teacher and a heretic.

If you wish to browse through the individual write-ups, please refer to the respective links in Part 2 of the Article.

Excerpt No 2 of the Article:

Rev Derek Hong and a team of Senior Pastors met Joseph Prince several years ago,

and a Singapore Bishop spoke to Joseph Prince for 3 hours some years ago;

yet Joseph Prince has remained defiant and continued preaching his heresies.

If that is the case, why should I waste my time to meet him?

Excerpt No 3 of the Article:

Let’s come back to the issue of people who have confronted me about why I didn’t meet with Joseph Prince.

They are doing out of context when they apply Matthew 18:15-20 to the issue about me meeting Joseph Prince.

That text of Matthew 18:15-20 refers to one and more believers confronting another believer over his or her wrongdoings in a local church setting.

But as I have said, I have never considered Joseph Prince to be a brother in Christ in the first place but a wolf in sheepskin.

I am not the only one, but 76 other believers reached the same conclusion.

Even if we assume that Joseph Prince is a believer,

there still must be a higher church authority to refer to

(like in a local church, the Pastors and the Church Board or Council is the higher authority to decide)

in the event of a deadlock.

Regarding our issue (such as Rev David Liew, Rev Tan Cheng Huat, Rev Lawrence Yam, Elder David Ng Tah Wee, Dr Simon Chong and many others)

with Joseph Prince from another ‘church’,

the only rightful authority in Singapore is the National Council of Churches of Singapore (NCCS).

But if the NCCS isn’t prepared to dirty its hands and deal with this issue, and they want to keep a total hands-off approach,

why are they asking me and those involved to meet Joseph Prince?

For what?

NCCS knows the outcome

– that Joseph Prince would remain unrepentant and continue to preach his heresies

and we would maintain our position.

So, how?

Back to square one, right?

Can you now see that it would be a pure waste of our time to meet up with Joseph Prince?

Think with me: why would a church member of a local church, in obedience to Matthew 18:15-20, want to confront another member for presenting a bad testimony by engaging in gross sins,

if the Pastoral team, or church board, or church council have told the church that they would not be interested in sorting these things out as these things are not their problem.

What would happen?

The church would soon be filled with so-called Christians living like non-Christians as nobody, not even the highest leadership of church cares.

In the same way, because the highest level of the Singapore leadership doesn’t care in the case of Joseph Prince’s heresies,

he has been allowed to preach his heresies with reckless abandon for about 30 years, and deceived many to join his ‘church’ that it has become the largest in Singapore,

and yet still have the privilege of remaining under the umbrella of the NCCS.

What an abominable development!

Excerpt No 4 of the Article:

Here is Joseph Prince preaching his heresies publicly for about 30 years.

And when I start to denounce him publicly, I have Christians and Pastors telling me

“Hey George, you can’t do that.

It is wrong for you to do that.

You need to meet him first.”

My retort:

“To meet him for what?

To get his permission before I can denounce him publicly?”

Ridiculous, right?

Joseph Prince has been preaching his heresies publicly, and he didn’t ask anybody’s permission before he did that.

But I have no right to contend against him publicly because when I do, I must meet him first.

What sort of logic is that?

What is worse is

here is Joseph Prince doing the devil’s work of corrupting believers with heresies for about 30 years

and no one in Singapore, including the National Council of Churches of Singapore (NCCS), stop him publicly.

But here am I, blowing the whistle to warn the Singapore Church publicly about the wolf, Joseph Prince

at the risk of my itinerant preaching ministry

(now, everything is gone, but, absolutely, no regrets)

and life,

(thank God I still have this life),

and many believers and Pastors say it’s wrong,

including the National Council of Churches of Singapore (NCCS) who say I must meet him first.

What has gone wrong with the Singapore Church!

Excerpt No 5 of the Article:

Church of Thyatira (Rev 2:19-23):

The key sin of the leadership in the church in Thyatira was that, though they were not directly involved in false teachings,

they tolerated, permitted and put up with false prophets by allowing them to propagate their heresies:

Revelation 2:20 (Church of Thyatira)

²⁰“Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols.”

In the same way, the key sin of the Singapore Church Leadership is that they have allowed Joseph Prince to propagate his heresies without raising a whimper.

Excerpt No 6 of the Article:

Let me share a practical illustration to help you see that we need to maintain the balance

between Matthew 13:24-30 (tares and wheat)

and many Bible texts that talk about the need to contend against false teachers and their erroneous teachings.

Throughout my last 6 years of contending against the heresies of Joseph Prince,

many people have spoken to me,

“George, it is good that you are contending against the false teachings of Joseph Prince. But why don’t you also contend against this heretic and that heretic, this heresy and that heresy.”

My answer to them is that I am not a superman or a heresy hunter.

I am not called to chase after this heretic and that heretic or this heresy and that heresy.

Just because I am called to contend (specific call) against the heretic, Joseph Prince

doesn’t mean that I have to go around chasing after every heretic and hunting down after every heresy.

If I did that, I would contravene Matthew 13:24-30 (tares and wheat),

thinking that it is my overriding job or the main job of the church

to engage in warfare against all heretics and root out every heresy.

But as Matthew 13:24-30 teaches us, this would be an impossible task for the Church to accomplish on this side of heaven.

Jesus and His angels would do a thorough and clean job of removing all counterfeit believers and false prophets on the day of reckoning.

But just because I am not called to root out every heresy doesn’t mean I don’t do anything against heretics and heresies,

especially when one, Joseph Prince, is right in our own backyard.

There are believers and even Pastors who say,

“George, don’t waste your time contending against Joseph Prince. If God wants to bring him down, He would do it in His time.”

My reply is this,

“Then why don’t we apply this same argument to evangelism too

– that if God wants to save people from their sins, He would Himself do it as He knows before the foundation of the world who would be saved and who wouldn’t, and He doesn’t need our help to witness to unbelievers.

Why don’t we apply the same ‘If-God-can-do-why-are-we-doing’ argument to all other areas of life?

Why do we make heretics and heresies the exceptions?”

Of course, God would do His part. But does this mean we do nothing?

What’s more, is that the scriptures have clearly stated that pastors and elders are to refute false teachings and rebuke false teachers (Tit 1:9).

Don’t these leaders know that not doing anything about heretics and heresies is a serious matter, as that is tantamount to disobeying God?

And to offer excuses for our inaction and disobedience is an even a worse misdeed.

To know that such lame and super-spiritual arguments can come from spiritual leaders of churches really saddens me.

Have we forgotten that Joseph Prince hails from our own nation of Singapore?

So, cleaning up the heretical dirt in our own backyard is our primary duty and obligatory responsibility. Period!

As Singapore pastors and elders, we must bear the corporate responsibility for not doing enough to contend against Joseph Prince’s heresies for all these years

– thereby allowing the cancer of his heretic virus to infect not just Singapore but also the world.

We owe the world an apology!

(This article was also sent to Rev Dr Ngoei Foong Nghian, General Secretary, National Council of Churches of Singapore (NCCS) office, and for the attention of the Executive Committee Members.)

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PART 1: MATTHEW 13:24-30 (TARES & WHEAT)

In my contending against the heresies of Joseph Prince,

there are quarters, both from Joseph Prince’s supporters,

and sadly, members of the true church,

who hinted to me that I was doing the wrong thing.

They thought they were biblical as they reasoned this way:

“George, didn’t Matthew 13:24-30 say that it is not our job

to separate the wheat (true believers) from the tares (counterfeit believers and false prophets).

We are to leave it to God to do it through the angels when Christ returns?”

Matthew 13:24-30 NKJV:

²⁴Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; ²⁵but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. ²⁶But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. ²⁷So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ ²⁸He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ ²⁹But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. ³⁰Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.” ’ ”

But these people are rather ignorant

– that although the interpretation of Matthew 13:24-30 is right, the application is wrong.

And even if the application is right, it cannot be stretched,

or it would bring it into contradiction with many other texts in the Bible, as I will explain soon in this article.

Indeed, Matthew 13:24-30 teaches us that the Universal or local church is a mixed body

in which “wheat (true believers) and tares (false believers and false prophets)” grow together.

In every age of the church, this has been the same

– from the apostolic church, the early church, the Reformation church and the contemporary church.

While Christ sows the wheat, the devil sows the tares.

Because they would be separated by Christ and His angels at the end of this age,

we shouldn’t be impatient and play God and try to separate the wheat from the tares.

In so doing, we may do more harm than good – that in our zeal to root out the tares,

we are also in danger of rooting up the wheat with them.

Augustine, our church father, had rightfully said:

“Those who are tares to-day, may be wheat to-morrow.”

Granted that this is the right interpretation of Matthew 13:24-30;

but does this mean that we do nothing about false teachers and heretics, such as Joseph Prince, who are deceiving and destroying the church?

Does this mean that as Pastors, we do nothing even though, as spiritual leaders,

we are well aware that some church members are clear-cut false believers?

Your common sense and, more importantly, your biblical knowledge would say a big ‘No’ to this.

If Matthew 13:24-30 really means that we are not to do anything about false prophets and false believers in every situation,

then the Bible, and specifically Jesus, would have contradicted Himself.

Are you aware that the Jesus who spoke in Matthew 13:24-30 about the wheat and the tares,

is also the same Jesus who warned us to beware of false prophets who are ravenous wolves who come in sheepskin

in the same Book of Matthew in Matthew 7:15?

Matthew 7:15 NASB

¹⁵“Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.

Does it make any sense for Jesus to warn the disciples and the contemporary church to beware of false prophets

and then also added,

“Hey, don’t get too excited about heretics. Keep cool and calm, as you don’t have to worry about these false prophets because I would deal with them in a decisive way at the close of the age.”?

Did you realise that the Jesus who spoke in Matthew 13:24-30 about the wheat and the tares,

is also the same Jesus who complimented the church in Ephesus in Revelation for not tolerating false prophets/teachers (Rev 2:2)

and also severely reprimanded the church in Pergamum (Rev 2:14-16) and the church in Thyatira (Rev 2:20-23) for tolerating them and warned of harsh punishments if they don’t repent?

Does it make any sense for Jesus to severely reprimand these two churches for tolerating false prophets

and then also assure the churches in Pergamum and Thyatira,

“Although you have tolerated those false prophets, you don’t have to feel guilty about it because My angels would do a clean job by sorting out the false believers/prophets from the true ones at my coming.”?

If Matthew 13:28-30 is applied incorrectly, it would be impossible to condemn error and expose heresies, which is entirely biblical.

Hence, what would happen is that false doctrines would start to flourish, and as a result, the sheep would be infected with the deadly heresies to their damnation.

Do I make sense to you?

What Matthew 13:24-20 is cautioning us is that we shouldn’t be too impatient in rooting out all the false prophets or all the counterfeit believers, especially in cases which are not clear-cut.

That our concern to build a pure church with sound doctrine that is free from heretical influences must be realistic.

That we shouldn’t have the Messiah Complex, thinking that we can do the job of sorting out every false prophet or counterfeit believer out of the Church on this side of heaven.

But this certainly doesn’t mean that we are to do nothing or do only our bare minimum

to root out clear-cut false prophets and heretics who are out to do great and irreparable harm to the church.

What is worse is that some Pastors and believers are abusing Matthew 13:24-30

as a lame excuse to exonerate themselves, and hide their own cowardice,

from doing the tough and unenviable job of confronting false prophets.

In ‘The Jesus You Can’t Ignore, what you must learn from the bold confrontations of Christ,’

John MacArthur wrote:

“And didn’t Jesus Himself say we should not try to separate wheat from tares? “Lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. [But] let both grow together until the harvest” (Matthew 13:29-30).

… That is the whole point of the parable of the tares: the tares look like wheat in every superficial way.

Until they bear fruit and it ripens it is virtually impossible to tell wheat from tares.

The tares therefore represent people who look and act like Christians – false professors.

They blend into the fellowship of the church, give a fine-sounding testimony about their faith in Christ, and otherwise seem exactly like authentic believers.

But they are not authentic. Their faith is a sham. They are unregenerate hangers-on.

… In such cases, we are supposed to confront the individual, call them to repentance, and put them out of the church if they steadfastly refuse to repent (Matthew 18:15-18).

… But notice: people who actively teach serious error – especially doctrines that corrupt vital gospel truth

– are to be confronted and opposed.

Their false ideas are to be refuted. They are to be called to repentance.

And if they refuse the admonition and continue their assault against truth,

we have a duty to denounce their error and do everything we can to thwart their efforts to spread it.

Such false teachers are not “tares” to be tolerated in the church;

they are accursed antichrists (1 John 2:18) to be exposed, contradicted, denounced, and disavowed.

Paul was clear about this:

“Even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed” (Galatians 1:8-9).

The apostle John was likewise adamant:

Many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. Look to yourselves, that we do not lose those things we worked for, but that we may receive a full reward. Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him; for he who greets him shares in his evil deeds. (2 John 7-11)”

George Ong’s comments:

John MacArthur had a balanced understanding of the issue.

While we shouldn’t play God by our misguided zeal to determine who is a true believer and who is a counterfeit,

that doesn’t mean we don’t expose and denounce clear-cut heretics

as the Apostle Paul and Apostle John had modelled for us.

In ‘An Exposition of Ephesians 4:1-16, Christian Unity,’

Martyn Lloyd-Jones said:

“It is quite astonishing to note the amount of space and of attention which is given in the Bible to this particular question.

There are constant warnings against this particular danger.

Take, for instance, what we read in Matthew’s Gospel: Our Lord warned,

‘Beware of false prophets which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves’ (7:15).

What a solemn warning!

And our Lord goes on to elaborate it.

Again, in the 24th chapter of the same Gospel (Matthew) our Lord says,

‘If any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth; behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not’ (vv. 23-26). ‘I have told you beforehand’ says our Lord;

yet how little do we hear about these warnings today!

Indeed, as I hope to show later, many even resent these warnings at the present time.

The Church today does not seem to be aware of the danger and pays little if any heed to these endless warnings which are found in the Scriptures.

(George Ong’s interjection:

In my experience of contending against Joseph Prince’s heresies,

I fully agree with Martyn Lloyd-Jones’ observations in the above 3 paragraphs highlighted in red.

One Senior Pastor told me that even Pastors of the Singapore churches themselves are indifferent to the issue and threat of false teachings posed by Joseph Prince.)

Consider again the warning of the Apostle Paul to the elders of this very church at Ephesus, part of which we have already quoted.

He says,

‘Take heed, therefore, unto yourselves, and unto all the flock over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. For I know this, that after my departure shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. Therefore watch’.

In all his epistles these warnings are always in evidence.

Hence, it is true to say that most of these epistles contain a prominent polemical element.

They are full of argument and disputation and reasoning and warning.

Think, for instance, of the 11th chapter of the Second Epistle to the Corinthians, where the Apostle warns against false teachers.

He says that it is not surprising that these false teachers behave as they do, for the devil is able to transform himself into an angel of light.

The Epistle to the Galatians can truly be regarded as but an extended warning against false teachers.

In his Epistle to the Philippians Paul writes,

‘Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision’ (3:2).

In his Epistle to the Colossians, we find him warning Christians:

‘Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ’ (2:8).

In the Pastoral Epistles he warns against

‘oppositions of science [knowledge] falsely so called: which some professing have erred concerning the faith’ (1 Tim 6:20–21).

Nothing is more striking perhaps in this respect than what we find in the second chapter of Peter’s Second Epistle.

He warns his readers that false teachers would arise among them, even as false prophets arose among the children of Israel under the old dispensation; and he proceeds to say terrible things about them.

The Epistle of Jude is again entirely devoted to this same kind of solemn warning.

In the First Epistle of John much attention is paid to the ‘antichrists’, the false teachers, that have arisen.

In the Book of Revelation, the Letters to the seven churches deal specifically with the same problem;

Indeed, the whole Book of Revelation is one great warning to the Church in this respect.

Indeed, it might almost be said that the New Testament came into being

in order to warn Christian people to beware of the terrible ever-present danger of being led astray by false teaching concerning our Lord Himself and His great salvation.

(George Ong’s interjection:

If the view of Martyn Lloyd-Jones regarding the above 2 paragraphs highlighted in red is right,

the Pastors of churches ought to repent for neglecting and not paying enough attention to this critical area

about the dangers of false teachings facing the church.)

I would emphasize something of which we are reminded in this verse, namely, the extraordinary language which is used with respect to this danger

– the strong language, the almost violent language which is used!

This is found even in our Lord’s own language.

In describing the false prophets, He says that they come to us

‘in sheep’s clothing’, looking innocent and attractive and charming. But ‘inwardly’ He says, ‘they are ravening wolves’.

In such strong terms He characterizes these false teachers!

Again, in the 23rd chapter of Matthew’s Gospel, when warning His own disciples and followers against the Pharisees,

He says that they are ‘whited sepulchres’.

They are made to look attractive, but within they are full of nothing but bones and rottenness.

This is very strong language; it is almost violent; yet it is the Son of God speaking, the incarnation of God’s love.

The same is true of the language used by the Apostle Paul in Acts chapter 20,

where he describes false teachers as ‘grievous wolves’.

In his Epistle to the Philippians,

he terms them ‘enemies of the Cross of Christ’ (3:18).

In his Second Epistle to the Corinthians, he warns Christians to beware,

‘lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve’ these false teachers and apostles may beguile them (11:3).

But there is perhaps nothing stronger than what he says in the Second Epistle to the Thessalonians.

Paul is warning them against the antichrist in his final form and says,

‘Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish’ (2:9–10).

He says that there is a danger of our being carried away by

‘strong delusion’ and that we may ‘believe a lie’ (v. 11).

There is no stronger language in the whole of the Scriptures than the language which is used with regard to this subject.

Paul refers to false teachers as ‘dogs’.

The Apostle John writes about ‘the antichrist’;

and Peter refers to ‘damnable heresies’, and ‘pernicious ways’, and speaks of evil men who ‘through covetousness shall with vain words make merchandise’ of Christians.

All the writers use the term ‘lies’ with regard to the teaching that is being propagated by such false teachers.

This is not surprising because, according to the Scriptures, all false teaching is the result of the work of the Serpent, and it has the mark and the character of the Serpent upon it.

It was through the Serpent that it first came into the life of man.

Man was in a state of perfection, in communion with God and enjoying fellowship with God.

But the Serpent came in and he ‘beguiled’ Eve with his subtle insinuations and innuendos and suggestions.

Subtlety and deceit, says the Bible, have been characteristic ever since of much of the life of man.”

George Ong’s comments:

Martyn Lloyd-Jones highlighted that the subject of false teachings is not a side issue but a predominant theme in the New Testament, especially when he said:

“Indeed, it might almost be said that the New Testament came into being

in order to warn Christian people to beware of the terrible ever-present danger of being led astray by false teaching concerning our Lord Himself and His great salvation.”

Since false teaching is a major issue of the New Testament, shepherds must reflect whether they have given enough attention to warn their sheep about the perilous dangers of false teachers.

Martyn Lloyd-Jones said:

“– the strong language, the almost violent language which is used! This is found even in our Lord’s own language.”

“In such strong terms He (Jesus) characterizes these false teachers!”

“This is very strong language; it is almost violent; yet it is the Son of God speaking, the incarnation of God’s love.”

“The same is true of the language used by the Apostle Paul in Acts chapter 20,”

“But there is perhaps nothing stronger than what he (Paul) says in the Second Epistle to the Thessalonians.”

“There is no stronger language in the whole of the Scriptures than the language which is used (By Paul) with regard to this subject.”

“Paul refers to false teachers as ‘dogs’.”

“The Apostle John writes about ‘the antichrist’”

“Peter refers to ‘damnable heresies.’”

“All the writers use the term ‘lies’ with regard to the teaching that is being propagated by such false teachers.

This is not surprising because, according to the Scriptures, all false teaching is the result of the work of the Serpent, and it has the mark and the character of the Serpent upon it.”

After reading what Martyn Lloyd-Jones said,

please don’t get too excited when I use strong terms and language against the wolf, Joseph Prince.

This is not about being personal or that I have a personal vendetta to grind,

but about following the severe and no-nonsense way the Lord Jesus and the Apostle Paul dealt with false teachers.

That is why I have constantly said Joseph Prince is a serial liar.

This is because not only do I have hard facts to back up my accusation that Joseph Prince is a serial liar and Satan’s agent,

but I am only following the tradition of the writers in scripture, especially Jesus and Paul, as Martyn Lloyd-Jones highlighted.

In ‘The Truth War, Fighting for Certainty in an age of Deception,’

John MacArthur wrote:

“But the evangelical movement isn’t really very evangelical anymore.

The typical evangelical leader today

is far more likely to express indignation at someone who calls for doctrinal clarity and accuracy

than to firmly oppose another self-styled evangelical who is actively attacking some vital biblical truth.”

George Ong’s comments:

What was described by John MacArthur is, indeed, a sad state of affairs.

Frankly, this has been my experience when I took on the unpopular task of calling out Joseph Prince as a wolf in sheepskin.

The irony in the modern church is this – pastors and elders who obey the scriptures to refute false doctrines and rebuke false teachers, such as Joseph Prince are sharply criticised for being unloving, divisive and intolerant.

Conversely, pastors and elders who disobey the scriptures by keeping silent and dare not raise a whimper against false teachers such as Joseph Prince to avoid trouble, to protect their respectable image, and to hide their cowardice are praised for being loving, tolerant and for promoting unity.

What has gone wrong with the Singapore Church!

In ‘The Truth War, Fighting for Certainty in an age of Deception,’

John MacArthur wrote:

“Truth is under heavy attack, and there are too few courageous warriors who are willing to fight.

When we stand before the judgment seat of Christ, believers from this generation will not be able to justify their apathy

by complaining that the strife of conflict over truth just seemed “too negative” for the kind of culture we lived in

– or that the issues were “merely doctrinal” and therefore not worth the effort.

Remember, Christ rebuked the churches in Revelation 2-3 who had tolerated false teachers in their midst (Rev 2:14-16; 20-23).

He expressly commended the Ephesian church for examining the claims of certain false apostles and exposing them as liars (Rev 2:2).

Churches have a clear duty to guard the faith against false teachers who infiltrate.

Christ Himself demands it.”

George Ong’s comments:

Let me add more to what John MacArthur mentioned about the churches of Ephesus, Pergamum and Thyatira in Revelation

– that Jesus expects and demands that His Church act against the infiltration of false teachers and false teachings.

Church of Ephesus (Rev 2:2, 6):

May I ask: where is the holy intolerance towards false teachers in the contemporary church that Jesus commended the Church of Ephesus (Rev 2:2)?

Revelation 2:2 NIV

²I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false.

While the Church of Ephesus was so intolerant towards false teachers,

ironically, the contemporary church is so tolerant towards them (Rev 2:2).

No wonder false teachings can so easily seep into the contemporary church.

Jesus commended the Church of Ephesus not for loving but for hating.

Hating what?

Hating the false teachings of the Nicolaitans.

Revelation 2:6 NIV

⁶“But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.”

Tell me honestly, do we ever get this sort of teaching in the contemporary church

– that we ought to have a holy intolerance towards false teachers and a holy hatred towards false teachings and Jesus would commend us if we do (Rev 2:2,6,20)?

If Jesus Himself hates false teachings,

what do you think His attitude towards false teachers who teach false teachings, such as Joseph Prince, would be? (Rev 2:6)

If Jesus has set us the example of one who has a holy intolerance towards false teachers and a holy hatred towards false teachings,

why are there so few in the church who are modelling after Him? (Rev 2:2,6,20)

Isn’t it strange for Jesus to commend the church for hating?

Revelation 2:6 NIV

⁶“But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.”

The contemporary church has done marvellously well at loving what Jesus loves

– sinners in the world,

but she has failed miserably at hating what Jesus hates

– heresies brought about by false teachers. (Rev 2:6)

Those who love what Christ loves must also hate what He hates.

Why? – Because heresies will destroy the Church.

Church of Thyatira (Rev 2:19-23):

The key sin of the leadership in the church in Thyatira was that, though they were not directly involved in false teachings,

they tolerated, permitted and put up with false prophets by allowing them to propagate their heresies:

Revelation 2:20 (Church of Thyatira)

In the same way, the key sin of the Singapore Church Leadership is that they have allowed Joseph Prince to propagate his heresies without raising a whimper.

Perhaps the leaders of the Thyatira church even continued to fellowship with these false teachers, allowing them a further foothold into the church.

Instead of dealing with them with a firm hand, they were utterly lax about what was happening.

They wanted to be man-pleasers and to project the image to be known as leaders who are tolerant and generous towards others even though they may disagree with them doctrinally.

They dared not speak up against false teachers for fear of being branded as leaders with no love.

They were so accommodating that even heresies were tolerated.

No one dared to sound a clear and firm warning about what must be done.

Nobody wanted to be the bad guy.

Everyone wanted to be the good guy.

Speaking badly about and coming down hard on false teachers seems to be an uncultured and unchristian thing to do.

So, they pretended to look the other way instead of decisively dealing with the worsening problem.

Today, we live in a culture where it is good to be seen as one who can get along with everybody.

Minimum conflict is preferred, celebrated and valued, while speaking the tough truth and making a firm and uncompromising stand against heretics is not favourably looked upon.

Believers must reread the New Testament to realise that such a prevailing culture of valuing minimum conflict and ‘don’t rake up the dirt’ regarding false teachers is unscriptural.

Jesus treated the issue of false teachers/false teachings with utter seriousness.

That’s why He warned the Church of Thyatira that He would strike Jezebel with sickness, and the followers (from the church) of her teaching would suffer greatly and even be killed – unless they repent (Rev 2:22-23).

The grave punishments that Jesus Himself would have meted out goes beyond punishing the false prophetess Jezebel, but it would also include members and leaders of the church who have been deceived to embrace her heresies.

When Jesus warned false teachers and believers who collude with them with such severe judgement in Revelation that could even result in death,

the contemporary church has no right to go soft on Joseph Prince and take the issue of guarding their flock from being poisoned by his heresies lightly (Rev 2:14-16, 22-23).

Because a tough stand was not taken against Joseph Prince, who is a clear heretic by the Singapore Church,

it has allowed him to spread his grace heresy, which has not only infected the Singapore churches but is causing theological havoc around the world.

In ‘The Complete Works of JC Ryle,’

JC Ryle wrote:

“Beware!

“Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed, and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.” – Matthew 16:6

READER,

The title of the tract now in your hands has been chosen with special reference to its subject.

It is a tract of warning against one of the greatest dangers of these last days.

It is not a warning about things that I fear your doing,

but about things that I fear your believing;

it is not a warning against vice and immorality,

but against false doctrine in religion:

and it is a warning founded on the express words of our Lord Jesus Christ Himself.

If the Chief Bishop of the Church has thought it good to give men warnings,

it cannot be wrong in His ministers to do the same.

Every word spoken by the Lord Jesus is precious.

It is the voice of the chief Shepherd.

It is the Great Head of the Church speaking to all its members

– the King of kings speaking to His subjects

– the Master of the house speaking to His servants

– the Captain of our salvation speaking to His soldiers.

… And every kind of word spoken by the Lord Jesus is of the greatest value.

Precious as gold are all His words of doctrine and precept;

precious are all His parables and prophecies;

precious are all His words of comfort and of consolation;

precious, not least, are all His words of caution and of warning.

You and I are not merely to hear Him when He says,

“Come unto Me, all ye that labour, and are heavy laden;”

we are to hear Him also when He says, “Take heed and beware (Matt 16:6, Matt 7:15).”

In ‘The Complete Works of JC Ryle,’

JC Ryle wrote:

“I. First comes the broad warning: “Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines.”

… Remember this, and be not carried away.” Such is St. Paul’s warning.

The Apostle’s warning does not stand alone.

Even in the midst of the Sermon on the Mount there fell from the loving lips of our Saviour a solemn caution:

“Beware of false prophets, which come unto you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.” (Matthew 7:15)

Even in St. Paul’s last address to the Ephesian elders, though he finds no time to speak about the sacraments, he does find time to warn his friends against false doctrine:

“Of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them.” (Acts 20:30) What says the Second Epistle to the Corinthians?

“I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.” (2 Corinthians 11:3)

What says the Epistle to the Galatians?

“I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another Gospel.”

“Who hath bewitched you that ye should not obey the truth?”

“Having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh.”

“How turn ye again to weak and beggarly elements?”

“Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. I am afraid of you.”

“Stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again in the yoke of bondage.” (Galatians 1:6; 3:1, 3; 4:9, 10, 11; 5:1)

What says the Epistle to the Ephesians?

“Be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine.” (Ephesians 4:14)

What says the Epistle to the Colossians?

“Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men.” (Colossians 2:8)

What says the First Epistle to Timothy?

“The Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith.” (1 Timothy 4:1)

What says the Second Epistle of Peter?

“There shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies.” (2 Peter 2:1)

What says the First Epistle of John 1

“Believe not every spirit. Many false prophets are gone out into the world.” (1 John 4:1)

What says the Epistle of Jude?

“Contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints. For there are certain men crept in unawares.” (Jude 3:4)

Let us mark well these texts. These things were written for our learning.

What shall we say to these texts?

How they may strike others I cannot say.

I only know how they strike me.

To tell us, as some do, in the face of these texts, that the early Churches were a model of perfection and purity, is absurd.

Even in Apostolic days, it appears, there were abundant errors both in doctrine and practice.

To tell us, as others do,

that clergymen ought never to handle controversial subjects, and never to warn their people against erroneous views,

is senseless and unreasonable.

At this rate we might neglect not a little of the New Testament.

Surely the dumb dog and the sleeping-shepherd

are the best allies of the wolf, the thief, and the robber.

It is not for nothing that St. Paul says,

“If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ.” (1 Timothy 4:5)

George Ong’s comments:

JC Ryle said:

“Even in the midst of the Sermon on the Mount there fell from the loving lips of our Saviour a solemn caution:

“Beware of false prophets, which come unto you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.” (Matthew 7:15)

The word ‘beware’ (used by Jesus) is used to warn people against real dangers ahead:

“Beware of robbers in this city,”

“Beware of falling trees along this road,”

“Beware of precipice ahead,”

“Beware of dangerous animals in this village,”

“Beware of crocodiles in the river,” etc.

The word ‘beware’ always implies great and real danger.

Jesus is not using the word ‘beware’ for nothing.

Any shepherd or sheep who treats such a severe warning of Jesus with disinterest and indifference is foolishly doing it at their own peril.

Jesus warns His followers to beware that ravenous wolves will come for the flock.

He warns them to beware of false prophets because they exist, and they are common.

The word “beware” (prosechete) is in the present imperative and indicates continuous watching.

The word always implies great danger.

It is a command by Jesus to be continually on the alert of the false prophets.

Friends, it is not a suggestion by Jesus; it is a command of Jesus to beware of false prophets.

Why? – Because they are dangerous (ravenous wolves) and deceptive (sheep’s clothing) (Matt 7:15).

Beware means to be in a continuous state of readiness, to be on guard, to pay constant attention.

Constant vigilance is required when it comes to false teachers.

You cannot afford to let your guard down.

When Jesus gave the warning to beware of the false prophets, He expected it to be heeded.

Why do you think Christ has to warn the church of false teachers?

It is because the threat posed by them is real and severe.

Yet, the modern church has not taken such warning seriously.

Many believers sleep away and they don’t even pay heed to Christ’s warning.

The sheep are unwary partly because the shepherds have not warned them enough about false teachers.

The sheep are sleeping away while the shepherds are sloppy about warning the sheep about the wolves.

One must note that Jesus places the responsibility of dealing with the false prophets not only on the Christian pastors and leaders but also on every single member of the church.

Jesus Christ’s “Beware of the false prophets” in Matthew 7:15 is addressed to us all.

If the church had heeded His warning, she would not be in the state of doctrinal confusion caused by Joseph Prince’s teachings in which she finds herself today.

But when every Christian begins to rise to their rightful role as the Bereans, the tide of false teachings is bound to be stemmed. (Acts 17:11)

In ‘The Complete Works of JC Ryle,’

JC Ryle wrote:

“Mark 8:15

¹⁵“Be careful,” Jesus warned them. “Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod.”

Let us notice the solemn warning which our Lord gives to His disciples at the beginning of this passage.

He says, “take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod.”

We are not left to conjecture the meaning of this warning.

This is made clear by the parallel passage in St. Matthew’s Gospel.

We there read that Jesus did not mean the leaven of “bread,” but the leaven of “doctrine.”

The self-righteousness and formalism of the Pharisees, the worldliness and scepticism of the courtiers of Herod, were the objects of our Lord’s caution.

Against both He bids His disciples be on their guard.

Such warnings are of deep importance.

It would be well for the Church of Christ, if they had been more remembered.

The assaults of persecution from without have never done half so much harm to the Church,

as the rise of false doctrines within.

False prophets and false teachers within the camp have done far more mischief in Christendom

than all the bloody persecutions of the emperors of Rome

– The sword of the foe has never done such damage to the cause of truth

as the tongue and the pen.

The doctrines which our Lord specify,

are precisely those which have always been found to inflict most injury on the cause of Christianity.

… In every age, multitudes of Christians have been infected by them.

In every age, men need to watch against them, and be on their guard.

The expression used by our Lord in speaking of false doctrine is singularly forcible and appropriate.

He calls it “leaven.”

No word more suitable could have been employed.

It exactly describes the small beginnings of false doctrine

– the subtle quiet way in which it insensibly pervades a man’s religion

– the deadly power with which it changes the whole character of his Christianity.

Here, in fact, lies the great danger of false doctrine.

If it approached us under its true colours, it would do little harm.

The great secret of its success is its subtlety and likeness to truth.

Every error in religion has been said to be a truth abused.

Let us often “examine ourselves whether we be in the faith,” and beware of “leaven.”

Let us no more trifle with a little false doctrine, than we would trifle with a little immorality or a little lie.

Once admit it into our hearts, and we never know how far it may lead us astray.

The beginning of departure from the pure truth is like the letting out of waters

– first a drop, and at last a torrent.

A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. (Galatians 5:9)”

George Ong’s comments:

Because the church of Singapore did not do anything about Joseph Prince’s heresies when it was a little leaven,

it has now spread to the whole lump and become a worldwide cancer.

In ‘Spurgeon, Charles, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, vol. 5 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1879), 41,’

Charles Spurgeon said:

“THE Church of Christ is continually represented under the figure of an army;

yet its Captain is the Prince of Peace; its object is the establishment of peace,

and its soldiers are men of a peaceful disposition.

The spirit of war is at the extremely opposite point to the spirit of the gospel.

Yet nevertheless, the church on earth has, and until the second advent must be,

the church militant, the church armed, the church warring, the church conquering.

And how is this? It is in the very order of things that so it must be.

Truth could not be truth in this world if it were not a warring thing,

and we should at once suspect that it were not true if error were friends with it.

The spotless purity of truth must always be at war with the blackness of heresy and lies.”

George Ong’s comments:

For whatever mistakes the Church of Singapore has made,

now is the time to fight the truth war against the heresies of Joseph Prince.

Charles Spurgeon has rightfully portrayed the desire for the purity of truth as a war when he said:

“The spotless purity of truth must always be at war with the blackness of heresy and lies.”

Fighting for truth is a war because Martyn Lloyd-Jones had said that Satan, the Father of lies, is behind every heresy and false teaching, including the heresies of Joseph Prince.

If you think that the truth war could be won just by taking things easy and lying nonchalantly on a comfortable sofa,

then you are obviously in the wrong army.

Back to George Ong

I hope I have made it clear that in interpreting and applying Matthew 13:24-30 (tares and wheat),

the need to contend against false prophets and their heresies mustn’t be lessened, or worse, obliterated.

If that were to happen, the church would be swamped by false teachers and their erroneous teachings.

As a result, many sheep would be led astray by heretics to their damnation.

In fact, given the increasing onslaught of heresies against the church,

the war against heresies and heretics ought to be heightened.