Joseph Prince blatantly altered the teachings & gospel of Christ; proving he is preaching a different Jesus & different gospel – By Rev George Ong (Dated 3 Oct 2023)
Announcement:
Don’t miss how 10 renowned Bible teachers, namely,
John Stott, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Arthur Pink, DA Carson,
John MacArthur, Paul Washer, RC Sproul, Zac Poonen,
Warren Wiersbe and AW Tozer
demolished Joseph Prince’s heretical teaching
on Matthew 7:13-14.
Excerpt No 1 from the Article:
If Joseph Prince had the audacity
to alter the very words of Jesus, who is God Himself,
and the holy words of Father God in the scriptures in Matthew 7:13-14,
how can he ever be a true teacher of God’s word
and how can he not be a wolf in sheepskin?
How can a Singapore Methodist Bishop
and a Singapore Presbyterian Pastor
say that Joseph Prince is not a heretic?
Excerpt No 2 from the Article:
Do you realise the catastrophe
that Joseph Prince’s teachings can cause?
Here is Jesus promising people
that the narrow road will lead to eternal life.
And here comes Joseph Prince
who declares what Jesus said was wrong
as that narrow road won’t lead you to eternal life
but it is only referring to this present earthly life.
Here is Jesus warning people
that if they are on the wrong and broad road,
they can land themselves in destruction, in hell.
And here comes Joseph Prince
totally contradicting what Jesus came to warn us of
– when he said that that broad road
will never lead you to spiritual destruction
– to hell
because the destruction refers to
financial, marital, emotional and physical destruction
and not spiritual destruction.
Hence, Joseph Prince literally cancelled the warning
that Jesus had meant Matthew 7:13 to be
– giving believers a false and dangerous sense of assurance.
In other words, those who don’t pay heed
to the warning of Jesus and listen to Joseph Prince,
hell would be the place they would end up.
This is why I have said time and again
that Joseph Prince’s teachings
can, indeed, lead one to hell.
Excerpt No 3 from the Article:
In ‘The Message of the Sermon on the Mount by John Stott,’
John Stott wrote:
“Yet others, perhaps the most pernicious (evil or wicked) of all,
dare to contradict Jesus
and to assert that the broad road
does not lead to destruction…
George Ong’s comments:
Are you aware that John Stott
was speaking prophetically (negatively)
into Joseph Prince’s heretical teaching on Matthew 7:13-14
when he wrote the above.
This is because what John Stott wrote
was exactly what Joseph Prince said in his video.
If John Stott were alive today,
I’m sure he would reprimand Joseph Prince
“You are
‘the most pernicious (evil or wicked) of all,’
who
‘dare to contradict Jesus
and to assert that the broad road
does not lead to destruction…”
Excerpt No 4 from the Article:
In conclusion,
you have seen how these 10 renowned Bible teachers
contradicted Joseph Prince’s teaching when he said
that ‘life’ in Matthew 7:14
does not refer to eternal life
but this earthly life;
and ‘destruction’ in Matthew 7:13
does not refer to eternal destruction
but financial, marital, emotional and physical destruction.
Mind you, if not for the constraint of space,
I can muster at least 30 more renowned Bible teachers
who hold the same position as the 10 who are already featured,
and who are against Joseph Prince’s position on Matthew 7:13-14.
I can also confidently say that no true evangelical scholar or commentator worth their salt
throughout the history of the Christian Church
has ever interpreted Matthew 7:13-14 the same way as Joseph Prince did.
What does this prove?
This goes to show that Joseph Prince is indeed a Lone Ranger.
I can also confidently say that no Singapore Pastor,
including the Singapore Methodist Bishop
and the Singapore Presbyterian Pastor
would dare to endorse such a doctrine of Joseph Prince.
“Hey Joe, so how?
Make sure you reply through your Hey Bro messages this Sunday, okay.
I’m looking forward to hearing them.
Don’t be a coward and keep silent like a poor Church Mouse.
Be brave and speak up like your favourite Mickey Mouse to defend your stand,
especially on what grounds did you have the right
to alter Jesus’ message in Matthew 7:13-14, okay.
To prove that you are not a Lone Ranger,
can you tell us which Singapore Pastor (from other churches)
are you in regular fellowship with?
Fair question, right?”
(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.)
Please click here
The last Article was titled,
Joseph Prince is an unbeliever & destined for hell, according to John MacArthur’s & John Piper’s exposition of Matthew 22:37-38 & Mark 12:30 on the Greatest Commandment
Please click on the link below to read:
One of the key issues in the previous article
was that Joseph Prince rejected the teaching of Jesus
about loving God in Matthew 22:37-38 and Mark 12:30
as under the Old Covenant Law
and no longer applicable to New Covenant believers.
You must remember this teaching of Jesus in Matthew 22:37-38
is no ordinary teaching
but Jesus Himself termed it as the First and Greatest commandment.
Yet, Joseph Prince dares to reject
and even mocked the First and Greatest Commandment of the Lord Jesus.
The seriousness of Joseph Prince’s great sin
was that he was rejecting and mocking
the teaching of God (God the Son) about God (God the Father).
So, how can Joseph Prince
not be preaching another Jesus and another Gospel (2 Cor 11:4)?
How can he not be a heretic?
In this article, Joseph Prince, as I shall unveil to you,
has committed another great sin.
Prince outrageously altered the teachings of Jesus
and the word of God in Matthew 7:13-14.
Joseph Prince also altered the gospel
– the gospel according to Jesus
as contained in the said text of Matthew 7:13-14.
I am glad that John MacArthur and I shared the same view
that Matthew 7:13-14 contains Jesus’ presentation of the gospel.
In ‘The Gospel According to Jesus,’
John MacArthur wrote:
“No passage in all of Scripture
attacks modern-day easy-believism
with more force than Matthew 7:13-14.
It is the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount,
and it amounts to the Savior’s own presentation
of the way of salvation.
… Here our Lord brings the Sermon on the Mount
to its evangelistic climax (in Matt 7:13-14).
… One thing is clear:
the gospel according to Jesus
is the gospel according to his apostles.
It is a small gate and a narrow road.
It is free, but it costs everything.
And though it is appropriated by faith and repentance,
it cannot fail to produce the fruit of true righteousness
in the life and behavior of the believer.”
In a sermon, Joseph Prince said;
Please click here to view the 2-minute video:
“If you know the truth and the truth will set you free.
Well, the devil will probably give you half-lies and half-truths
because they will bind you.
I’m going to show you how a simple truth like this
can be perverted by I believe sincere, well-meaning Bible teachers.
Yet, at the same time, it is not giving the truth.
Every time that you find something binds you,
it is not God.
God does not bind; God sets you free.
So, look at Matthew 7 here (Matt 7:13-14).
It is from the Sermon on the Mount.
Jesus says,
‘Enter by the narrow gate,’ say narrow gate.
‘For wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction.’
Broad is the way that leads to destruction
and there are many who go in by it.
Jesus says that are many who end up in destruction.
Narrow is the gate which leads to life
and there are few, few, who find it.
Is that the truth?
This is not what Jesus said.
Number one, He’s not talking about heaven and hell.
He’s talking about broad is the way that leads to destruction.
What destruction?
Not spiritual destruction.
In fact, many Christians are on this broad way
– that is leading them to a financial, marital, emotional and physical destruction.
But once you have received Christ, you are saved forever.
And yet there are many Christians on this broad way, Amen,
but very few find the narrow way.
And what is the narrow way?
I’m going to share with you today what’s the narrow way
that the Bible says that leads to life and few there be that find it.
It is not talking about the life to come;
it’s talking about this life.
Nowhere does Jesus say few there are that find eternal life.
He says narrow is the way that leads to life,
not eternal life.
He is talking about this life.
And do you know there are many believers on the wrong road
but they will still be in heaven because they have Christ. Amen.
But meanwhile, they are on the road to destruction.
Destruction what?
– Physically, emotionally, in other ways,
not spiritual, okay, you understand.
So, these verses are not talking about the life to come.
It’s talking about our present life. Amen.”
George Ong’s comments:
Why is Joseph Prince posturing such a view
that ‘life’ in Matthew 7:14 refers to earthly life
and not eternal life,
and ‘destruction’ in Matthew 7:13
refers to earthly destruction
and not eternal destruction?
The reason is that Jesus in Matthew 7:13-14
is clearly teaching the crucial importance of costly discipleship
– that the road to eternal life is narrow and difficult.
Jesus is also warning us against cheap and easy Christianity
– that the broad road leads to eternal destruction.
Costly discipleship, which Jesus teaches
is what Joseph Prince teaches against.
And cheap and easy Christianity, which Jesus is against
is what Joseph Prince promotes.
This is why Joseph Prince has to
not just twist and distort
but he contemptibly and patently altered the text of Matthew 7:13-14
– that life in Matthew 7:14
is not eternal life but earthly life,
and destruction in Matthew 7:13
is not eternal destruction but earthly destruction.
If Joseph Prince had the audacity
to alter the very words of Jesus, who is God Himself,
and the holy words of Father God in the scriptures
in Matthew 7:13-14,
how can he ever be a true teacher of God’s word
and how can he not be a wolf in sheepskin?
How can a Singapore Methodist Bishop
and a Singapore Presbyterian Pastor
say that Joseph Prince is not a heretic?
Matthew 7:13-14 comes towards the closing sections of the Sermon on the Mount.
It is Jesus’ presentation of the gospel that calls for a decision.
It is a decision that has momentous ramifications
that would decide the eternal destiny of every person.
Whether one goes to heaven or hell,
possesses eternal life, or suffers eternal death
depends on this momentous decision.
It’s the choice of entering the small gate
and travelling on the narrow road
or doing it through the wide gate
and the broad road.
The choice of the wide gate and broad road
is the easy option as it contains no cost.
Many are enticed to travel on this road,
but it is the road that leads to destruction.
Choosing the narrow gate and narrow road
is the more difficult choice as it comes with a heavy cost.
Few would be drawn to travelling on this road,
but it is the road that leads to life.
The frightening truth is many of our modern converts
are being led to the wrong road
– to the broad road rather than the narrow road
as saving faith is reduced to something
as easy as just saying a quick prayer.
If being a Christian is as easy as saying the sinner’s prayer,
then we would have to change the words of Christ to
‘Wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to life!’ (Matt 7:13-14)
Say a prayer, and you are in
is markedly different from the Jesus’ gospel in the Biblical injunction
that we are to make every effort to enter into our eternal rest. (Heb 4:11)
If becoming a Christian is as simple as reciting the sinner’s prayer,
then why did Christ say only a few
will enter the narrow gate that leads to life? (Matt 7:13-14)
The modern gospel wrongly portrays getting saved
as one of the easiest – just say a prayer and you’re in;
the Jesus’ gospel rightly depicts it as one of the hardest
– that it involves earnest striving
and may even cost you your life. (Lk 13:23-24, Lk 14:26,27,33)
Jesus did not, like the modern church,
teach that saving faith was a simple and easy matter.
On the contrary, he said it would be a tough and laborious one.
He said the road to eternal life is uncomfortably narrow (Matt 7:14).
He commanded that the inheritance of our glorious salvation must be striven for (Lk 13:24).
He taught that our righteousness must surpass that of the Pharisees to enter the kingdom of God (Matt 5:20).
Paul taught that the entrance into God’s Kingdom is through much tribulation (Acts 14:22).
In ‘Studies in the Sermon on the Mount,’
Martyn Lloyd-Jones said:
“In addition, it is strait and narrow (Matt 7:14)
because it always involves suffering,
and because, when it is truly lived,
it always involves persecution.” (Matt 5:10-12)
A glance through the scriptures
will convince us that what Christ had said
about striving to enter the narrow gate/door
and travelling on the narrow road
is so true for the apostolic church. (Lk 13:24)
The Apostolic/early church
was marked by sufferings and afflictions.
Christ and the writers of the New Testament, had, time and again,
warned that true discipleship or true salvation or true Christianity
would entail great affliction.
Jesus warned His disciples that they would be hated by the world
and suffer great tribulation because of it (Matt 10:22; Jn 15:18-20; 16:33).
They would be persecuted, insulted, and slandered (Matt 5:10-12).
They would be hunted down, condemned and killed
before governors and kings for His sake (Matt 10:22-28; Lk 21:12).
The apostle Paul reminded Timothy that
“all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution” (2 Tim 3:12).
To the church in Philippi, he wrote that it had been granted unto them
not only to believe in Christ
but also to suffer for His sake (Phil 1:29).
He encouraged the disciples in Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch:
“We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22).
The apostle Peter instructed the believers scattered throughout Asia
that their suffering was according to the will of God,
and they should not be surprised at even the fieriest ordeal
as though some strange thing were happening to them (1 Pet 3:17; 4:12,19).
In fact, he instructed them that such suffering
was the norm for believers and churches throughout the entire world (1 Pet 5:9).
Why is Joseph Prince not preaching on all the above tough experiences and sufferings of these early believers,
which rightly portrays the true reality of costly Christianity and true salvation?
What is worse is that Joseph Prince teaches against costly Christianity and true salvation
– that a Christian will not have to go through suffering and martyrdom.
Joseph Prince said in the video:
“And do you know that many believers on the wrong road
but they will still be in heaven because they have Christ. Amen.
But meanwhile, they are on the road to destruction.
Destruction what?
– Physically, emotionally, in other ways,
not spiritual, okay, you understand.
So, these verses are not talking about the life to come.
It is talking about our present life. Amen.”
George Ong’s comments:
By what Joseph Prince said,
he has the unholy guts to write off or cancel what Jesus said
that the narrow road will lead to eternal life.
Joseph Prince has also totally undone what Jesus came to warn us of
– that believers can find themselves on the broad road to eternal destruction
– which refers to hell.
Do you realise the catastrophe that Joseph Prince’s teachings can cause?
Here is Jesus promising people
that the narrow road will lead to eternal life.
And here comes Joseph Prince
who declares what Jesus said was wrong
as that narrow road won’t lead you to eternal life
but it is only referring to this present earthly life.
Here is Jesus warning people
that if they are on the wrong and broad road,
they can land themselves in destruction, in hell.
And here comes Joseph Prince
totally contradicting what Jesus came to warn us of
– when he said that that broad road
will never lead you to spiritual destruction – to hell
because the destruction refers to
financial, marital, emotional and physical destruction
and not spiritual destruction.
Hence, Joseph Prince literally cancelled the warning
that Jesus had meant Matthew 7:13 to be
– giving believers a false and dangerous sense of assurance.
In other words, those who don’t pay heed
to the warning of Jesus and listen to Joseph Prince,
hell would be the place they would end up.
This is why I have said time and again
that Joseph Prince’s teachings
can, indeed, lead one to hell.
From here on,
I will let 10 renowned Bible teachers, namely,
John Stott, Arthur Pink, DA Carson, John MacArthur,
Paul Washer, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, RC Sproul, Zac Poonen,
Warren Wiersbe and AW Tozer
do the demolishing of Joseph Prince’s heretical teaching on Matthew 7:13-14,
with my comments interjected.
In a sermon, John MacArthur said;
Please click here to view the 30-second video:
“It will cost you, potentially, everybody and everything,
even your own control over your own life.
Salvation is only for one at a time,
one by one by faith in Christ.
You must enter, you must enter this narrow gate, you must enter alone.
Fourthly, you must enter with difficulty, with difficulty.
This is a death blow to what is called easy believism,
a death blow to cheap grace.
This is not easy.
That’s why we read at the end of verse 14 (Matthew chapter 7),
“Few are those who find it. Few are those who find it.”
In a sermon, Zac Poonen said;
Please click here to view the 1-and-a-half-minute video:
“Having said that you come to (Matthew) chapter 7 verse 13.
The way of salvation is a very narrow gate;
so narrow you can’t take your wife with you,
you can’t take your husband with you,
you can’t take your children with you.
It’s only one by one.
Only one person at a time can go through.
The way to life is very narrow.
Then He said, listen to this,
and very few find it in verse 14.
There are very few who go to heaven.
Do you believe that?
I believe with all my heart.
Not many people are going to go into God’s kingdom.
The way to death is broad; it goes to destruction
and most people are going that way.
I want to say to you,
most Christians are going the broad way to destruction
because their preachers have not preached the narrow way.
It’s not popular to preach the narrow way.
It’s much more popular to preach the broad way.
Yes, come to Jesus,
He’ll bless you.
He’ll prosper you.
He’ll heal you.
He’ll give you everything you ask for.
Come in, come in, and multitudes come in;
and they’ll going in the broad way,
they’re not realising it’s going to destruction.”
In a sermon, Paul Washer said;
Please click here to view the 2-minute video:
“There is one small gate and His name is Jesus,
but if you go through any other gate,
you cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven,
you will not be saved,
there is no hope for you.
There is no gate except Christ
and all those who miss Christ,
miss forgiveness, miss right standing with God
and enter into a devil’s hell.
When was the last time you heard a sermon on
not only the gate
but the way.
He says there is one gate
but after that gate there is a narrow way.
If I were to look at most Baptists’ lives today, most evangelical life
and we were to reinterpret this text
based on what I see in the lives of professing Christians,
I would have to say this:
The gate is narrow
but the way is broad that leads to life.
My dear friend, a person is saved through faith in Jesus Christ
but most people today are not trusting in Christ.
They’re trusting in a decision they made a long time ago.
They’re trusting in the fact
that they passed through certain evangelical hoops
and said yes at every question that was asked them.
Do you know you’re a sinner?
Yes.
Do you want to go to heaven?
Yes.
Do you want to ask Jesus come into your heart?
Yes.
Did you ask him to come into your heart?
Yes.
Then, you’re saved.
That is not scriptural at all.
It is not found in scripture at all.
It’s not found in church history at all,
but it is the way we do evangelism today.
And that is why the great majority of people in America
and in the church believed themselves saved
when in fact they are not.
And they prove they are
not because although they claim
to have walked through that one small gate,
they live in the broad way.
They look like the world.
They act like the world.
They talk like the world.
And their lifestyle will be the very thing
that condemns them on the day of judgment.”
In a sermon, RC Sproul said;
Please click here to view the 1-minute video:
“This is the teaching of the Lord Jesus
and He sets before His disciples two contrasts.
A narrow way and a broad way.
Or a straight way and a narrow door.
A wide way and a broad door.
And the other contrast is with respect
to the number of those who go each way.
Those who go the broad way
that lead to destruction are many.
Those who go the straight way
to the narrow gate are few.
Here’s what I hear Jesus saying
that most if not the vast majority of human beings
that you know and that I know
are on their way to hell.
And if they were to die tonight,
would go to hell.”
In ‘The Message of the Sermon on the Mount by John Stott,’
John Stott wrote:
“Yet others, perhaps the most pernicious (evil or wicked) of all,
dare to contradict Jesus
and to assert that the broad road
does not lead to destruction…
and that even the broad and the narrow roads,
although they lead off in opposite directions,
ultimately both end in life (eternal life).
No wonder Jesus likened such false teachers
to ravenous wolves,
not so much because they are greedy for gain,
prestige or power (though they often are),
but because they are ‘ferocious’ (NIV),
that is, extremely dangerous.
They are responsible for leading some people
to the very destruction
which they say does not exist.
They are more than dangerous;
they are also deceptive.”
George Ong’s comments:
Are you aware that John Stott
was speaking prophetically (negatively)
into Joseph Prince’s heretical teaching on Matthew 7:13-14
when he wrote the above.
This is because what John Stott wrote
was exactly what Joseph Prince said in his video.
If John Stott were alive today,
I’m sure he would reprimand Joseph Prince
“You are
‘the most pernicious (evil or wicked) of all,’
who
‘dare to contradict Jesus
and to assert that the broad road
does not lead to destruction…”
John Stott further said:
“No wonder Jesus likened such false teachers
to ravenous wolves,
not so much because they are greedy for gain,
prestige or power (though they often are),
but because they are ‘ferocious’ (NIV),
that is, extremely dangerous.
They are responsible for leading some people
to the very destruction
which they say does not exist.
They are more than dangerous;
they are also deceptive.”
If John Stott had prophetically sounded the warning
against Joseph Prince, the ravenous wolf
lest you be destroyed,
it would be foolish of you
not to take heed of his warning.
In ‘Studies in the Sermon on the Mount,’
Martyn Lloyd-Jones said:
“Above all He stresses the absolute finality of the judgment,
and the consequences that follow upon it.
He has already told us in verses 13 and 14
why we should enter in at the strait gate.
The reason is, He says,
that the other gate is a broad one
which ‘leadeth to destruction’,
the destruction that follows the final judgment upon the ungodly.
Our Lord, clearly, was so concerned about this
that He continually repeats it.
… Our Lord, then, reminds us again of these things,
first of all, by putting before us two special warnings.
The first is this one about the false prophets.
‘Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.’
The picture which we should hold in our minds
is something like this.
Here we are, as it were, standing outside this strait gate.
We have heard the Sermon,
we have listened to the exhortation,
and we are considering what to do about it.
‘Now,’ says our Lord in effect, ‘at that point’
one of the things you have to beware of most especially
is the danger of listening to false prophets.
They are always there, they are always present,
just outside that strait gate.
That is their favourite stand.
… The false prophet is a man who comes to us,
and who at first has the appearance
of being everything that could be desired.
He is nice and pleasing and pleasant;
he appears to be thoroughly Christian,
and seems to say the right things.
His teaching in general is quite all right
and he uses many terms that should be used
and employed by a true Christian teacher.
He talks about God,
he talks about Jesus Christ,
he talks about the cross,
he emphasizes the love of God,
he seems to be saying everything that a Christian should say.
He is obviously in sheep’s clothing,
and his way of living seems to correspond.
So, you do not suspect that there is anything wrong at all;
there is nothing that at once
attracts your attention or arouses your suspicion,
nothing glaringly wrong.
… That is the only way to understand rightly
this picture of the false prophets.
The false prophet is a man
who has no ‘strait gate’ or ‘narrow way’
in his gospel.
(George Ong’s interjection:
Martyn Lloyd-Jones has accurately described the false prophet Joseph Prince.
While Jesus teaches that the narrow way leads to eternal life,
Joseph Prince contradicted Jesus point blank
and said that the life that the narrow way leads to,
is not eternal life but this earthly life.)
He has nothing which is offensive to the natural man;
he pleases all. He is in ‘sheep’s clothing’,
so attractive, so pleasant, so nice to look at.
He has such a nice and comfortable and comforting message.
He pleases everybody and everybody speaks well of him.
… The false prophet is always a very comforting preacher.
As you listen to him
he always gives you the impression
that there is not very much wrong.
… In the same way it does not emphasize repentance
in any real sense.
(George Ong’s interjection:
Again, Lloyd-Jones was spot on when he said that a false prophet does not stress repentance.
This is the doctrine of Joseph Prince, who preaches a no-repentance gospel.)
It has a very wide gate leading to salvation
and a very broad way leading to heaven.
You need not feel much of your own sinfulness;
you need not be aware of the blackness of your own heart.
You just ‘decide for Christ’ and you rush in with the crowd,
and your name is put down,
and is one of the large number of ‘decisions’
reported by the press.
… Those are some of the characteristics of these false prophets
that come to us in sheep’s clothing.
They offer an easy salvation,
and an easy type of life always.
They discourage self-examination;
indeed, they almost feel that to examine oneself is heresy.
They tell you not to examine your own soul.
You must always `look to Jesus’,
and never at yourself,
that you may discover your sin.
They discourage what the Bible encourages us to do,
to ‘examine’ ourselves, to ‘prove our own selves’,
and to face this last section of the Sermon on the Mount.
They dislike the process of self-examination
and mortification of sin as taught by the Puritans,
and those great leaders of the eighteenth century
– not only Whitefield and Wesley and Jonathan Edwards,
but also the saintly John Fletcher,
who put twelve questions to himself every night
as he retired to bed.
It does not believe in that, for that is uncomfortable.
It is an easy salvation and easy Christian living.
… The last danger is the terrible one
of playing grace against law
and thereby being interested only in grace.
(George Ong’s comments:
This is the core of Joseph Prince’s heretical and Antinomian teaching,
that with the advent of grace,
law is to be chucked out the window as it is under the Old Covenant.)
There is no saving doctrine at all apart from the doctrine of grace;
but we must beware lest we hide ourselves behind it in a wrong way.”
George Ong’s comments:
Martyn Lloyd-Jones said:
“They (false Prophets) offer an easy salvation,
and an easy type of life always.
They discourage self-examination;
indeed, they almost feel that to examine oneself is heresy.
They tell you not to examine your own soul.
You must always `look to Jesus’,
and never at yourself,
that you may discover your sin.”
This is precisely what Joseph Prince teaches when he wrote:
“Stop examining yourself and searching your heart for sin.” (Destined To Reign)
“Now, if God is not examining you today, why are you still struggling in self-occupation and relentlessly examining your own thoughts, emotions, failures, and shortcomings? Trust me, the longer you examine yourself, the more you will find imperfections, blemishes, spots, and wrinkles.” (The Power of Right Believing)
George Ong’ comments:
Martyn Lloyd-Jones has given 5 characteristics
within a short span of his article on false prophets
and they perfectly fit that of Joseph Prince’s heretical teachings.
I am absolutely sure the Singapore Methodist Bishop
and the Singapore Presbyterian Pastor
know the credentials of Martyn Lloyd-Jones.
If Martyn Lloyd-Jones were alive today,
he would not hesitate to declare Joseph Prince to be a false prophet.
If that is so, why did the Singapore Methodist Bishop
and the Singapore Presbyterian Pastor
say that Joseph Prince is not a heretic?
In ‘Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount And His Confrontation with the World,’
DA Carson wrote:
“How, then, are we to recognize these wolves in sheep’s clothing (Matt 7:15)?
Many suggestions for unmasking them
are scattered throughout the Scriptures,
but only two are in view here.
The first is based on a contextual observation.
Within the context of the Sermon on the Mount,
the false prophet can only be someone
who does not advocate the narrow way presented by Jesus.
He may not be wildly heretical in other areas;
indeed, he may set himself up
as a staunch defender of orthodoxy.
But the way which he commends
is not narrow or disturbing,
and therefore, he can gain quite a hearing.
… It is even possible in some instances
that everything these false prophets say is true;
but because they leave out the difficult bits,
they do not tell the whole truth,
and their total message is false.”
George Ong’s comments:
What DA Carson had written
aptly describes the modus operandi of Joseph Prince
and explains why Prince is so deceptive,
that even many experienced and seasoned Pastors,
who are true shepherds, are themselves deceived.
Indeed, Prince preaches many things that are true
and he has strategically positioned himself
as a preacher of the true gospel and the Christian faith.
Although Prince’s teachings contain many truths,
they are half-truths,
and many of Prince’s teachings, which are truths,
are also mixed and contaminated with errors at the same time.
That is why believers, including many Pastors
that I have personally come across,
have been deceived that Prince isn’t a heretic.
This is because while these Pastors
are elated at the many truths (half-truths, really)
that Prince dishes out,
they are blinded by the errors that Prince ‘smuggles in’.
Mixing errors into truths
is no different from adding a little poison
into a glass of water.
Just a drop of poison
would contaminate the whole glass of water.
Once contaminated,
the entire glass of water would have to be disposed of
into the rubbish chute,
as it is no longer fit for human consumption.
Not even a single bit of the water
can be drunk without being poisoned.
In the same way,
just a little error of heresy
is lethal enough to contaminate the whole doctrine,
even though it may contain many truths.
And because the whole doctrine is now poisoned with errors,
it can no longer be accepted as truth,
as whatever is being preached
has already been corrupted and distorted.
Let me, again, surface Carson’s quotes
so you can deeply reflect on them:
“He may not be wildly heretical in other areas;
indeed, he may set himself up
as a staunch defender of orthodoxy.
… It is even possible in some instances
that everything these false prophets say is true;
but because they leave out the difficult bits,
they do not tell the whole truth,
and their total message is false.”
In ‘The Narrow Way by Arthur W. Pink,’
Arthur Pink wrote:
“Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it” – Matthew 7:13-14
… He (Jesus) acknowledged and faithfully warned them that
there was a “wide gate” soliciting their entrance,
and a “broad road” inviting them to walk therein;
but that gate leads to perdition,
that road ends in Hell.
The “strait gate” is the only gate to “life,”
the “narrow way” is the only one
which conducts to heaven.
… In the verses which are now to be before us,
Christ defined and described the way of salvation,
though we (sorrowfully) admit
that modern evangelists rarely expound it.
(George Ong’s interjection:
What Joseph Prince did was worse;
he altered Jesus’ teaching and God’s word
and preached against what Jesus taught
on the narrow road to eternal life
and the broad road to eternal destruction.)
… All who enter this narrow gate
gain admittance to that “way” which “leadeth unto life;”
but all who enter not by this narrow gate,
are eternally barred from God’s presence.
… Those words do not picture salvation
as a thing of simple and easy attainment.
Ponder also Christ’s emphatic exhortation in Luke 13:24
“Strive to enter in at the strait gate.”
… Now notice, carefully,
the very next thing which immediately followed our Lord’s reference
to the two ways in Matthew 7:
“Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves” (Mat 7:15).
Why does this come in next?
Who are the “false prophets”
against which a serious soul needs to be on his guard?
They are those who teach
that heaven may be reached
without treading the narrow way!
They are those who loudly insist that eternal life
may be obtained on much easier terms.
They come in “sheep’s clothing:”
they appear (to undiscerning souls)
to exalt Christ, to emphasize His precious blood,
to magnify God’s grace.
But they do not insist upon repentance…”
George Ong’s comments:
What Arthur Pink said:
“They come in “sheep’s clothing:”
they appear (to undiscerning souls)
to exalt Christ, to emphasize His precious blood,
to magnify God’s grace.
But they do not insist upon repentance…”
is exactly what Joseph Prince teaches.
Joseph Prince supposedly preaches on God’s grace;
but it is not the true grace of the Bible but Pseudo-grace,
and he also preaches against repentance;
that salvation can be obtained without it.
In ‘The New Testament, Spurgeon’s Sermons By Each Book.’
Charles Spurgeon said:
“You will never go to Heaven in a crowd!
The crowd goes down the broad road to destruction,
but the way which leads to life eternal is a narrow way,
“and few there are that find it.”
They that go to Heaven must come out one by one…
They who would enter into life must fight as well as run,
for it is an uphill fight all the way
– and few there are that fight it out to the end
and win the crown of the victors.
… Each path is peculiar in some respects,
yet there is but one road,
and that is the narrow way
that leads to eternal life.”
In ‘Hard to Believe, The High Cost and Infinite Value of Following Jesus,’
John MacArthur wrote:
“What He said in verse 58 was,
“Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”
Jesus didn’t say,
“Follow Me, and you will be happy, you will be healthy, wealthy, prosperous, and successful.”
He said,
“Just know this: I don’t have any place to lay My head. Discipleship is going to cost you whatever you have. Don’t expect comfort and ease.”
… Following Jesus is not about you and me.
Being a Christian is not about us;
it’s not about our self-esteem.
It’s about our being sick of our sin
and our desperation for forgiveness.
It is about seeing Christ as the priceless Savior from sin and death and hell,
so that we willingly give up as much as it takes,
even if it costs us our families, our marriages,
and whatever else we cherish and possess.
It might even cost us our lives,
as Jesus said in Luke 9:24 and reaffirmed in 14:27:
“And whoever does not bear his cross” – that is, be willing to die and give his life – “and come after Me cannot be My disciple.”
It can’t be any clearer than that.
If you try to hold onto you, your plan, your agenda, your success, your self-esteem,
you lose forgiveness and heaven.
In John 12:24, Jesus said,
“Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.”
In other words,
“If you’re going to be fruitful in following Me,”
Jesus says,
“it’s going to cost you your life. You’re going to have to die.”
Verse 25:
“He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.”
The path that Jesus was going down
was the path to persecution and death.
So, you want to follow Jesus, do you?
It’ll cost you absolutely everything.
The Lord might not take your life.
He might not take all your money.
He might not take your family or your spouse.
He might not take your job.
But you need to be willing to give it all up,
if that’s what He asks.
You need to be desperate enough
to embrace Christ no matter what the price.
If you want to follow Christ right into heaven,
here’s the message:
Deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Him.
Do you hear that in the contemporary gospel?
Do you ever hear that in a message
a television preacher or an evangelist gives?
Do you ever hear anybody stand up in a crowd and say,
“If you want to become a Christian, slay yourself! Refuse to associate any longer with yourself, reject all the things your self longs and wants and hopes for! Be willing to die for the sake of Christ, if required, and while living slavishly, submit in obedience to Jesus Christ!”
That doesn’t sell!
That’s not smart marketing.
It’s a message that’s hard to believe,
because self-denial is so hard to do.
It just happens to be the truth.
So, what do you want to do?
According to lots of churches and preachers,
the answer is to popularize the gospel:
get rid of all this slaying yourself
and carrying-your-cross stuff,
and get a decent band up there on the stage.
Tell everybody God wants him to be happy
and successful and full of self-esteem.
The only problem is that saying those things
gives people who don’t know any better
the illusion they’re saved, when they’re not.
And someday, when they face Christ, they’re going to say,
“Lord, Lord!”
and He’s going to say, “Depart from Me. I never knew you” (see Matt. 7:23).
What’s a good band worth then?
About as much as healthy self-esteem.
Mankind wants glory.
We want health.
We want wealth.
We want happiness.
We want all our felt needs met,
all our little human itches scratched.
We want a painless life.
We want the crown without the cross.
We want the gain without the pain.
We want the words of Christian salvation to be easy.
That’s how people think.
… Listening to a… preacher today,
we’re likely to think it’s easy to be a Christian.
Just say these little words, pray this little prayer,
and poof! you’re in the club.
According to the Bible, it doesn’t work that way.
In Matthew 7:13 during the Sermon on the Mount,
Jesus admonished His followers,
“Enter by the narrow gate.”
The connotation of “narrow” here is constricted.
It’s a very, very tight squeeze.
We can’t carry anything through it;
we come through with nothing.
“People are breezing through those wide, comfortable, inviting gates with all their baggage,
their self-needs, their self-esteem, and their desire for fulfillment and self-satisfaction.
And the most horrible thing about it is they think they’re going to heaven.
And somebody thinks he’s done them a big favor
by coming up with a consumer-friendly gospel
about which everybody feels good.
But that gospel is a false gospel, a treacherous lie.
That easy-access gate doesn’t go to heaven.
It says “Heaven,”
but it ends up in hell.
“Because narrow is the gate,”
Jesus said in Matthew 7:14,
“and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.”
… According to Jesus,
it’s very, very difficult to be saved.
At the end of Matthew 7:14,
He said of the narrow gate,
“There are few who find it.”
I don’t believe anyone ever slipped and fell into the kingdom of God.
That’s cheap grace, easy-believism,
Christianity Lite, a shallow, emotional revivalist approach:
“I believe in Jesus!”
“Fine, you’re part of the family, come on in!”
No.
… One of Satan’s pervasive lies in the world today
is that it’s easy to become a Christian.
It’s not easy at all.
It’s a very narrow gate that you must find and go through alone,
anguished over your sinfulness and longing for forgiveness.
Somebody might say this sounds like the religion of human achievement.
Not so.
When you come to brokenness,
the recognition that you, of yourself,
cannot make it through the narrow gate,
then Christ pours into you grace upon grace
to strengthen you for that entrance.
In your brokenness,
His power becomes your resource.
Our part is to admit our sin and inability
and plead for mercy and power from on high.”
In ‘Hard to Believe, The High Cost and Infinite Value of Following Jesus,’
John MacArthur wrote:
“Thy life in my death”?
That’s the true gospel.
Jesus said it unmistakably and inescapably,
“If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it” (Matt. 16:24–25).
It’s not about exalting me,
it’s about slaying me.
It’s the death of self.
You win by losing;
you live by dying.
And that is the heart message of the gospel.
That is the essence of discipleship.
The passage mentions nothing about improving your self-esteem,
being rich and successful, feeling good about yourself,
or having your felt needs met,
which is what so many churches are preaching these days
in order to sugarcoat the truth.
So, who’s right?
Is the message of Christianity self-fulfillment, or is it self-denial?
It can’t be both.
… Then He said to them all (Lk 9:23-26),
“If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father’s, and of the holy angels.”
It’s pretty simple.
Anyone who wants to come after Jesus into the kingdom of God
– anyone who wants to be a Christian
– has to face three commands:
1) deny himself,
2) take up his cross daily,
and 3) follow Him.
… But this is not an obscure passage,
or something different from other teachings of Jesus.
These are principles that He taught
consistently and repeatedly throughout His ministry,
over and over again in all different settings.
This is not news.
When Martin Luther launched the Protestant Reformation in 1517
by posting his Ninety-five Theses on the door at Wittenberg,
he affirmed in the fourth thesis that salvation required self-hate.
He wrote that
“self-hate remains right up to entrance into the kingdom of heaven.”
The original Greek word for “deny” means “to refuse to associate with.”
The thought is that if you want to be Christ’s disciple,
and receive forgiveness and eternal life,
you must refuse to associate any longer with the person you are!
You are sick of your sinful self and want nothing to do with you anymore.
And it may mean not just you, but your family.”
In ‘Be Loyal Following The King of Kings, NT Commentary Matthew,’
Warren Wiersbe wrote:
“The two ways (vv. 13–14, Matt 7).
These are, of course,
the way to heaven and the way to hell.
The broad way is the easy way; it is the popular way.
But we must not judge spiritual profession by statistics;
the majority is not always right.
The fact that “everybody does it”
is no proof that what they are doing is right.
Quite the contrary is true:
God’s people have always been a remnant,
a small minority in this world.
The reason is not difficult to discover:
The way of life is narrow, lonely, and costly.
We can walk on the broad way
and keep our “baggage” of sin and worldliness.
But if we enter the narrow way,
we must give up those things.
Here, then, is the first test:
Did your profession of faith in Christ cost you anything?
If not, then it was not a true profession.
Many people who “trust” Jesus Christ
never leave the broad road with its appetites and associations.
They have an easy Christianity
that makes no demands on them.
Yet Jesus said that the narrow way is hard.
We cannot walk on two roads,
in two different directions, at the same time.”
In ‘The Dangers of a Shallow Faith, Awakening from Spiritual Lethargy,’
AW Tozer wrote:
“Jesus said,
“If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26).
You must be sober and prayerfully beware the world’s propagandas.
Do not sell yourself, and do not allow yourself
to be slowly reasoned into wrong
by the counsel of the ungodly.
Better to be a radical on the right side
than weak on the wrong side.
Better go too far than not far enough.
When the world says,
“Oh, you’re narrow,”
you say,
“Maybe I am narrow,
but the way is narrow,
and the path to heaven isn’t as broad
as a 16- lane highway.
You know why I am too narrow?
I’m walking with my God.”
In conclusion,
you have seen how these 10 renowned Bible teachers
contradicted Joseph Prince’s teaching when he said
that ‘life’ in Matthew 7:14
does not refer to eternal life
but this earthly life;
and ‘destruction’ in Matthew 7:13
does not refer to eternal destruction
but financial, marital, emotional and physical destruction.
Mind you, if not for the constraint of space,
I can muster at least 30 more renowned Bible teachers
who hold the same position as the 10 who are already featured,
and who are against Joseph Prince’s position on Matthew 7:13-14.
I can also confidently say that no true evangelical scholar or commentator worth their salt
throughout the history of the Christian Church
has ever interpreted Matthew 7:13-14 the same way as Joseph Prince did.
What does this prove?
This goes to show that Joseph Prince is indeed a Lone Ranger.
I can also confidently say that no Singapore Pastor,
including the Singapore Methodist Bishop
and the Singapore Presbyterian Pastor
would dare to endorse such a doctrine of Joseph Prince.
“Hey Joe, so how?
Make sure you reply through your Hey Bro messages this Sunday, okay.
I’m looking forward to hearing them.
Don’t be a coward and keep silent like a poor Church Mouse.
Be brave and speak up like your favourite Mickey Mouse to defend your stand,
especially on what grounds did you have the right
to alter Jesus’ message in Matthew 7:13-14, okay.
To prove that you are not a Lone Ranger,
can you tell us which Singapore Pastor (from other churches)
are you in regular fellowship with?
Fair question, right?”
Rev George Ong