Joseph Prince’s Vision 2022 Is Biblically & Massively Flawed – By Rev George Ong (Dated 6 Jan 2022)
(This article was also sent to Rev Dr Ngoei Foong Nghian, General Secretary, NCCS office, and for the attention of the Executive Committee Members.)
Article 1: Joseph Prince’s Silent & Secret Rapture Is Illogical & Unbiblical.
Article 2: Joseph Prince’s Silent & Secret Rapture Will Bring Untold Disasters & Needless Miseries To The Unbelieving World.
Article 3: Joseph Prince’s Grace Revolution ‘Gospel’ Is Diametrically Opposed to the Great Commission Gospel of Jesus.
Introduction
Last Sunday at the weekly worship service on 2 January, four days ago, Joseph Prince casts his Vision 2022 on YouTube. Joseph Prince said the following; please click here to view excerpts in the one-minute plus video,
“In the near future…
“In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet…” (1 Cor 15:52) For the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed.
Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads… Lk 21:28.
So Jesus says, ‘Lift up your heads and see the signs happening. Your bodily redemption draws near.’
So the rapture is such that He comes the world won’t even know because it will happen in the twinkling of an eye. We will hear His voice, the world won’t. All they know is that we all disappear.
Now after we are raptured, there’ll be people who will believe because of stuff, materials left behind. And then all of a sudden, say, ‘My goodness, what they said is true.’
So I believe there’s gonna be an end-time revival. I want the church to be a church that will reach out beyond its walls. I want everyone to go online to bring this gospel of grace, this glorious gospel of grace and peace to all the four corners of the earth. He wants us to reach as many people as possible because the time is short. God’s heart is for people to hear this wonderful gospel of Jesus Christ.”
In the video, Joseph Prince presented his Vision 2022, and he stated 3 issues:
First, a silent and secret rapture will happen. When it happens, only believers will be aware while the unbelieving world won’t.
Second, after the silent and secret rapture of believers, unbelievers will believe in Jesus.
Third, Joseph Prince then challenges believers to go online to share his gospel of grace, (by making known all his weekly Sunday sermons from 2022 onwards on YouTube to unbelievers, which he shared on 26 December 2021).
My aim is to show that the biblical foundations of Joseph Prince’s Vision 2022 on these 3 above issues are biblically and massively flawed.
Article 1: Joseph Prince’s Silent & Secret Coming Is Illogical & Unbiblical – By Rev George Ong
First, Joseph Prince’s silent and secret coming of Christ (and rapture) when He comes to rapture His saints is totally unbiblical and diametrically opposed to the teachings of scriptures.
On the contrary, the weight of evidence from almost every relevant verse and passage of scripture describes the second coming as global, vivid, loud, sky-spectacular, and unmissable!
So the idea that someone will have to tap a friend on the shoulder and say, “I guess you haven’t heard the latest. That Jesus that our Christian friends have been telling us about came yesterday” – is reaching the peak of absurdity!
Joseph Prince based his silent and secret rapture on 1 Corinthians 15:52 and Luke 21:28:
1 Corinthians 15:51-52 NIV
51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed – 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
Luke 21:28 NIV
28 When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
There is absolutely nothing in the 2 quoted passages that could back up what Joseph Prince said,
“So the rapture is such that He comes the world won’t even know because it will happen in the twinkling of an eye.”
What Joseph Prince said in the above is calculated to deceive. Just because the rapture/resurrection happens “in the twinkling of an eye,” doesn’t mean that these raptured and resurrected bodies would immediately disappear and do not continue to be seen by the unbelieving world after the rapture/resurrection happens “in the twinkling of an eye.”
The fact that the rapture of believers takes place in a moment and whether their bodies continue to stay seen or disappear are 2 separate issues. Joseph Prince, being the crafty guy that he is, has deliberately confounded these 2 issues into one.
If I watch a movie and I saw that a cat was suddenly transformed into a dog, do I have the right to say that just because the cat was transformed into a dog in a split-second, the dog has also disappeared. No! Only if it was stated in the movie script and was being acted out. But when the disappearance of the dog is not even mentioned in the movie script, I have no right to say that just because the cat was transformed into a dog, it has also disappeared.
In the same way, just because the rapture/resurrection happens “in the twinkling of an eye,” doesn’t mean that these raptured and resurrected bodies would immediately disappear.
What is worse is the biblical text is silent on whether these raptured and resurrected bodies would indeed disappear, and furthermore, there are many scriptural proofs that point to the contrary. Joseph Prince has again committed the deplorable act of reading his idea into the text just to prove his doctrine.
Joseph Prince said,
“We will hear His voice, the world won’t. All they know is that we all disappear.”
This, again, is a ploy by Joseph Prince to deceive. 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 didn’t say we will all disappear but “we will all be changed.”
1 Corinthians 15:51-52 NIV
51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed – 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
‘Changed’ simply means we will all be resurrected (the dead in Christ) and be raptured (the last generation of believers living at the time of Christ’s coming). So ‘changed’ – resurrected and raptured is miles apart from to disappear from sight. Joseph Prince has, once again, done the blatant and forbidden thing of adding the word, ‘disappear’ to the word of God.
Next, I want you to compare what Joseph Prince said and what was written in 1 Corinthians 15:51-52:
“So the rapture is such that He comes the world won’t even know because it will happen in the twinkling of an eye.”
1 Corinthians 15:51-52 NIV
51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed – 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
How can the rapture be a silent and secret occurrence that “the world won’t even know” when there is the sounding of the trumpet in the very text that Joseph Prince uses in 1 Corinthians 15:52, “For the trumpet will sound”?
Isn’t this ridiculous! You mean the unbelieving world does not have ears to hear the trumpet sounding? If they can hear the trumpet sounding which comes before the resurrection and rapture, how can they not know when it happens? Scriptures aside for the moment, this is logic 101! Logic alone can convince you that Joseph Prince’s silent and secret rapture is just plain rubbish! This would be elaborated further in another text of 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 in the ensuing discussion.
Furthermore, Luke 21:28, the other text Prince uses,
28 When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near,”
contains nothing that would indicate we will all disappear and that the rapture would be a silent and secret affair that “the world won’t even know”. It just states that our “redemption is drawing near,” meaning our resurrection and rapture will soon happen.
Let me move on to 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17, the other key text that Joseph Prince uses (in his other sermons) to support his secret and silent rapture.
Joseph Prince’s view is that both 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 and 1 Corinthians 15:52, refer to a secret and silent rapture and the invisible coming of Christ. Nobody in the unbelieving world (except believers) sees Him come. Christ comes silently and secretly to take the Church away.
Is it right or proper for a King (like Jesus) to return unannounced and secretly “snatch” us, His subjects away? Would someone of that level of majesty and dignity need to sneak in and out quietly, unless there was something improper and dishonest about His coming?
Scriptures speak out against this. It shows clearly in the Bible that as a King travels or goes forth, there are always those who shouted out his coming and those who ran alongside to prepare the way. If Jesus was not shy in talking about His glorious return, why would He take such strange steps to keep His return for His bride a secret to the world?
When a man goes to his betrothed and takes her away secretly to marry her, that is called eloping. Is Jesus secretly coming to elope with His bride? Never! Jesus is coming for His bride openly and publicly as He is never ashamed of her.
While there is not a single verse that teaches about His secret coming, there are a whole host of verses that teach that Jesus’ return is not done sheepishly or secretly but publicly and with great power and glory (Matt 16:27; 24:27, 30-31; 25:31; Mk 8:38; 13:26; Lk 9:26; 17:24; 21:27; Tit 2:13; 2 Thess 1:7; Rev 1:7, etc).
Joseph Prince’s doctrine about a secret and silent coming of Christ when He comes to rapture His saints is totally unbiblical and diametrically opposed to the teachings of scriptures.
When Joseph Prince teaches that the bodies of raptured saints will suddenly disappear in secret, and no one sees them, except themselves, it only reveals his ignorance (the real reason is his deliberate deception, and not that he is really ignorant) for the simple reason that our resurrected and raptured bodies can be seen with the naked eye and touched with our bare hands.
If you remember, the resurrected body of Jesus can be touched and seen by anyone and everyone. Our Lord Jesus in His resurrected body walked and talked with two men (seen by them) as they travelled to a nearby city in Emmaus.
The Apostle Thomas touched the scars on the Lord’s resurrected body and the resurrected Jesus taught about His Kingdom to over 500 people at one time. When it came for our Lord to leave, many people saw His resurrected body ascend to heaven.
If people could see the resurrected body of Jesus, how could the entire world ever miss seeing millions or even billions of believers resurrected and raptured at Christ’s coming?
So Joseph Prince’s teaching that once our bodies are caught up and changed in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, we will secretly disappear from sight and no one would be able to see us, is both untenable and nonsensical.
To be “caught up” in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, is not the same as to disappear in total secrecy as Joseph Prince teaches:
1 Thessalonians 4:17 NIV
17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.
Yes, the Church will be “caught up” (meaning raptured) but the scripture does not say she will disappear. Yet, that’s what Joseph Prince is teaching. You don’t need to have a theological degree to know that Prince has once again done that prohibited thing of twisting the word of God.
There isn’t a single scripture verse that teaches a silent and secret rapture that only believers will see their own resurrected and rapture bodies and hear the sound of the trumpet, while unbelievers will be totally in the dark because they can’t see our bodies as we have disappeared and hear the trumpet sound? Have all these unbelievers in the entire world suddenly gone blind and deaf?
Even a child wouldn’t be fooled by Joseph Prince’s silent and secret rapture that in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, the loud command (shout of the voice of the archangel) and the deafening trumpet sound are meant only for Christians, while the rest, the unbelievers, won’t even hear a single decibel of all those noisy activities:
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 NASB
16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first 17 Then we who are alive, who remain, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.
Just by the plain reading of 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, this cannot be a silent and secret rapture, and a quiet and invisible coming of Jesus. In fact, this is one of the least secret and silent passages in the Bible. Far from being silent, it is probably one of the noisiest passages in scripture.
The resurrection-rapture at Christ’s coming is anything but silent or secret. It is done with a shout and a loud proclamation and great fanfare. There is the public announcement by the shout of the archangel: ‘THE KING IS HERE’.
The shout in 1 Thessalonians 4:16, is a military shout of command. It is a “war cry”, summoning the troops to battle for the destruction of His enemies. Then, this will be followed by the sound of the loud trumpet heralding His coming.
When Joseph Prince teaches a silent and secret coming of Christ, he forgets that there is no such thing as a silent trumpet.
Does anyone ever come across someone blowing a trumpet without any sound emanating from the trumpet?
If there is no sound, why blow the trumpet?
Trumpets aren’t elegant and quiet instruments. Trumpets are loud and they have a piercing and deafening sound.
If you wanted to sneak over to your neighbour’s house and silently and secretly snatch something from his house, would you do it shouting at the top of your voice and blowing a thunderous trumpet?
Absolutely not!
People will think you’re mad if you did. Yet unbelievably, that’s what Joseph Prince is teaching.
It would be an impossible feat for Joseph Prince to logically explain that if 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 indeed paints a scenario of a secret and silent rapture, why are there shouting and trumpet blowing in the same passage? Joseph Prince’s secret and silent rapture doctrine is, ironically, contradicted by his own key text in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17.
It is nowhere stated in the Bible that the return of Jesus would be a secret and silent affair and invisible to the human eye of unbelievers as taught by Joseph Prince. Not a single verse can be found that supports Prince’s secret, silent and invisible return theory. But there are many passages that state that His return would be visible.
For example, in Acts 1:9-11, the angels told the disciples that Jesus would return to this earth in the same manner as when He left. Christ left in the clouds, and He will come back in the clouds. Just as Christ’s ascension from earth to heaven would be visible, His descent or return from heaven to earth would be in that same visible manner too:
Acts 1:9-11 NIV
9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. 10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
He was visible when He left, and He will be visible when He comes back. And everyone will see Him come.
He had a real body which could be seen when He left, and He will return in the same way in a real body, seen by everybody.
Is that coming an invisible coming or a secret coming?
How did Jesus go to heaven following His resurrection? Did He go secretly and invisibly? No!
The disciples watched Him rise, literally, visibly, bodily, into the air until a cloud hid Him from their sight.
So these verses tell us that Jesus will return to earth the same way – bodily, through the air until He can be seen by everybody, not secretly as Joseph Prince falsely teaches:
“This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:11b NIV)
Next, Joseph Prince falsely postulates that while 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 refers to the silent and secret rapture, both Matthew 24:29-31 and Revelation 1:7 are talking about another second coming of Christ 7 years later.
The truth is there are no two second coming but only one second coming. All 3 passages are denoting the one and only second coming of Christ.
The common denominator of two words, “clouds” and “coming” that appeared in the following three passages clearly shows that they are all referring to the same one second coming of Christ.
1 Thessalonians 4:15-17
15 According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.
Matthew 24:30-31
30 “Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. 31 And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.
Revelation 1:7
“Look, he is coming with the clouds,” and “every eye will see him, even those who pierced him”; and all peoples on earth “will mourn because of him.” So shall it be! Amen.
From a survey of these three passages, the one (not two as falsely postured by Joseph Prince) and only second coming of Christ which will result in the resurrection-rapture is certainly not a secret or silent affair. No one will ever miss the event as every eye will see Him (Matt 24:30; Rev 1:7) and every ear will hear the loud trumpet sound (Matt 24:31; 1 Thess 4:16).
Revelation 1:7 states that “every eye will see him” at His return:
Revelation 1:7 NIV
7 “Look, he is coming with the clouds,” and “every eye will see him, even those who pierced him”; and all peoples on earth “will mourn because of him.” So shall it be! Amen.
Matthew 24:30 confirms that “all peoples of the earth will… see the Son of Man coming”:
Matthew 24:30 NIV
30 “Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory.
This proves that the scriptures never teach an invisible but a visible coming of Christ that will be witnessed by every human eye. Hence, the invisible coming of Christ and the silent and secret rapture that Joseph Prince postures are not taught anywhere in the Bible and is a figment of his human imagination.
How could it be a secret coming when resurrected bodies, which could be seen and touched, would be seen by the whole world? How could it be a silent rapture when there is a loud command and the deafening sounding of the trumpet?
Indeed, the trumpet sound will be so loud that even the dead will hear it. And the dead in Christ will rise. They’ll receive new immortal bodies. It is the day of their appearing.
Furthermore, we who are alive will be changed into a glorious body. Then together with them, we will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air.
Wow! What a day! Oh, what a sight! ─ The graves bursting open, the saints receiving new bodies, the heavens all aglow, millions upon millions of His saints all shouting.
It seems that everything on earth will be announcing this great and glorious day that Jesus has come. There will be singing, shouting, laughing, and arms-waving joyously offered in celebration and worship at this majestic and climatic event.
They will be shouting loud praises as they rise in their new immortal bodies, proclaiming, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?”
The resurrection and rapture event at Christ’s second coming will probably be the noisiest event this world will ever see, not a silent, mysterious secret as falsely put forward by Joseph Prince.
How all these noisy and joyous activities can be a secret and silent event as postured by Joseph Prince is just beyond human logic and comprehension. It isn’t a secret and silent event. It is open, visible, audible; yet, it is Christ’s coming.
Joseph Prince has painted himself into a corner – with the fact that his teaching of a secret and a silent rapture is ironically contradicted by 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 and 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17, both are key texts which undergird his doctrine. Once a doctrine suffers from internal contradictions, the game is as good as over.
But what’s totally unacceptable is that Joseph Prince has made the resurrection and rapture of the saints which is supposed to be a climatic and an earth-shaking event into a secret, invisible, quiet and low-key event, all in the cause of supporting his unbiblical silent and secret rapture doctrine.
This must have been one of the greatest injustices that Joseph Prince has committed against the resurrection and rapture event at Christ’s coming. Far from being a secret and silent occasion, it is a momentous and cataclysmic event that ought to be magnificently celebrated in the grandest and most glorious way.
Article 2: Joseph Prince’s Silent & Secret Rapture Will Bring Untold Disasters & Needless Miseries To The Unbelieving World – By Rev George Ong
Joseph Prince said,
“Now after we are raptured, there’ll be people who will believe because of stuff, materials left behind. And all of a sudden, say, ‘My goodness, what they said is true.’
There is one key thing about Joseph Prince’s silent and secret rapture that simply doesn’t line up with what we know about the God we serve. Consider what would happen as a result of all of these (supposedly) millions of believers being suddenly whisked away to heaven. All hell breaks loose.
Suddenly, hundreds and even thousands of pilotless planes would plummet to earth; driverless trains would plunge into train stations, leaving a trail of disaster. Hundreds of thousands of driverless cars, buses, and trucks would suddenly go out of control, crashing all over the globe.
Surgeons and nurses would vanish in the middle of a critical operation, leaving patients to die unattended. Thousands of mothers who are carrying their babies will suddenly disappear, dropping their babies on the floor, many crying from injuries they suffered from the fall and many losing their lives.
The idea of Joseph Prince’s silent and secret rapture theory in which millions of believers are suddenly gone without any warning, resulting in utter chaos and senseless destruction to the unbelieving world, and causing immense miseries to their lives is not only cruel but without scriptural basis.
The Bible says God is not a God of confusion and a secret rapture that causes complete chaos, needless sufferings and massive
destruction of lives and property would be foreign to Him.
What is really troubling is that millions of unsaved people who had never heard the gospel message would suddenly be caught up in tens of thousands of catastrophic collisions, explosions, accidents, and similar death-inducing events.
This was, unfortunately, depicted in the movie ‘Left Behind’ – solely as a result of God’s so-called sovereign intervention by snatching away His bride – the Pre-trib church to glory. Now, horrifyingly, Joseph Prince is parroting the same line.
But many of those unsaved people who would be killed in these events, would suddenly have no chance to hear the gospel.
In Joseph Prince’s Pre-trib theology, when the church is raptured, there will be seven more years in which it is still possible for people to be saved (second chance). But many unbelievers would have been destroyed in the catastrophes caused by the sudden Pre-trib rapture of Christians before they are given this second chance to be saved.
In what sense could this Pre-trib rapture scenario be described as consonant with what we know about the God of the Bible? The God that we know does not want “anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (2 Pet 3:9 NIV).
It is deeply disturbing that Joseph Prince who preaches the silent and secret rapture does not seem to care about what I have just described. Nor does he recognise that it contradicts what God has revealed to us about His nature in the Bible.
If anything, it betrays an underlying attitude of arrogance and superiority on Joseph Prince’s part at being “the final generation of believers that deserves the right to be raptured from danger”, and to hell with the rest of humanity, literally. It is an attitude that ill-befits the real “Bride of Christ”.
For Joseph Prince who is still unrepentant of such a self-centred attitude of wanting to be delivered from the tribulation while the whole world suffers from the chaos resulting from the Pre-trib rapture of the church, just remember that among the many who will die in the silent and secret rapture scenario could well be his own unbelieving family members, relatives and friends.
Joseph Prince said,
“Now after we are raptured, there’ll be people who will believe because of stuff, materials left behind. And all of a sudden, say, ‘My goodness, what they said is true.’”
Joseph Prince said that unbelievers would later be converted after the Pre-trib church is raptured. But assuming that Pre-trib rapture were true, I believe the opposite would happen.
The silent and secret rapture that brings untold suffering on unbelievers will cause bitterness and resentment from among them against the church and the gospel rather than them being convinced about the Christian Faith.
Anger and antagonism will be stirred against Christianity as they will never accept that the true God will cause such senseless sufferings and tragic deaths to the people of the world – watching their parents, spouses and children dying helplessly – all in the name of giving the last generation of Christians, such as Joseph Prince, who is afraid of going through tribulation, a seven-year holiday in heaven.
But one might argue that something very similar is going to happen at the Lord’s return under a Post-trib scenario as well. So what’s the difference?
There is a huge difference between the two scenarios.
At the time of the Lord’s return just before the wrath of God is poured out on “all those who dwell upon the earth”, all of those who are going to be saved will have already been saved, and NONE of those will be lost.
Also, there will have been all the warnings foretold by Jesus of the signs of His coming, evident in the earth, the skies, and in man’s society.
Any who remain unrepentant at that time will be without excuse, which is the entire purpose of the Post-trib rapture scenario of God’s plan in the first place – that no unsaved person will have any possible excuse.
And when the Church is raptured at Christ’s Post-trib return, it will be – once again – exactly as it was in the days of Noah:
Luke 17:26 NIV
26 “Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. 27 People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.
ALL of the dead in Christ and the living righteous will be saved, and the only ones “left behind” at that time will be those doomed to eternal punishment, who fully deserve and will receive the outpouring of the seven bowls of God’s full and undiluted wrath.
Article 3: Joseph Prince’s Grace Revolution ‘Gospel’ Is Diametrically Opposed to the Great Commission Gospel of Jesus – By Rev George Ong
Joseph Prince said,
“So I believe there’s gonna be an end-time revival. I want the church to be a church that will reach out beyond its walls. I want everyone to go online to bring this gospel of grace, this glorious gospel of grace and peace to all the four corners of the earth. He wants us to reach as many people as possible because the time is short. God’s heart is for people to hear this wonderful gospel of Jesus Christ.”
Based on the false Pre-trib scenario about the disappearance of believers which the world won’t even know when it happens, Joseph Prince then issued a challenge with the urgency for believers to preach his gospel of grace to unbelievers.
But don’t be deceived! Let me repeat this again. Don’t be deceived!
What Joseph Prince is urging you to preach is not the true Great Commission gospel of Jesus (Matt 28:18-20) but his false Grace Revolution ‘gospel’.
In his book, ‘Grace Revolution’, Pages 156 & 193, Joseph Prince wrote:
“The grace revolution is this great awakening to righteousness. When people hear the real gospel being preached – the gospel that tells them how right Jesus’ finished work has made them…”
“The grace revolution is all about Jesus. There is no revolution of grace without the cross.”
The Grace Revolution ‘gospel’ of Joseph Prince does not save, but the Great Commission gospel of Jesus does.
I, and the rest of the true Church, is categorically for the preaching of the true gospel for the salvation of precious souls, but we must fight against the deceptive approach of Joseph Prince, who is now trying to mobilise not only New Creation Church, but the rest of the Christian world to preach his false gospel, under the cover and guise of the true gospel.
I have covered the following in a previous article. And especially for those who may have missed, let me now list them out again for your benefit about the difference between the true gospel of Jesus and the false gospel of Joseph Prince.
Joseph Prince is constantly preaching his Grace Revolution ‘gospel’ or the broad and easy road gospel, that supposedly leads to life, but in reality, it leads to destruction, as follows:
You are unconditionally loved by God, whether you obey or disobey Him.
You don’t have to confess your sins as every of your sins has been forgiven.
You must not confess your sins even when you sin. If you do, you are insulting God. Instead, when you sin, any sin, whether it is anger, envy, adultery, rape or even murder, etc, you must not confess your sins, but you must confess you are righteous in Christ in the midst of committing the sin of anger, envy, and even adultery, rape or murder.
You shouldn’t worry about repenting with tears and deeds as repentance is only a change of your mind.
You will always be in the good books of God as He will always be pleased with you, even though you may do things that are displeasing to Him.
You are forever in God’s favour as He will never get angry with you, punish and judge you, no matter what wrong you may commit.
You must not fear God as God is only interested in loving you.
You will never be convicted by the Holy Spirit of your sins as the Holy Spirit is there to convict you about how righteous you are.
You shouldn’t try to be holy as that would lead you to legalism and make you judgmental of others; just focus on the fact that God has made you righteous in Christ.
You will be healthy; and better still, if you partake the Holy Communion as many times a day as you take medicine as that is the secret not only to good health but also to make you young and good-looking.
You have the covenantal right to be very wealthy as Abraham was, because you are the seed of Abraham.
You will enjoy total freedom as there is not a single law that you need to obey. You must never try to obey God’s laws as God’s laws are ‘equal’ to condemnation, and Satan will always use your obedience to God’s laws to oppress and condemn you, and bring about your death.
You are totally secured because you are once saved always saved the moment you say the sinner’s prayer, and you will never lose your salvation, no matter what; and even when you are living in sin till the day you die.
You shouldn’t focus on obeying God or Christ as that is being self-occupied and works-conscious; you should just focus on Christ’s obedience.
You don’t have to work for God as Christianity is effortless; your job is just to rest in God and He will do everything for you because Christianity is ‘done done done, not do do do’.
You won’t suffer as a Christian as Christ has already suffered for you on the cross.
You won’t die as a martyr as Christ has already died for you on the cross.
You are totally in safe hands as you won’t meet with any misfortune or tragedy because God will always protect you from every danger and sickness such as Covid-19 as no virus can come near you.
You don’t have to sacrifice for Christ, and if you do, you will do it out of self-effort and self-righteousness.
You don’t have to fast as fasting is not applicable for New Covenant believers, and fasting will make you proud and legalistic.
You don’t have to pay any price for discipleship that Jesus talks about as there is no such thing as costly discipleship to begin with. As the word, ‘disciple’ or ‘discipleship’ is not even found in Paul’s epistles in the first place, that’s why I (Joseph Prince) hardly talk about it.
You don’t have to live with the evidence of Jesus’ Lordship over your life as that would make you performance-conscious and work-obsessed. By merely saying with your mouth ‘Jesus is Lord’ is enough to prove that He is your Lord.
You must not obey the first and most important commandment – to love God with all your heart, mind and soul as that is under the Old Covenant; just enjoy and experience God’s love for you as that is the essence of the New Covenant.
You don’t have to obey the Great Commission that Jesus has commanded the Church, and that is why I (Joseph Prince) don’t preach about it at all; just focus on my (Joseph Prince) gospel of grace – it is my Grace Revolution ‘gospel’, not the Great Commission of Jesus that will convert and conquer the world.
After perusing the above list containing the teachings of Joseph Prince, you need to tell me honestly, is that the narrow road gospel or the broad road ‘gospel’ which Jesus talks about in Matthew 7:13-14?
That is undoubtedly the broad road ‘gospel’ or the Grace Revolution ‘gospel’ that Joseph Prince preaches that will lead the multitudes to destruction and hell in Matthew 7:13.
As opposed to Joseph Prince’s broad road ‘gospel’, Jesus always teaches the narrow and tough road gospel that leads to life as follows:
“Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” (Lk 9:58)
– Jesus is talking about the narrow road gospel of the uncertainty and hardship of those who wish to follow Him.
“Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God.” (Lk 9:60)
– Jesus is teaching the narrow road gospel that responding to His call to follow Him is infinitely more important than anything else.
“No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” (Lk 9:62)
– Jesus is stressing the narrow road gospel that anyone who wishes to follow Him must count the cost, and if he turns back, he is unfit to enter God’s kingdom.
“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters… he cannot be My disciple.” (Lk 14:26)
– Jesus is explaining that the narrow road gospel of discipleship means that one’s love for Him must be greater than his love for his parents and siblings.
“…those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.” (Lk 14:33)
– Jesus is revealing the narrow road gospel that those who are not prepared to give up everything would be disqualified from being His disciple.
“Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.” (Lk 12:51-53)
– Jesus is communicating that the narrow road gospel would bring about division in one’s family.
“Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.” (Lk 13:24)
– Jesus is describing the narrow road gospel that entering God’s kingdom isn’t an easy thing, but one has to strive and agonise to enter.
“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.” (Jn 15:18)
– Jesus is portraying the narrow road gospel that anyone who wishes to follow Him must be prepared to be hated by the world.
“… ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also…” (Jn 15:20)
– Jesus is showing the narrow road gospel that being a servant of Christ, one must be ready to be persecuted just as He was.
“But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” (Matt 5:44)
– Jesus is relating the narrow road gospel that his disciples ought to love their enemies and pray for those who persecute them.
“When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” (Lk 18:22)
– Jesus is depicting the narrow road gospel that one would have to acknowledge Him not just as Saviour but also as Lord by giving up everything for His sake.
“And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.” (Lk 14:27)
– Jesus is unfolding the narrow road gospel that just as condemned criminals are made to carry the crosses upon which they would be executed, we must be willing to endure whatever trials, including death, we may face for being His disciples.
“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate… his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.” (Lk 14:26)
– Jesus is referring to the narrow road gospel that requires forsaking the disciples’ own lives because of their love for Him.
Can you see the difference between the broad road ‘gospel’ that Joseph Prince champions and the narrow road gospel that Jesus urges? The difference between them is the difference between black and white and the difference between day and night.
If you are still not convinced, let me give you more examples of the difference between Jesus’ narrow road gospel and Joseph Prince’s broad road ‘gospel’:
Joseph Prince preaches the broad and easy road ‘gospel’ that a one-minute sinner’s prayer can gain you eternity in heaven.
Jesus preaches the narrow and difficult road gospel that one has to make every effort to enter God’s kingdom (Lk 13:24).
Joseph Prince preaches the broad and easy road ‘gospel’ that there is no more sin to deal with as every sin has been forgiven.
Jesus preaches the narrow and difficult road gospel that if you don’t repent of your sin, you will be severely judged, and you will perish (Lk 13:3,5; Rev 2-3).
Joseph Prince preaches the broad and easy road ‘gospel’ that obedience has nothing to do with being saved.
Jesus preaches the narrow and difficult road gospel that if you don’t obey and do the will of the Father, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven (Matt 7:13-14,21-23).
Joseph Prince preaches the broad and easy road ‘gospel’ that there are no more laws to obey.
Jesus preaches the narrow and difficult road gospel that if you are lawless, you will be barred from the kingdom of heaven (Matt 7:23).
Joseph Prince preaches the broad and easy road ‘gospel’ that the grace that saves is unconditional.
Jesus preaches the narrow and difficult road gospel that His grace is conditional – if one doesn’t fulfil the condition of obedience and holiness even though His grace is unmerited, one will not enter God’s kingdom and will be eternally destroyed (Matt 7:24-27; 1 Cor 6:9-10; Heb 12:14).
Just a comparison of the above – between the gospel of the Lord Jesus and that of Joseph Prince will quickly surface that they are not marginally different but diametrically opposed.
With such a vast and irreconcilable difference between the two, how can anyone still choose to believe that Joseph Prince is preaching the true gospel and Jesus of the Bible?
(If you wish to know the details of this previous article, “Joseph Prince is the False Prophet Jesus refers to in Matthew 7:15-16” Dated 23 Dec 2021, please click here to read.)
The narrow road gospel of Jesus is the same gospel that is given in the Great Commission gospel in Matthew 28:18-20. Yet, Joseph Prince is totally silent about the Great Commission gospel. Are you shocked to hear that?
I have checked with many Ex New Creation Church members (some with the church for 15, 18 and 20 years) and those who are currently attending New Creation Church, and none of them don’t ever remember a single time that Joseph Prince ever taught on the Jesus’ Great Commission gospel in Matthew 28:18-20 at all.
I have also read through the five main books he had written (‘Destined To Reign’, ‘Unmerited Favor’, ‘The Power Of Right Believing’, ‘Grace Revolution’ and ‘Live The Let-Go Life’) many times, searched the internet, and listened to plenty of his video/audios – and nothing was mentioned about the Great Commission (Matt 28:18-20).
Can you believe what I have just revealed?
This is ‘really really really’ strange!
This is getting ‘very very very’ fishy!
No true preacher of the word would ever avoid mentioning and preaching on the Great Commission. Any preacher who never mentions and preaches on the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20 ought to set the alarm bells ringing!
Though this issue was raised many times, I haven’t heard Joseph Prince reply a single time why he is completely silent about the Great Commission of Jesus.
Don’t let Joseph Prince get away this time. You must press him for an answer! Ask Joseph Prince when was the last time he taught his church on the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20? Question him on why is he so silent on this issue of the Great Commission!
Prince must answer this most pertinent question publicly on the pulpit. If Prince still chooses to remain silent, then it is beyond the shadow of a doubt that he has something fishy to hide.
Joseph Prince’s protracted silence on such a crucial topic of the Great Commission speaks volumes about His disinterest and even antagonism to our Lord’s last and most important command for the Church – the Great Commission.
Why such deafening silence about such a crucial topic as the Great Commission in Joseph Prince’s theology and practice if he is indeed a true teacher of God’s word?
The reason is Joseph Prince is not interested at all in Jesus’ agenda of winning the world through discipleship in the Great Commission gospel. He is only keen on his own agenda of saturating the world with his Grace Revolution ‘gospel’.
Let me tell you the real reason why he is totally silent about the Great Commission. What’s worse is that he is not just silent about the Great Commission, but he has also, in an indirect way, preached against it.
Prince preaches against it indirectly as he knows it would be a tall order and a suicidal move to directly and openly come against the Great Commission – a non-negotiable doctrine that is held by all evangelical churches.
But what Prince ‘cleverly’ does is that he preaches against the doctrine of discipleship, obedience and commandments or laws, particularly the link between them and salvation. But as you can see, discipleship, obedience and commandments or laws are all mentioned in the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20:
Matthew 28:18-20 NIV
18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Do you now understand why Joseph Prince is not preaching the costly gospel of the Great Commission but his cheap Grace Revolution ‘gospel’ that promises everything but expects nothing?
Why is the Great Commission a costly gospel or the narrow road gospel as reflected in Matthew 7:13-14?
The Great Commission isn’t a cheap but a costly gospel simply because costly discipleship and Christ’s Lordship expressed by our total obedience to His commandments are both contained in it (Matt 28:18-20):
Matthew 28:18-20 NIV
18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
I can guarantee that if Joseph Prince truly repents and starts preaching the true and costly Jesus’ gospel in the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20 that contains costly discipleship, serious obedience and commandments or laws, the 34,000 people in his church will dwindle to a much smaller number.
The reason for many (not every) of these 34,000 people that are currently attending his church is due to a false, cheap and easy Grace Revolution ‘gospel’ that Prince is preaching that attracts a whole multitude of goats.
Anyone who believes Joseph Prince who rejects and even teaches against Jesus’ gospel in the Great Commission to be a true prophet must be out of his mind. (Matt 28:18-20)
Yet, there are multitudes of such mindless Christians around. And sadly, many of them include Pastors and leaders of churches. Unthinkable!
How can Joseph Prince claim to be a Christ-centred preacher when the most important heartbeat of Christ for the Church in the Great Commission is not even given a single mention in his teachings? (Matt 28:18-20)
If Joseph Prince dares to replace the Great Commission gospel with his Grace Revolution ‘gospel’, how can any pastor or believer who truly shares the heartbeat of Christ for the world stomach it and keep quiet about this violation? (Matt 28:18-20)
By Joseph Prince’s total silence and contemptuous neglect of the Great Commission gospel and the passionate pursuit of his Grace Revolution ‘gospel’, he is sending a clear message to Jesus that his Grace Revolution ‘gospel’ can do a much better job in reaching lost souls than the Great Commission gospel could. (Matt 28:18-20)
By Joseph Prince’s audacity to treat the Great Commission, the heartbeat of the King of kings and the Lord of lords with such contempt, no more convincing needs to be done on anyone that he is a false prophet and a heretic. (Matt 28:18-20)
But unfortunately for Joseph Prince, not only does he have Matthew 28:19-20 to worry about, he also has to contend with Acts 3:22-23. Both Matthew 28:18-20 and Acts 3:22-23 are New Covenant passages, written after the finished work of the cross.
Let me place Matthew 28:20 and Acts 3:22-23 one after the other:
Matthew 28:20 NIV
20 “and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Acts 3:22-23 NET
22 “Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet (Jesus) like me from among your brothers. You must obey him in everything he tells you. 23 Every person who does not obey that prophet (Jesus) will be destroyed and thus removed from the people.’”
George would say to Joseph Prince:
“Hello Joseph Prince, Acts is not in the gospels, but it is after ‘the finished work of the cross’, the holy phrase which you have constantly and craftily abused to deceive the people.
Why is it after ‘the finished work of the cross’ in Acts 3:22-23, that believers must still obey everything that comes from Christ, which you have a pet word to get rid of obedience – ‘legalism’.
You thought you might have some grounds to discount Matthew 28:18-20. So, tell me, how are you going to rule out Acts 3:22-23, which happened after ‘His finished work of the cross’?”
Obedience to Christ’s commandments in the Great Commission in Matthew 28:20 has everything to do with salvation because if one disobeys Christ, he will be destroyed in Acts 3:23.
By Prince’s total silence on the Great Commission, his church would not be aware that they need “to obey everything that I (Christ) have commanded” in Matthew 28:20.
And if they don’t obey him in everything he (Christ) tells you, in Acts 3:22 they “will be destroyed” in Acts 3:23.
Hence, by preaching the Grace Revolution ‘gospel’ instead of the Great Commission gospel, Joseph Prince is putting his entire church and the millions around the world who have been deceived by his false gospel in serious danger of being destroyed by Christ on the day of judgement.
Would that kind of preacher be a true teacher of God’s word? Any sensible believer or Pastor would conclude that one who has come to destroy the sheep, must be a wolf in sheepskin!
So don’t be deceived. If you are deceived by the challenge of Joseph Prince in his Vision 2022 to preach his cheap grace and false gospel, then, you too, are leading your relatives and friends to their eternal damnation.
Joseph Prince, by not teaching on the Great Commission on Matthew 28:18-20, is openly defying and rebelling against Christ by not carrying out His command. This is because he disagrees with Christ’s approach to winning the world.
Christ’s approach to winning the world is through costly discipleship:
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations…
and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. (Matt 28:19-20 NIV).
“To obey everything that Christ has commanded” is sure going to cost every disciple. But Joseph Prince preaches against costly discipleship.
Joseph Prince chooses to do it his way through his Grace Revolution ‘gospel’, which is nothing but easy Christianity and cheap grace – that our salvation which won’t cost us a thing only involves receiving blessings of health, wealth, prosperity and youthful and good looks from God.
Once you are a Christian, according to Joseph Prince’s Grace Revolution ‘gospel’, you will be very wealthy as Abraham was, and God will always protect you from COVID-19, as, in the words of Joseph Prince, ‘no virus can come near you’. And as you know, the current COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the bankruptcy and falsity of Joseph Prince’s Health and Wealth ‘gospel’.
Joseph Prince is such a rebellious man that he refuses to win souls in the way Christ has directed/commanded the church to follow/obey – the Great Commission and through discipleship. He is blatantly disobeying the commandment of Christ as laid down in the Great Commission.
How can Joseph Prince be said to be Christ-centred when he is not even carrying out and even speaks against the heartbeat and chief agenda of Jesus in the Great Commission?
Joseph Prince is a brazen liar and shameless hypocrite who would portray himself as a Christ-centred preacher, and yet, disobey the most important commandment of Christ in the Great Commission that He has given to the Church. (Matt 28:18-20)
By deliberately disobeying the commandment of Christ in the Great Commission, what message is Joseph Prince sending to Jesus?
Joseph Prince is effectively saying to Jesus:
“Hey Jesus, if you aren’t aware, may I inform you that my Grace Revolution ‘gospel’ is a more effective strategy than your Great Commission in winning souls through discipleship. Just look at the results of my Grace Revolution strategy – 34,000 people as compared to the Great Commission strategy that is adopted by all the churches?”
The Great Commission is one command of Christ that every single church in every nation of every generation has and will continue to emphasise on. No true church will dare to disobey such an important command of the Lord Jesus.
Joseph Prince, by his failure to carry out the Great Commission and for replacing it with his Grace Revolution, is outright rebellion and blatant disobedience to the most important command that the Lord Jesus has given the Church.
No one who rejects the Great Commission of the Lord Jesus can be a true prophet. This fact alone is enough for anyone to indict and nail Joseph Prince as a false prophet and a heretic!
If Joseph Prince is truly preaching the true gospel, he must not remain silent anymore regarding why he had not preached on the Great Commission gospel of Jesus for the last 20 years of his ministry.
We demand an answer from him. We expect to hear from him in his messages in the coming Sunday worship services. If Prince still chooses to remain silent, this proves that he had indeed something fishy to hide under the cover of silence – hiding what? Hiding the fact that he is against the Great Commission of Jesus, yet is afraid to come out publicly against it knowing that he may open up a can of worms that could haunt him.
What is worse is Joseph Prince is deceiving the Church that the Grace Revolution ‘gospel’ he is preaching is the ‘wonderful gospel of Jesus Christ’. This is what Joseph Prince said,
“So I believe there’s gonna be an end-time revival. I want the church to be a church that will reach out beyond its walls. I want everyone to go online to bring this gospel of grace, this glorious gospel of grace and peace to all the four corners of the earth. He wants us to reach as many people as possible because the time is short. God’s heart is for people to hear this wonderful gospel of Jesus Christ.”
Don’t be deceived! The Grace Revolution ‘gospel’ that Prince is mobilising the world to preach from 2022 is not the “wonderful gospel of Jesus Christ.” The gospel of Jesus Christ is the Great Commission gospel in Matthew 28:18-20, the true gospel that Joseph Prince fights against.
Conclusion
In summary, Joseph Prince’s silent and secret rapture that provides believers an easy and fairy-tale escape from tribulation is not only false, but it will also bring about untold disasters and needless miseries to the unbelieving world.
Joseph Prince’s Grace Revolution ‘gospel’ that he is urging and mobilising believers to preach from 2022, is not the true gospel in Matthew 28:18-10, but the false gospel, as it is diametrically opposed to the Great Commission gospel of the Lord Jesus.
So don’t ever be deceived and start to preach the false gospel of Joseph Prince that cannot save. Rather, we ought to preach the true gospel of Jesus in the Great Commission that will save.
One is a broad road and easy gospel (Matt 7:13) that will bring in loads of goats into the church, while the other narrow road and more difficult gospel (Matt 7:14) would not bring in the crowds, but it will certainly bring in genuine converts and true disciples who will make their mark for the kingdom of God.
What is your focus? Quantity – false converts, or quality – true disciples!
Rev George Ong