Joseph Prince the King of Hypocrites (Prosperity Gospel) – the sin that Jesus hates
– By Rev George Ong (Dated 19 Oct 2024)
Announcements:
There are 6 videos on Joseph Prince
& don’t miss John Stott’s insights
on the hypocrisy of false teachers,
such as Joseph Prince.
Please see the Appendix for my proof
that many of Joseph Prince’s ardent supporters
are liars.
Excerpt from the Article:
But the more crucial issue is this
– how could Joseph Prince
not be pricked in his conscience
about his hypocrisy
when he does the same things over and over again
– breaking the same rules
about interpreting a text in its context
that he strongly advocates?
John Stott in his commentary of 1 Timothy 4:1-2
gives us a vital clue and could shed some light on this.
In ‘The Bible Speaks Today,
The Message of 1 Timothy & Titus,’
John Stott wrote (1 Timothy 4:1-2):
1 Timothy 4:1-2 NIV
The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. 2 Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.
“… Those who abandon the faith do so
because they have been ‘paying attention to’ (NRSV)
or follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.
Thus, in the same verse
Paul refers both to the Holy Spirit
and to evil spirits or demons.
For behind the false teachers
he sees the activity of demonic forces.
Speaking himself (Timothy) under the influence of the Spirit of truth
he declares the false teachers
to be under the influence of deceiving spirits.
We tend not to take this fact sufficiently seriously.
Scripture portrays the devil not only as the tempter,
enticing people into sin,
but also as the deceiver,
seducing people into error.
… And the apostles regularly attributed
human error to devilish deceit.
Is this not why intelligent and educated people
can swallow the fantastic speculations
of the cults and of New Age paganism,
some of the far-fetched doctrines…
It is because there is not only a Spirit of truth
but also a spirit of falsehood,
who is able to delude, drug, bewitch
and even blind people.
Secondly, error has a human cause.
The devil does not usually deceive people direct.
‘Demon-inspired doctrines’ (REB)
gain an entry into the world and the church
through human agents.
Such teachings come through hypocritical liars (V2a),
or literally ‘by means of the hypocrisy of liars’.
It is a terrible combination of words,
since hypocrisy is a deliberate pretence
and a lie a deliberate falsehood.
So then false teachers,
although seduced by deceiving spirits,
are themselves intentional deceivers…
The third and basic cause of error is moral.
For the hypocritical lies of the false teachers
are now traced back to the violation of their consciences,
which have been seared as with a hot iron.
The verb kaustēriazō,
which occurs only here in the New Testament,
means to ‘brand with a red-hot iron’ (BAGD).
It was used of the branding of cattle and slaves,
in order to establish their ownership.
Most commentators opt for this interpretation
and suppose that somehow
the false teachers have been branded
as the property of Satan.
… When skin, a nerve or a superficial tumour
is cauterized,
it is destroyed by burning and so rendered insensitive.
Just so, a cauterized conscience
has been ‘anaesthetized’, even deadened.
‘By constantly arguing with conscience,
stifling its warnings and muffling its bell’,
its voice is smothered and eventually silenced.
In that state of moral insensibility
false teachers easily fall prey to error.
Paul has already mentioned
Hymenaeus and Alexander as examples.
By rejecting their conscience
they ‘shipwrecked their faith’ (1 Timothy 1:19).
The grim sequence of events
in the career of the false teachers
has now been revealed.
First, they turned a deaf ear to their conscience,
until it became cauterized.
Next, they felt no scruple in becoming hypocritical liars.
Thirdly, they thus exposed themselves
to the influence of deceiving spirits.
Finally, they led their listeners to abandon the faith.
It is a perilous downward path
from the deaf ear and the cauterized conscience
to the deliberate lie,
the deception of demons
and the ruination of others.
It begins when we tamper with our conscience.
Instead, we need to say with Paul:
‘I strive always to keep my conscience
clear before God and man.’(Acts 24:16)”
George Ong’ comments:
First, John Stott mentions
that false teachers (like Joseph Prince)
are under the influence of demonic spirits
and they belong to the property of Satan himself.
This is why I have time and again said that Joseph Prince is acting under the influence of Satan, or he is the son of the devil, and I have a scriptural basis for it.
As such, as John Stott said
that even intelligent and educated people
can be bewitched, blinded and deceived
by these powerful demons.
Can you now understand why even University professors, leaders of the corporate world, and even Pastors can be deceived by Joseph Prince. The reason is not just that people in New Creation Church don’t read their Bibles. Yes, it is one cause but not the only cause of deception.
Second, John Stott called these false teachers
as hypocritical liars as Timothy did.
As I have proven time and again, and especially in this article, Joseph Prince is a serial hypocrite as he constantly exhorts preachers to preach in context when he himself flouts his own rule. He also lied repeatedly and unrepentantly that he preaches in context when he didn’t.
Third, John Stott said
that the hypocritical lies of the false teachers,
(such as Joseph Prince)
can be traced back to the hardening of their consciences,
which have been seared as with a hot iron.
Now, I hope you can understand why Joseph Prince can lie and act hypocritically with a straight face and without even a tinge of guilt because he has seared and hardened his conscience time and again, that it has reached a point of no return.
(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.)
In a sermon on 13 Oct 2024, 6 days ago,
Joseph Prince said;
“Whatever I do, I show the word for it,
and the context, especially.
I don’t take verses out of context.”
In a sermon on 15 Sep 2024, a month ago,
Joseph Prince said;
“If you are a hypocrite,
and you come to the Lord,
and you are a hypocrite;
that’s why Jesus hates this sin of hypocrisy.
He hates it.”
So, in the sermon on 13 Oct 2024, 6 days ago,
Joseph Prince claimed that he preaches in context.
And in the sermon on 15 Sep 2024, a month ago,
Joseph Prince preached against hypocrites
as he said that Jesus hates the sin of hypocrisy.
If you have followed my website faithfully,
you will have known
that Joseph Prince is lying through his teeth
as he is the one who preaches out of context constantly.
And you would also have known
that Joseph Prince is a hypocrite
because while he keeps on telling us
that we must preach in context,
he is the one who keeps preaching out of context.
There are many proofs that I have marshalled
on this website,
but let me just show you one proof.
In a Sunday sermon, Joseph Prince said;
“‘(Luke 5:4-7) We caught no fish. We toiled all night.’
‘You carpenter, we fishermen, experienced fishermen.’
‘Throw your net on the right side.’
‘Right side, left side, we tried every side,
we know this lake.
But because you say so,’
Peter said that.
‘I’ll throw the net.’
And this time, he threw the net,
he cannot pull
because there was such a great catch, throng of fishes.
Until finally, he pulled it.
The nets began to break.
He never prepared the net that tight
because he never could imagine a harvest that much.
And finally, the guys finally get into the boats
and other boats came to help.
The boats began to sink at the weight of it.
So that tells us how the Lord provides.
I don’t know how people
who are against prosperity that God does prosper,
preach that.
God give you one fish.
God supplies what you need not what you want.
They rewrite the Bible.”
Joseph Prince is able to deceive many people
because he takes Luke 5:4-7
out of its context of Luke 5:4-11,
particularly Luke 5:8-11:
Luke 5:4-11 NIV
4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.” 5 Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.” 6 When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. 7 So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.
8 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” 9 For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, 10 and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners. Then Jesus said to Simon,
“Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.” 11 So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.
As usual, Joseph Prince is employing the half-truth ploy
to deceive you
– something which he has committed countless times,
and something which I have mentioned so frequently.
Joseph Prince tells you the half-truth
about how Jesus prospered Peter and others
with a whole load of fish in Luke 5:4-7,
but he keeps from you
the other more important half of the truth
that the whole point of Jesus’ miracle of the fish,
was not to make them prosper
but to make them ‘poorer’
when they had to leave everything
to follow Jesus in Luke 5:11.
Jesus seemed to be saying to Peter (and the rest):
“Why do I allow you to experience the best catch of fish
when I tell you to let down your nets (Lk 5:4-7)?
To bless you with prosperity?
No!
To illustrate from the netloads of fish
that you will have a mighty harvest of souls
as you catch men (Lk 5:9-10).
But to do that,
you have to give up everything to follow me (Lk 5:11).”
After Jesus had spoken to them
about his purpose for performing the miracle,
Luke 5:11 tells us,
11 So they pulled their boats up on shore,
left everything and followed him.
So, this story is not about
how Jesus came to prosper Peter and how to get rich.
On the contrary,
it is about how to free Peter and us
from riches, possessions and prosperity
by giving up everything
in order to follow Christ.
It is not about how to enjoy a prosperous lifestyle
but how to live a simple lifestyle
– that when we give up everything,
we have to make do with the barest minimum
of not what we want
but what we need
in our quest of following Jesus.
So, if one has not read the entire context of Luke 5:4-11
and dwell on only Luke 5:4-7
that Joseph Prince has craftily done
and wants us to focus on,
he will deceive you
that this passage is talking about prosperity.
But if you have read
the entire context of this passage
in Luke 5:4-11, especially Luke 5:8-11,
you will not be deceived
about what Joseph Prince tried to make of this text.
You would realise that the purpose of Jesus
was not to bless Peter and the rest with prosperity
with the abundant supply of fish,
but that He has really come to teach and empower Peter
and the rest to win souls by being fishers of men.
Not only had Peter to leave everything,
his fishing profession and all the fish,
he even had to leave his earthly life behind,
through martyrdom,
when he was crucified upside down (according to church history) (Jn 21:18-19).
So, this passage is not talking about
the Prosperity Gospel of getting everything
that Joseph Prince is constantly pushing for,
but about the costly discipleship
of giving up everything (Lk 5:11),
which Joseph Prince is constantly preaching against.
It is not about Jesus providing and prospering Peter
with more than enough fish (or finances or business opportunities, etc)
but about Jesus promising him
that he will catch many people and win them to Christ
‘that the nets began to break and the boats began to sink’ (Lk 5:6-7,10).
It is not so much about Jesus promising Peter
a netload full of fish
but a netload full of souls (Lk 5:6-7,10).
It is not so much that Peter
would continue his fishing career
because Jesus had blessed him with so many fish,
but that Peter would terminate
and put an end to his profession as a fisherman
and take on a new and higher calling
to be fishers of men in Luke 5:10.
Chances are that they didn’t even pause
to count the netloads of fish that Jesus gave them.
They left everything,
including their fishing boats and the netloads of fish
they had just caught.
What cannot be stomached
is Joseph Prince’s false and toxic accusation
that he has levelled against his critics
when Joseph Prince said;
“I don’t how people who are against prosperity
that God does prosper, preach that.
“God give you one fish.
God supplies what you need not what you want.
They rewrite the Bible.”
Joseph Prince is falsely accusing those
who are against his Prosperity Gospel
for rewriting the Bible
when he is the real culprit who is guilty of it.
For Joseph Prince not to admit
that he is one who is the real culprit of rewriting the Bible
is bad enough.
But for Prince to go one lethal step further
and falsely accusing his critics
of the same deed that he is guilty of
is evil to the core.
What is worse is that
Joseph Prince keeps championing the idea passionately
in his sermons and books
that any passage must be interpreted in its context.
Yet, he has broken this rule time and again.
In several sermons, Joseph Prince said;
“So, keep the book in its context.
The whole thing is in context.
I love to preach in context.
He calls them ‘brother’, okay, context.
My friend, the whole context; context is king.
Never take a verse out of its context.
Context. Look at what preceded before.
I just showed you that. Context is king.
But you must read everything in its context.
You take a verse, a text out of its context;
you take the text out from the context,
you left the con. Alright,
that’s how people con people, right; that the Bible says that.
No, you must read everything in its context.”
In ‘Destined to Reign’, Joseph Prince wrote,
“Let me give you a Bible study tip: When you read the Bible, be sure to read everything within its context because when you take the “text” out of its “context”, what you are left with is a “con”! Many believers are hoodwinked into believing “cons” and erroneous teachings when something is lifted and taught out of its context.”
In ‘Destined to Reign’, Joseph Prince wrote,
“I hope that by now, you can see the dangers of lifting the Word of God out of its context. We have to be careful not to take a verse out of its context and build a teaching or doctrine around it. Bible teachings have to be confirmed by several supporting verses and these have to be studied within their proper contexts.”
In ‘Destined to Reign’, Joseph Prince wrote,
“It is important to always read Bible verses in their context. Many people end up misinterpreting Bible verses because they fail to do this. One way to read Bible verses in their context (and this is a key Bible interpretation principle) is to identify who the verses are talking about.”
In ‘Unmerited Favour’, Joseph Prince wrote,
“One of the things that I always remind my Church is this: Always read a verse in its context because when you take the “text” out of its “context,” it becomes a con! Don’t let anyone con you out of God’s blessings in your life.”
In ‘Unmerited Favor’, Joseph Prince wrote,
“When reading the Bible, always look at the context of the verses. When you take the “text” and interpret it out of its “context,” all you are left with is a “con”! So don’t be conned. Read everything in its context.”
Joseph Prince would write in his books
and preach in his sermons
about the hypocrisy of taking a verse out of its context
– when the disturbing truth is,
he is the one who regularly does it
and the chief culprit who is guilty of it.
But what insincerity and pretense
when Joseph Prince blatantly breaks the same rules
that he is asking others to observe
without batting an eyelid.
What do you call a man
who keeps breaking the same rules
that he strongly advocates?
What do you call a person
who commits the same error
repeatedly and unrepentantly
that he is constantly warning others of?
What do you call a preacher
who accuses others of being a con man
when he is the guiltiest of them all?
– A hypocrite pure and simple.
And hypocrisy is a serious character issue.
Hypocrisy is what Jesus cursed and condemned
the Pharisees for 6 times in Matthew 23.
No hypocrite, such as Joseph Prince
can ever be a true teacher of God’s word
and a Christ-centred preacher.
But the more crucial issue is this
– how could Joseph Prince
not be pricked in his conscience
about his hypocrisy
when he does the same things over and over again
– breaking the same rules
about interpreting a text in its context
that he strongly advocates?
John Stott in his commentary of 1 Timothy 4:1-2
gives us a vital clue and could shed some light on this.
In ‘The Bible Speaks Today,
The Message of 1 Timothy & Titus,’
John Stott wrote (1 Timothy 4:1-2):
1 Timothy 4:1-2 NIV
The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. 2 Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.
“… Those who abandon the faith do so
because they have been ‘paying attention to’ (NRSV)
or follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.
Thus, in the same verse
Paul refers both to the Holy Spirit
and to evil spirits or demons.
For behind the false teachers
he sees the activity of demonic forces.
Speaking himself (Timothy) under the influence of the Spirit of truth
he declares the false teachers
to be under the influence of deceiving spirits.
We tend not to take this fact sufficiently seriously.
Scripture portrays the devil not only as the tempter,
enticing people into sin,
but also as the deceiver,
seducing people into error.
… And the apostles regularly attributed
human error to devilish deceit.
Is this not why intelligent and educated people
can swallow the fantastic speculations
of the cults and of New Age paganism,
some of the far-fetched doctrines…
It is because there is not only a Spirit of truth
but also a spirit of falsehood,
who is able to delude, drug, bewitch
and even blind people.
Secondly, error has a human cause.
The devil does not usually deceive people direct.
‘Demon-inspired doctrines’ (REB)
gain an entry into the world and the church
through human agents.
Such teachings come through hypocritical liars (V2a),
or literally ‘by means of the hypocrisy of liars’.
It is a terrible combination of words,
since hypocrisy is a deliberate pretence
and a lie a deliberate falsehood.
So then false teachers,
although seduced by deceiving spirits,
are themselves intentional deceivers…
The third and basic cause of error is moral.
For the hypocritical lies of the false teachers
are now traced back to the violation of their consciences,
which have been seared as with a hot iron.
The verb kaustēriazō,
which occurs only here in the New Testament,
means to ‘brand with a red-hot iron’ (BAGD).
It was used of the branding of cattle and slaves,
in order to establish their ownership.
Most commentators opt for this interpretation
and suppose that somehow
the false teachers have been branded
as the property of Satan.
… When skin, a nerve or a superficial tumour
is cauterized,
it is destroyed by burning and so rendered insensitive.
Just so, a cauterized conscience
has been ‘anaesthetized’, even deadened.
‘By constantly arguing with conscience,
stifling its warnings and muffling its bell’,
its voice is smothered and eventually silenced.
In that state of moral insensibility
false teachers easily fall prey to error.
Paul has already mentioned
Hymenaeus and Alexander as examples.
By rejecting their conscience
they ‘shipwrecked their faith’ (1 Timothy 1:19).
The grim sequence of events
in the career of the false teachers
has now been revealed.
First, they turned a deaf ear to their conscience,
until it became cauterized.
Next, they felt no scruple
in becoming hypocritical liars.
Thirdly, they thus exposed themselves
to the influence of deceiving spirits.
Finally, they led their listeners to abandon the faith.
It is a perilous downward path
from the deaf ear and the cauterized conscience
to the deliberate lie,
the deception of demons
and the ruination of others.
It begins when we tamper with our conscience.
Instead, we need to say with Paul:
‘I strive always to keep my conscience
clear before God and man.’(Acts 24:16)”
George Ong’ comments:
First, John Stott mentions
that false teachers (like Joseph Prince)
are under the influence of demonic spirits
and they belong to the property of Satan himself.
This is why I have time and again said that Joseph Prince is acting under the influence of Satan, or he is the son of the devil, and I have a scriptural basis for it.
As such, as John Stott said
that even intelligent and educated people
can be bewitched, blinded and deceived
by these powerful demons.
Can you now understand why even University professors, leaders of the corporate world, and even Pastors can be deceived by Joseph Prince. The reason is not just that people in New Creation Church don’t read their Bibles. Yes, it is one cause but not the only cause of deception.
Second, John Stott called these false teachers
as hypocritical liars as Timothy did.
As I have proven time and again, and especially in this article, Joseph Prince is a serial hypocrite as he constantly exhorts preachers to preach in context when he himself flouts his own rule. He also lied repeatedly and unrepentantly that he preaches in context when he didn’t.
Third, John Stott said
that the hypocritical lies of the false teachers,
(such as Joseph Prince)
can be traced back to the hardening of their consciences,
which have been seared as with a hot iron.
Now, I hope you can understand why Joseph Prince can lie and act hypocritically with a straight face and without even a tinge of guilt because he has seared and hardened his conscience time and again, that it has reached a point of no return.
Rev George Ong
Appendix
Many of Joseph Prince’s Ardent Supporters are Liars:
In my last article, I wrote:
“Most of his people are ardent followers
and cult members of Joseph Prince,
and they would go to ridiculous lengths,
even to lie,
to make Joseph Prince succeed.”
In my last Article,
I also featured a sermon that Joseph Prince said;
“And the disciples
were first called ‘Christians’ in Antioch (Acts 11:26).
What are you?
You are not a disciple anymore.
The disciples are now called Christians.
So, He (Holy Spirit) renamed the disciples for the first time.
In Acts again, He (Holy Spirit) named them what?
The disciples were first called ‘Christians’ in Antioch.
So, which is more important?
The disciples the names are changed to Christians.
We should be calling each other sons of God or Christian.”
Yet, an ardent fan of Joseph Prince wrote the following
in the person’s response to that article
in my YouTube channel (not featured but featured here):
@huios974
“If discipleship is no longer required
then Joseph Prince would lose his job…
God did not raise Reverend (George Ong)
to head the ministry of accusation and condemnation.
Who is the accuser of Brethren?
Satan!
Right, smart indeed.”
@huios974
“Mr George Ong, you really good at twisting words.
Who else is the master at twisting words?
Right, the SERPENT.
Joseph Prince did not say discipleship
is no longer required.
He said disciples are now known as CHRISTIANS.”
@huios974
“Mr George Ong you have a deceiving spirit.
Joseph Prince did not say discipleship is not necessary.
He SAID the disciples are now known as Christians.
Either you are operating under a deceiving spirit
or you have very poor understanding
and thus, end up distorting every message.”
This is a blatant lie by @huios974
as Joseph Prince has said:
“What are you?
You are not a disciple anymore.
The disciples are now called Christians.”
This is just one person of the many others (which I didn’t feature)
who is prepared to lie openly for Joseph Prince.
My point is that in the days to come
starting from this Sunday, tomorrow,
more of such lies may be forthcoming
when people testify of their healing,
or when testimonies are read
in the worship services of New Creation Church.