Title: Lawrence Khong, Gordon Fee, Derek Prince, David Pawson & Michael Brown’s view of Martyrdom Vs Joseph Prince’s View
Co-title: Joseph Prince’s Anti-Martyrdom view is Antithetical to that of Jesus, the Historic & Singapore Churches
– By Rev George Ong (Dated 26 Oct 2023)
I will start by telling you a true story of a martyr in the Middle East and then end with another martyr – William Tyndale.
The following is a true story.
For sensitivity reasons, I have only made a change – from the specific names of 2 Middle Eastern Countries to just Middle Eastern country.
Whenever I read this story and relate this story in a seminar I conducted for churches years ago,
tears would just fill my eyes.
They were tears of gratitude, tears of rejoicing, knowing that there are believers who would be willing to lay down their lives for the sake of Christ.
This is the story related by a believer in the Middle East
whose friend, also from the Middle East,
was martyred for Christ:
“I did not realize, however, that somehow how during this time, his wounded body and spirit had found peace in the teachings of Jesus Christ.
In a Middle Eastern Country, Kamal met with members of an underground church.
He also distributed some Christian pamphlets, which is probably how the religious police caught him.
They sent him back to another Middle Eastern government, which put him in prison.
There is a huge irony here.
Only a few years earlier, Kamal was in prison for being an Islamic radical and participating in an armed revolt against the government.
He had robbed many Christian businesses and pharmacies and killed their owners to raise money for jihad.
Now he was in prison for converting from Islam to Christianity and handing out Christian pamphlets.
I cannot know exactly what happened to him in prison, but based on my personal experience, here is what I suspect.
The prison officials interrogated him to find out how he became a Christian.
I’m sure he was tortured in various ways.
If he had denied the charges and said, “I am not a Christian,” I believe they would have released him.
But I suspect that he told them the truth and said he had left Islam to become a Christian.
I suspect that prison guards – either on their own or following orders from higher up took Islamic law into their own hands.
I heard the final news by telephone from my mother in a Middle Eastern country because I was living in South Africa at the time.
Sobbing, she told me,
“They killed Kamal in prison by electric shock.”
She said that his father had refused to come to the prison to take his body because his son had become an apostate.
So, his brothers and some other friends came to get his body and buried him.
The news of Kamal’s death hit me hard.
I often thought, it could have been me.
I too was arrested and interrogated in prison about converting to Christianity.
Several times in prison I thought I would not live to see the next morning.
However, the big difference with me was that I wasn’t a Christian at the time.
I could deny that I had converted and go free.
But Kamal had truly chosen Christ, and he would not disown own Christ (Matt. 10:32-34).
I dedicated the first book that I published in South Africa to my friend Kamal,
with tears streaming down my cheeks as I wrote:
‘To my beloved and faithful friend, Kamal,
I love you, friend of my childhood.
My heart weeps inside me for your departure.
My only comfort is that you are now in heaven with Him whom you have loved and sacrificed your life for, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Many write their life story with ink, and I am one of them.
But few are those who write it with their own blood, and Kamal, you are one of them.
You came after me in the Christian faith, but you surpassed me by far.
When I think about the life of my friend Kamal,
I am so happy that he discovered peace and forgiveness of Christ before he died.’”
Let’s not forget to pray for those who are suffering and persecuted for their faith.
Pray for their families and their deliverance.
But most of all, pray for strength not to deny Christ if martyrdom is the route Christ has called them to.
We must also not forget to pray for our persecutors, especially those who have killed the Christian Martyrs.
Christ has commanded us to love our enemies. And a concrete way to love them is to pray for them (Matt 5:44).
Excerpt of the Article:
I started by telling you the story of a Martyr in the Middle East.
Now I will end with the story of another Martyr.
Let me share with you a man whom we owe our gratitude to.
He is William Tyndale (1494-1536).
Many believers reading the English Bible today don’t realise the debt they owe to William Tyndale.
He was the one who translated the Bible into English.
In his pursuit of that goal, he was martyred.
My eyes were brimming with tears as I read about William Tyndale who laid down his life for the larger body of Christ.
I said to the Lord in my heart,
“Lord, please give these men and women the highest accolade in glory; not that they are looking forward to it, but that they, who have given their lives for your sake, ought to be given the highest honour. No envy. No jealousy. No rivalry. Only great rejoicing at how these people have persevered in their calling, pouring their lives to the point of death only for you and you alone.”
As for the details of the story of William Tyndale as told by Steve Lawson, please see the article (three-quarters down).
(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 Sunday sermon aired on YouTube on 22 Oct 2023, 4 days ago, Joseph Prince said;
Please click here to view the 20-second video:
“The church in the Book of Revelation
that Jesus appeared and said,
‘You shall have tribulation or trouble 10 days.”
It’s limited. It’s limited.
Whether it’s prophetically 10 days,
whatever, it’s limited.
Okay, your trial is short,
your blessings are long.”
Joseph Prince’s half-truth deception in action again.
Prince has only shown you just one half of what Jesus said in Revelation 2:10
– “and you will suffer persecution for ten days”
but he has craftily ‘hidden’ the other half from you
– “Be faithful, even to the point of death”:
Revelation 2:10 NIV
10 Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown.
This is because he disagrees with Jesus’ emphasis on martyrdom.
He teaches a no-martyrdom and even an anti-martyrdom Christianity.
You ought to know by now Joseph Prince is against the doctrine of martyrdom which the scripture and Jesus clearly teaches.
Do you know why?
This is because of Joseph Prince’s doctrine that God will always protect you from early and unnatural death
and that martyrdom would cut short your life
and go against his teaching that every believer is entitled to live a long life to their satisfaction.
In other words, according to Joseph Prince, all believers can decide how long they wish to live to their satisfaction, and God would have to grant them the wish.
What a monstrous teaching!
Let me quote what Glenn Fong, an Ex New Creation Church member for 15 years, has to say about the anti-martyrdom teachings of Joseph Prince:
“One Sunday in 2014, Joseph Prince taught about divine protection.
He promised that those who are under Grace would never suffer persecution
(unbelievable that this teaching came from a so-called well-respected teacher).
He also went on to explain that the Apostles had a special purpose that had been fulfilled
(just by one broad statement out of nowhere, he sloppily attempts to qualify why Apostle Paul and the rest of the Apostles must suffer even though they came after the finished work of the cross).
Hence, no Christians will need to be persecuted or even be martyred like the Apostles.
He continued to teach that if Stephen had not told God to receive his spirit (Acts 7:59),
he wouldn’t have died because the power of life and death lies in the tongue. (Pro 18:21)
(Imagine, possessing such unholy guts to say such unspeakable things).
Then I begin to think, how about Christians who were raped and killed in Syria and Iraq during the ISIS reign?
So, they are under the Law?
Do they have insufficient faith?
Or perhaps he is suggesting that they are not even Christians?
Something is seriously wrong with his teaching; it just doesn’t add up.”
Just imagine – instead of rejoicing and being encouraged by the courage of Stephen to be a willing martyr,
Joseph Prince castigated him for saying what he had gloriously uttered,
“Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”
If you don’t believe Glenn Fong that Joseph Prince teaches against martyrdom,
let’s hear from Andrew Tan, an Ex New Creation Church member for 20 years:
“In my 20 years in NCC, I have also never heard Joseph Prince preach a single sermon on suffering, persecution, sanctification or holiness.
As such, many people attending NCC are not really bothered about how they live their lives, as long as they are justified and receive the righteousness of God, their place in heaven is permanently assured – which is falsely taught by Joseph Prince.
They are also oblivious to the suffering and martyrdom of Christians in other parts of the world.
This is because Joseph Prince preaches that suffering and martyrdom will never occur to believers, which is plainly false.”
If you are still unconvinced that Joseph Prince is against martyrdom,
let’s hear from Yvonne Tan, an Ex New Creation Church member for 20 years:
“Don’t we all know how Paul, a New Covenant believer, died as a martyr and how all of Jesus’ disciples were also martyred except for John.
Yet, Joseph Prince can bring himself to teach that we, as New Covenant believers, will never be martyred for the sake of Christ. What a stark contradiction!”
Like Glenn Fong, Andrew Tan and Yvonne Tan, I have heard Joseph Prince preach against martyrdom in his videos/audios, either directly or indirectly or even implied.
In a sermon, Joseph Prince said;
Please click here to view the 50-second video:
“Some of Paul’s sufferings, okay that Paul went through;
these are credentials that is a theatre for angels to see and men to see.
It’s not meant for us in today’s generation.
For example, people suffered for the Bible to be in the hands of common man.
They were burnt at the stake.
Does it mean today in Singapore or anywhere you come from,
they want to burn you for reading the Bible.
Then you say burn ha, burning for Jesus’ sake.
Do you do that?
No. They paid the price.
Whatever price so that we can walk in it.
Are you listening?
They didn’t fight so that we’ll keep on fighting.
We don’t fight so our children keep on fighting.
We fight so that they can enjoy their life.
Hey, my friend, don’t forget the big picture here.
Jesus says I come that you might life and have it more abundantly.”
There is nowhere in the Bible that can support what Joseph Prince said below:
“Some of Paul’s sufferings, okay that Paul went through;
these are credentials that is a theatre for angels to see and men to see.
It’s not meant for us in today’s generation.”
This is outrageous!
This is no different from
‘Anyhow Hamtam (pure guesswork in Malay)’,
‘Luan Luan Lai (any how do in Hokkien)’,
‘Luan Chu Long (doing something without thinking in Hokkien)
theology.
What Joseph Prince said has, absolutely, no biblical basis at all.
What is more serious is that Joseph Prince lied against the scriptures when he said sufferings are not for today’s generation of Christians.
To be specific, Joseph Prince lied about 40 times, as there are at least 40 passages of scriptures on suffering that are relevant for New Covenant believers:
2 Timothy 1:8 NIV
8 So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God.
2 Timothy 2:3 NIV
3 Join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.
Philippians 1:29 NIV
29 For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him,
1 Thessalonians 1:6 NIV
6 You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit.
1 Thessalonians 2:14 NIV
14 For you, brothers and sisters, became imitators of God’s churches in Judea, which are in Christ Jesus: You suffered from your own people the same things those churches suffered from the Jews
2 Thessalonians 1:5 NIV
5 All this is evidence that God’s judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering.
Hebrews 10:32 NIV
32 Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you endured in a great conflict full of suffering.
Hebrews 10:34 NIV
34 You suffered along with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions.
Hebrews 13:3 NIV
3 Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.
James 5:10 NIV
10 Brothers and sisters, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.
1 Peter 1:6 NIV
6 In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.
1 Peter 2:20 NIV
20 But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God.
1 Peter 2:21 NIV
21 To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.
1 Peter 4:13 NIV
13 But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.
1 Peter 4:16 NIV
16 However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name.
1 Peter 4:19 NIV
19 So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.
1 Peter 5:10 NIV
10 And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.
Revelation 2:10 NIV
10 Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown.
(Matt 5:10-12; 5:44; 24:9; Mk 10:30; Lk 21:12; Jn 15:20; Rom 5:3; 8:17; 8:35; 2 Cor 1:5-7; Phil 3:10; 2 Tim 3:12; Heb 10:33; 11:37; 1 Pet 3:14; 3:17; 4:1; 4:12; 4:15).
Joseph Prince said:
Hey, my friend, don’t forget the big picture here.
“Jesus says I come that you might life and have it more abundantly.”
In his other sermons, Joseph Prince teaches that abundant life as contained in John 10:10
also refers to the material blessings of wealth for New Covenant believers.
But Gordon Fee ruled this out completely.
‘The Disease of the Health & Wealth Gospels’
Gordon D Fee wrote:
“It should be noted further that “abundant life” in John 10:10, the second important text of this movement (Health & Wealth),
also has nothing to do with material abundance.
“Life” or “eternal life” in John’s Gospel is the equivalent of the “Kingdom of God” in the Synoptics.
It literally means the “life of the Age to Come.”
It is the life that God has in and of Himself; and it is his gift to believers in the present age.
The Greek word perrison, translated “more abundantly” in the KJV, means simply that believers are to enjoy this gift of life to the full” (NIV).
Material abundance is not implied either in the word “life” or “to the full.”
Furthermore, such an idea is totally foreign to the context of John 10, as well as to the whole of the teaching of Jesus.”
Joseph Prince quoted John 10:10 to teach the abundant life, which includes material blessings and wealth that Jesus came to give (which is falsely interpreted as pointed out by Gordon Fee).
But why did Joseph Prince deliberately miss out the following passages about suffering, persecution, self-denial and taking up the cross (which may mean martyrdom) that are also said by Jesus:
Matthew 24:9 NIV
9 “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me
Matthew 5:10-12 NIV
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Matthew 10:37-39 NIV
37 “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.
Luke 14:26-27, 33 NIV
26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. 27 And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. 33 In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.
Luke 21:12 NIV
12 “But before all this, they will seize you and persecute you. They will hand you over to synagogues and put you in prison, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name.
John 15:10 NIV
20 Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also.
The reason is Joseph Prince is against the teaching of suffering, persecution and martyrdom that Jesus holds dear.
How can Joseph Prince, who teaches against Jesus, be preaching the Jesus of the Bible?
Joseph Prince is not preaching the real Jesus but his own concoction of the feel-good Jesus; he is preaching the counterfeit Jesus.
Joseph Prince said:
“For example, people suffered for the Bible to be in the hands of common man.
They were burnt at the stake.
Does it mean today in Singapore or anywhere you come from,
they want to burn you for reading the Bible.
Then you say burn ha, burning for Jesus’ sake.
Do you do that?
No. They paid the price.
Whatever price so that we can walk in it.
Are you listening?
They didn’t fight so that we’ll keep on fighting.
We don’t fight so our children keep on fighting.
We fight so that they can enjoy their life.”
In summary, Joseph Prince is saying that New Covenant believers will not be martyred for their faith.
Joseph Prince’s view on martyrdom goes against that of Gordon Fee, Derek Prince, David Pawson, Michael Brown and Lawrence Khong
– whose view that Christians will go through martyrdom, especially in the last of the last days, is entirely biblical.
In an interview, Gordon Fee said;
Please click here to view the 3-minute video:
“But the document (Revelation) has to do with the fact that they are headed for a terrible holocaust.
John recognises that the martyrdom of Antipas of Pergamum (Rev 2:13) is the signal, the harbinger that it’s going to get worse before it gets better.
And that martyrdom is what really sort of kicked this off.
Trying to tell the people that the days to come are going to be far worse than you can even imagine.
And the catacombs are the clear example of the fact that John was right.
But when you think of how many places on the earth, how many martyrdoms are taking place now on this planet, this book is for them.
This book is telling them that your martyrdom counts for something.
This book tells them that they can still rejoice and sing hallelujah and praise our God because God is in control even though they may die.
And that’s what Revelation is all about – God is ultimately in charge.
The problem with North Americans and I speak as a dual citizen of Canada and the United States.
The trouble with most North Americans is that we think we have a special privilege with God – and that we should get all the breaks and none of the pain.
God is in control, not ourselves.
Our task is to bear witness to Christ.
And the Greek word for bear witness is the word that we have transliterated into the word martyr.
It is the Greek word for witness.
The ultimate witness was martyrdom.
So, the Greek word martyr – witness – became martyr – being slain for one’s witness.
And now we simply think of martyrs as those kinds of people only.
But that’s the word for witness.
We bear witness to Christ and we may not live long after we do that if we’re certain parts of the world.
And I happened to be among the privileged.
I say that with tears because I know that I’m among the privileged.
What pains me is for the privileged do not take seriously the brothers and sisters in the world that are not as privileged as we are.”
In 2 sermons, Derek Prince said;
Please click here to view the 2-and-a-half-minute video:
“You see, I don’t think that we Christians in the West sufficiently appreciate the seriousness of the issue.
I think it’s going to be a matter of life and death.
Just how soon these issues will emerge, I wouldn’t undertake to say, but I think very very quickly.
And they are going to be those who will have to lay down their lives.
It says about those who overcame him in the 12th chapter 11th verse (Revelation), they did not love their lives to the death.
It was more important for them to be true to the Lord Jesus than to stay alive.
Face with that issue, that was the choice they made.
You see, Jesus went home by way of the cross.
And I wonder whether the Church isn’t going to go home by way of the cross.
Victoriously, triumphant, undefeated but conquering by laying down our lives.
Does your theology make room for that?
You know I was called up into the British army in World War 2 in 1940.
And they never told me we’ll give you a guarantee you won’t be killed.
No soldier is ever called up on that basis.
I smile sometimes when I hear Christians talk about being soldiers of Jesus Christ.
I wonder if we really understand what’s involved in being a soldier.”
“And that is true in the army of God.
I smile when God’s people talk about being an army because they’re so far from being an army.
Let me tell you one thing, when I joined the British Army, under King George VI, I never got a little certificate signed by the king saying,
“I guarantee you, you will not have to lose your life.”
No soldier has ever joined an army on that basis.
And no soldier has a right to join the army of Jesus on that basis.
It may cost you your life.
Don’t talk about being a soldier if your motive is self-preservation.”
In a sermon, David Pawson said;
Please click here to view the 25-second video:
“This (Revelation) was written for ordinary people, not for scholars, not for professors.
It was written for people who were about to suffer big trouble and it was to help them.
It (Revelation) was written as a manual for martyrdom.
It was written to prepare people to be willing to die for Jesus.”
In a broadcast, Michael Brown said;
Please click here to view the 50-second video:
“What if God called me to die for the gospel?
This is something happening on a regular basis around the world.
There are people that I have had the joy and privilege of laying hands on, sending them out to minister in countries like India.
And they had been killed for preaching the gospel.
I was part of praying over them, commissioning them, sending them out, and they had been killed for preaching the gospel.
In one case, I washed the feet of the widow of one of those martyrs in India.
Around the world, Christians are being killed and have been killed.
And of all the original apostles, almost all of them were killed for the faith.
So, what if God required that of us?”
In a sermon, Lawrence Khong said;
Please click here to view the 5-minute video:
“But you know my heart. I don’t care about filling this pew.
I don’t care about you walking out when I preach about willing to love not your life unto death, willing to sacrifice yourself.
I saw a clip of this Syrian parents when the ISIS is invading the house.
They came to their children. They say in a while your parents will be taken away and they will take you away and you gonna suffer a lot pain but do not be afraid, Jesus is with you. Be prepared to die for your faith.
That’s Christianity. That’s the history of Christianity.
And this overcomer is not by the power of your strength.
Overcomer is a heart that says, Lord no matter what, if I lose my job, I lose my job; if I lose my life, I lose my life.
If I lose my children, sending them out as missionaries, and some of them will die, let it be because my name is written in the Book of life.
No 2, stand up and be courageous.
I think the people who will overcome this deception are people who do not love their life even unto death.
In other words, they say, if I die, I die, I will not bow.
The day come where you cannot buy food for your family.
You cannot buy things if you don’t have the mark of 666 on your hand, what will you do?
You said, No lah, actually, in my heart, I don’t deny one lah. Never mind, what’s 666, it’s just a caveat there, but in my heart, I just love Jesus.
That’s deception. That’s deception.
It calls for people who say I will not bow.
That’s why how do you overcome the devil?
Revelation chapter 12, verse 11, says
“They overcome him by the blood of the lamb, and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.”
Revelation 13:9-10 NASB
9 If anyone has an ear, let him hear. 10 If anyone is destined for captivity, to captivity he goes; if anyone kills with the sword, with the sword he must be killed. Here is the perseverance and the faith of the saints. (Rev 13:9-10 NASB)
Scary dah. If anyone is destined to captivity, you will go into captivity.
If anyone is to be killed by the sword, you will be killed by the sword.
Here is a promise of God’s word.
Some of you are earmarked for jail.
Some of you are earmarked to die.
And if you are earmarked to die, die.
And that is the perseverance and the faith of the saints.
Scary, you know, you read this verse, it goes.
What’s the promise of the end time?
I don’t know.
Some of you going to go to jail.
All I know is in Hong Kong, they want to pass this non-discriminatory law against homosexuality.
Means the minute this law is passed, if a pastor preached against homosexuality, will go to jail.
I have a good group of friends right now who is getting together in prayer and say we will go to jail together.
The day is past, we will preach like never preach before on this subject.
And we will tell the Christians to go out and say, let’s go to jail together.
But the day is going to come.
This is true Christianity.
This is why I am so passionate about discipleship.
That’s not to tell you, don’t worry, all these things before happen you will be raptured. Zoop.
And then the world will be left without Christians finally to testify to them.
As I study this Book (Revelation) more and more, I don’t believe in this (Pre-trib rapture).
It’s going to happen when the whole thing comes back again
because you need people like you and I to rise up and say if I am to be captured, I will be captured. If I were to be dead, I will die.
It’s a hard message.
I wish I can just stand up every week and say guys God loves you, everything is wonderful.
I probably will increase my attendance.
But finally, when I stand before God, how can I answer to people who come to this church and who finally found out their names is not in the book of life because their faith is not a faith that is not God-centred but man-centred.
So, I got to preach with all my heart because the end time is near.
Is your Christianity one of saying I will only come if I’m blessed?
Or is it one that say Lord, you have blessed me you have died for me on the cross.
And if you don’t bless me anymore,
I’m still willing to lay down my life for you because thou art worthy to receive all the glory and praise.”
Lawrence Khong, Gordon Fee, Derek Prince, David Pawson & Michael Brown’s view of Martyrdom
represents the view of all Singapore evangelical Pastors and churches and the Historic Church:
which includes the Apostolic Church, the Early Church, the Reformation Church, the Puritan Church, etc.
The view of Lawrence Khong, Gordon Fee, Derek Prince, David Pawson & Michael Brown
is also the view held by every evangelical denomination:
Anglican, Methodist, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Baptist, Brethren, EFC, Assemblies of God, Charismatics and Pentecostals, etc.
So, Joseph Prince, who holds the anti-martyrdom or no-martyrdom view
is clearly and doctrinally the odd one out.
Once again, I have proven that Joseph Prince is a Lone Ranger.
Furthermore, Joseph Prince, by his teaching that every New Covenant Christian is protected by God from suffering and martyrdom,
is heaping a stinging insult on every martyr throughout the history of the Church that they have shed their blood for nothing.
The teaching of martyrdom is even more pressing today, given what is happening:
pestilences, especially COVID-19 and wars, particularly, between Russia and Ukraine and between Israel and Hamas.
Jesus had already prophesied that these things will take place before His second coming,
and that the Church will be persecuted for their faith during the tribulation.
Why did John write the Book of Revelation?
He wrote it to prepare the people of God for the toughest ever persecution that will result in the massive martyrdom of believers:
“…And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” (Rev 7:14 NIV)
“And they have defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony. And they did not love their lives so much that they were afraid to die.” (Rev 12:11 NLT)
“If anyone is to go into captivity, into captivity they will go. If anyone is to be killed with the sword, with the sword they will be killed. This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of God’s people.” (Rev 13:10 NIV)
Then I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.” (Rev 14:13 NIV)
“The name written on her forehead was a mystery: babylon the great the mother of prostitutes and of the abominations of the earth. 6 I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of God’s holy people, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus.” (Rev 17:5-6 NIV)
“In her was found the blood of prophets and of God’s holy people, of all who have been slaughtered on the earth.”
(Rev 18:24 NIV)
“…And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God…” (Rev 20:4 NIV)
The Antichrist will be in control of the world in the last three and a half years before the return of Jesus.
The world, awed by the power of the Antichrist, will worship him.
The Antichrist will persecute, imprison and slaughter many believers.
Many of these martyred saints will cry out to God for divine vengeance.
What God will say to them is ‘unpleasantly’ surprising:
“When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. 10 They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?” 11 Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers and sisters, were killed just as they had been.” (Rev 6:9-11 NIV)
Did God say to these martyred saints,
“Poor thing, I forgot to rapture you, and I am so sorry that you were killed. That reminds me that I had better rapture all those saints who are still on earth so that they won’t suffer the same fate as you did.”
You would have thought that God’s answer to them would be,
“Don’t despair, I will come and avenge you by immediately punishing the perpetrators of your murders.”
But when the martyrs were crying out to God to mete out His judgement against their persecutors,
“….they were told to wait a little longer, until the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers and sisters, were killed just as they had been” (Rev 6:11).
God starkly told them,
“Be patient
as more and more believers are going to be martyred just like you were
before I take action.”
What a ‘discouraging’ statement!
God will probably say to these saints,
“I am aware that you have suffered much for me, and I am proud that you gave your life for my sake.
But I want you to be patient and wait a little longer, as more and more of those who are totally sold out for me will be killed like you were.”
Does anyone still insist that God will never allow you to go through suffering in the Great Tribulation?
– Well, Joseph Prince and many others did!
Wake up! Get real!
God will not only allow you to suffer,
but He will even allow you to be killed.
Because He hates you?
No!
Because He loves you enough to give you the rare privilege of being martyred for His glory just like Peter was in John 21:19!
Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” 19 Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!” (Jn 21:18-19 NIV)
Joseph Prince has the audacity to teach that New Covenant Christians will never be martyred,
when the scripture and Jesus Himself clearly teaches that that is one honourable way to glorify God, like Peter did in John 21:19.
Many believers of the last-day church during the temporary reign of the Antichrist and before Christ’s second coming
will be given this rare privilege of dying as martyrs for His glory.
Be prepared for the day of tribulation.
Don’t be deceived by the sugar-coated Christianity that Joseph Prince preaches.
Who wants to suffer and die as a martyr?
Nobody does!
But is a suffering-free and a martyrdom-free Christianity the truth?
Now, you know why thousands are drawn to attending Joseph Prince’s New Creation Church?
– Because of the feel-good theology of a bless-me, prosper-me, no-suffering and no-martyrdom Christianity
that Joseph Prince constantly dishes out to please the flesh.
Joseph Prince – by deceiving believers that they won’t have to suffer and be persecuted to the point of being martyred,
is literally sending them to hell.
One day, believers who are being deceived by Joseph Prince’s feel-good teachings were to come face to face with suffering and persecution with the threat of being martyred in the Great Tribulation,
they would be too shocked and totally unprepared. And in their unpreparedness, they may deny Christ and go to hell. Their blood will be on Joseph Prince’s hands!
“The Joseph Prince gospel offers a wonderful plan for your life; the Jesus Christ gospel offers a possible end to your life.” (Lk 14:26,27,33; Matt 16:21-26) (George Ong)
“The glory of martyrdom which began at the start of the Church in Acts will climax at the close of history before the coming of Christ in Revelation.” (George Ong)
I started by telling you the story of a Martyr in the Middle East.
Now I will end with the story of another Martyr.
Let me share with you a man whom we owe our gratitude to.
He is William Tyndale (1494-1536).
Many believers reading the English Bible today don’t realise the debt they owe to William Tyndale.
He was the one who translated the Bible into English.
In his pursuit of that goal, he was martyred.
My eyes were brimming with tears as I read about William Tyndale who laid down his life for the larger body of Christ.
I said to the Lord in my heart,
“Lord, please give these men and women the highest accolade in glory; not that they are looking forward to it, but that they, who have given their lives for your sake, ought to be given the highest honour. No envy. No jealousy. No rivalry. Only great rejoicing at how these people have persevered in their calling, pouring their lives to the point of death only for you and you alone.”
In ‘The Daring Mission of William Tyndale,’
Steven J Lawson wrote:
“This heroic figure (William Tyndale) died a martyr’s death in 1536, strangled to death by an iron chain, after which his corpse was burned and blown up by gunpowder that had been spread around his incinerated body.
… This resilient figure would live underground as a condemned heretic and hunted fugitive for the last twelve years of his life.
He would eventually pay the ultimate price in giving his life unto a martyr’s death
to provide his countrymen with the New Testament and half of the Old Testament in English.
His feat of translating the Bible into English from the original Greek and Hebrew had never before been accomplished.
This remarkable Reformer would become the most significant of the early English Protestants.
… As William Tyndale persevered in carrying out his daring mission, he did so as a marked man.
He fulfilled this dangerous work with his life in constant jeopardy.
Repeatedly, government and church-appointed agents were dispatched from England to scour the European landscape in search of the fugitive.
Multiple efforts had been made to capture him by whatever means necessary.
These emissaries were under strict orders to find Tyndale, arrest him, and bring him to his execution.
With his neck on the line and a price on his head, Tyndale carried out his New Testament revision with a sense of the high calling of God upon his life.
After completing his initial translation of the 1526 New Testament, the Pentateuch in 1530, and Jonah in 1531, Tyndale refused to rest from his labors.
He was steadfastly determined to revise his translation of the New Testament to improve its accuracy and readability.
Exposed daily to the possibility of his own martyrdom, Tyndale was tenacious in pressing forward with the revision of his translation despite the danger of imminent capture.
When the 1526 New Testament was printed, Tyndale had already begun compiling a list of corrections he knew would eventually need to be made.
In the postscript of the 1526 edition, he begged his readers for feedback regarding needed improvements for a revised translation.
In 1534, eight and a half years after the first edition was published, Tyndale finished his tedious revision, which became his crowning achievement.
New Testament scholar B.F. Westcott called this version his “noblest monument.”
Tyndale expert David Daniell hailed it as “the glory of his life’s work.”
… This period of tremendous productivity for Tyndale was quickly coming to an end.
He would not see another edition of his New Testament, nor would he see his translation of the Old Testament Historical Books published.
Within three months, this faithful servant would be arrested and thrown into prison.
There would be no release from this imprisonment.
After a year and a half of confinement, Tyndale would walk to the stake of martyrdom
With his face set like flint toward the goal of bringing the Word of God to the English people, William Tyndale pressed forward continually in the work of God.
The adversity he faced was daunting, and the dangers he encountered were life-threatening.
Nevertheless, as a man of remarkable perseverance, Tyndale endured in his mission.
Resolute in his labors, Tyndale would never cease until he had translated the entire Bible into English and it was placed into the hands of the plowboy in his beloved homeland.
With stubborn tenacity, Tyndale could not be stopped until the hangman’s noose strangled him and fire consumed him.
A life of greatness is most often marked by an indomitable spirit. Lesser individuals give up too easily when their path is blocked.
But the one who leaves an indelible imprint upon the world is distinguished by single-minded determination in the face of rising censure and antagonism.
Such a man was William Tyndale, a granite-like figure with imperturbable resolve.
Having translated only the first five books of the Old Testament (1536) and Jonah (1531), Tyndale had before him the vast frontier of the rest of the Old Testament, begging to be released from ancient obscurity.
This included the Historical Books, the Poetical Books, and the rest of the Prophets.
… After translating Joshua through 2 Chronicles, Tyndale was arrested through the deception of a betrayer.
An Englishman named Harry Phillips had arrived in Antwerp in early summer 1535 on assignment to find Tyndale and lead government and church officials to apprehend him.
Phillips had previously lost a vast amount of his father’s money in England and was desperate to recover the lost fortune.
The Catholic Church seized upon his plight and offered to pay him a handsome reward in return for his assistance in apprehending Tyndale.
Upon his arrival, Phillips made the necessary contacts that led him to the Poyntz boarding house.
He quickly befriended Tyndale, winning his confidence and trust.
Poyntz warned Tyndale about Phillips, but Tyndale remained naive to Phillips’ clandestine tactics.
After he had completed his translation of the eight Historical Books, Tyndale lowered his guard with Phillips and became like a lamb led to the slaughter.
On their way to dinner one evening, Tyndale and Phillips entered a narrow alley outside of the Poyntz boarding house.
Phillips insisted that Tyndale walk ahead of him into the alley, where, by prearrangement, soldiers waited hidden from view on each side of a doorway.
When he followed Tyndale through the door, Phillips pointed down at Tyndale to indicate that he was the person they were to ambush.
The soldiers seized Tyndale and placed him under arrest. After being a fugitive for twelve years, he was now in the custody of the officials.
In this chaotic moment, Tyndale’s room in the boarding house was ransacked and his possessions confiscated.
Providentially, John Rogers had gathered Tyndale’s unpublished work on Joshua through 2 Chronicles and escaped to safety.
Rogers now had Tyndale’s entire body of translation work in hand, including the entire New Testament and his Old Testament work.
In addition, he possessed Tyndale’s prologues, marginal notes, and tables for each translated book.
Tyndale was taken to the castle of Vilvoorde and imprisoned there for a year and a half.
He was tied to a stake, strangled, and burned in 1536 for his efforts in translating the Word of God into the English language.
In 1537, the year after Tyndale’s martyrdom, John Rogers compiled, edited, and printed the Matthew Bible, so named because it was published under the pseudonym Thomas Matthew.
Tyndale did not live to see the entirety of his translation work printed.
… Supplementing the work of Tyndale in the Matthew Bible was the Old Testament translation of a scholar he met while at Oxford, Miles Coverdale.
This Englishman translated the entire Bible into English and had it published as the Coverdale Bible one year before Tyndale’s martyrdom in 1535.
It was the first Bible ever printed in the English language containing both the Old and New Testaments.
It was officially approved by Henry VIII and ordered to be spread “among all the people.”
However, Coverdale’s translations were from the Latin and German, not from the original Hebrew and Greek, as was Tyndale’s more scholarly and precise work.
… Rogers took up Tyndale’s mantle and published what his mentor had completed. Rogers was not the translator in this project, but instead acted as a general editor who collected and published this English version of the Bible with minor edits.
… The work of Tyndale was spreading like wildfire throughout England and abroad.
At last, the English people had access to the Word of God in their native tongue.
Countless multitudes from the sixteenth century to the modern day have benefited from the unceasing efforts of this paramount Bible translator.
Even after his martyrdom, the work of William Tyndale would change the trajectory of modern civilization.
The light of God’s truth was breaking through the thick cloak of darkness to shine in every marketplace, field, and home in England.
Tyndale’s final words before the chain around his neck strangled him to death were, “Lord, open the king of England’s eyes.”
That dying prayer was answered two years after Tyndale’s death, when King Henry VIII ordered that the Bible of Miles Coverdale was to be used in every parish in the land.
The Coverdale Bible was largely based on Tyndale’s work.
Then, in 1539, Tyndale’s own edition of the Bible became officially approved for printing.
Tyndale’s translation inspired the great translations that followed, including the Great Bible (1539, also compiled by Coverdale), the Geneva Bible (1560), the Bishops’ Bible (1568), the Douay-Rheims Bible (1582– 1609), and the Authorized or King James Version (1611).
A complete analysis of the King James shows that Tyndale’s words account for eighty-four percent of the New Testament and more than seventy-five percent of the Old Testament.
Many of the great modern English versions stand in the King James tradition and thus also draw inspiration from Tyndale, including the Revised Standard Version, the New American Standard Bible, and the English Standard Version.
The enormous debt owed by the English-speaking world to William Tyndale is incalculable.
His crafting of the English language introduced new words into our vocabulary that are spoken every day in countries around the world.
Ultimately, his work in translating the Bible from its original languages into the tongue of his homeland helped launch the English Reformation.
The calling of God upon Tyndale’s heart became a burning passion to see commoners read God’s unadulterated Word.
Unfortunately, most people have never heard of this man and his vast contribution has been greatly undervalued through the centuries.
We want again Tyndales to tenaciously face the insurmountable obstacles before them and overcome them with zealous resolve for the glory of God.
We need Tyndales who translate the Bible into the languages of forgotten people groups around the world.
We need Tyndales to proclaim the gospel through the written page in the face of imminent danger.”
Rev George Ong