Sermon Review -- Joseph Prince -- A Transference of Wealth in the Last Days - by Reverend Anthony Wade

Found here. My comments in bold.
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The author will not quote a single Scripture in his presentation, except for his introductory Scriptures.

The author's smug certainty combined with an incendiary presentation makes for adventurous if unedifying reading.

We note that we do not intend to defend Joseph Prince's teaching. We are here to examine the author's presentation.
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A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children, but the sinner's wealth is laid up for the righteous. -- Proverbs 13:22 (ESV)

Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you. Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the innocent one, who was not opposing you. -- James 5:1-6 (ESV)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_O9-PUOfSMs&t=136s

Joseph Prince is one of the slimiest false teachers alive today ("Scorched earth discernment.")

and also, one of the most dangerous. (Here begins an irrelevant rant....)

People like Benny Hinn or Bill Johnson are low hanging fruit for anyone with an ounce of discernment because they do not try to disguise their false ness. They revel in it. They seek to change the bible to support their heresies. For example, Joel Osteen and many word faith heretics will insist that believers can speak things into existence because of Romans 4:17 but if we do a simple read we find that this verse is speaking about God, not us. What Osteen and most false teachers bank on is the collective laziness in Christianity that no one will check and do the work of a Berean. (End of irrelevant rant.)

Prince is often a different animal. (That is, the author think's Prince is not like the above cited people. But nevertheless he is one of the slimiest. So which is it, sir?)

He correctly exegetes 80% of what he preaches on (The author pulls a number out of the air. What we want to know, is Prince correct on primary doctrines? Does he tend to err on secondary or tertiary issues? It is important to know what the "80%" consists of.)

and as a result he sounds right. The 20 percent however are purposeful misapplications and poor interpretations designed to prop up his overall false thesis. He is also a master manipulator of the canon of scripture in that he will connect multiple portions of scripture and cobble them together to try and prove his point but the scriptures in question have absolutely nothing to do with each other. (A series of undocumented assertions.)

That is like saying since the bible says Judas hanged himself and Jesus said in Luke, go and do likewise, that we should go get a rope. Except Prince is never so obvious and unless you test everything he says you can be easily fooled.

Now, Prince is the king of antinomianism. (Antinomianism comes from the Greek meaning lawless. In Christian theology it is a pejorative term for the teaching that Christians are under no obligation to obey the laws of ethics or morality.

We wonder if the author will document this charge.)

This theology perverts the grace of God into a license to sin, ignores the ten commandments and creates false converts (Perhaps so, but will the author demonstrate this?)

whose darkness is thicker than before they fell under the grace stick beatings of Mr. Prince. He is a worldwide celebrity pastor from Singapore whose reach is some of the deepest in all of Christendom.

God seems to have included the first set of key verses today specifically for Prince and his followers. They will stand before Jesus and say Lord Lord but His response will reveal for them what they have ignored this whole time -- away from me you who practice lawlessness. I have reviewed sermons from Prince before and was astonished at how bad they were with an open bible. He preached once that to repent merely meant to consent to be carried by Jesus. He turned the flood into an act of love instead of wrath and to this day, The Benjamin Generation, is one of the worst sermons I have ever heard.

Today however, we will go through the above linked sermon nugget and discover that Prince is leading people straight to hell based on prosperity and tithing heresies. The scriptural mosaic he lays out however is breathtakingly bad and confusing if you do not understand the bible. He will go from Exodus to Revelation in a blink of an eye abusing Proverbs, James, and Ecclesiastes along the way. So buckle up beloved and let us reason together. (Whew. Quite a diatribe. The author previously represented himself as a former English teacher. But with a stream-of-consciousness, unfocused blather like the paragraph we just read, we would speculate there is a reason he is a former English teacher.

We took the liberty to add a couple paragraph breaks to assist us in understanding what he is attempting to convey.)

"Look at Proverbs 13:22. The wealth of the sinner that you envy, that tech giant, that billionaire. You envy them and the bible says they are working for you! -- Joseph Prince

Let me provide the context. (Here's a reminder of the Scripture in question, since he's going to provide us with the context: 

A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children, but the sinner's wealth is laid up for the righteous. -- Proverbs 13:22 (ESV)

Now we are positioned to more adequately evaluate Rev. Wade's "context.")

This appears to be a second part of a sermon series based upon comparing the Exodus from Egypt to the end times we are facing today. Prince's foundation is thus flawed. The Exodus is a story of salvation, or the first coming of Christ. It is prophetic for that; not the second coming. (More bare assertions. But we aren't required to accept his unadorned descriptions. Absent scriptural documentation, they are just opinions. The author just wrote: I have reviewed sermons from Prince before and was astonished at how bad they were with an open bible. We don't think its too much to ask for the author to open the Bible as he offers his critique.)

Prince has already made the point however that since the Exodus saw God allowing the Israelites to plunder the Egyptians that we too will experience a great wealth transfer in these last days. Hallelujah pass the offering plate!

"So we are talking about when the darkness covers the face of the earth how we can rejoice because we are protected from the destroyer. I preached on that last week. Now we can also see there will be a transference happening based on Proverbs 13:22." -- Joseph Prince

The second key verse is this aforementioned proverb. First of all, (There will be no "second of all.")

we do not wield Proverbs like this. This one speaks to a general principle that all things serve God and His ends. (Undocumented assertion.)

The unrighteous do not hold onto their wealth and as such it will be used by God for His righteous purposes. (Undocumented assertion.)

It may even find its way into your hands if you are righteous and obey the Lord but, (The author now walks back his claim....)

in all likelihood, it will not. (...then takes it back with an undocumented assertion.)

Either way, what Price is teaching here is laughable if it were not so deceptive. The fact that God allowed the plunder of the Egyptians does not mean that believers today can expect a wealth transfer. That is absurd. (Undocumented assertion.

So now we have his "context." Is the reader edified?)

"Ecclesiastes 2:26 tells us that to the sinner -- God also has a ministry. They will work and work and then God says -- you're going to transfer it." -- Joseph Prince (Let's quote the verse. Ec. 2:26: 

To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

This is the sneakiness of Prince on full display. The biblical purpose here in Ecclesiastes is to show the vanity of work. That we can get so tied up in saving and saving only to never enjoy anything in the present, while worrying about the future. (Is this what this verse says? It refers to the sinner's futility, not the righteous.)

We see this in the Parable of the Rich Fool. (Uncited. We will tell you that this is found in Luke 12.)

Who will enjoy what you have laid up in unrighteousness? God says eventually, it will all serve My purpose. (Unreferenced claim. It certainly doesn't say this in Luke 12. Jesus concludes his parable with 

Lk. 12:21 “This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich towards God.”

This parable is in fact a statement of judgment against the greed of the unrighteous. It says nothing about wealth serving God's purpose.)

That is not what Prince is teaching here. He is saying that God is going to transfer the wealth from sinners into your bank account! This is not what this text or any others he abuses here are about. This is the definition of scratching itching ears. (...to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. How this Scripture might or might not apply today is unknown, for the author never explains his summary denial.)

"When is it going to happen. You say that it did not happen in my grandfather's generation. I know, but it will happen in our generation! How do we know this? Because of James 5, verse three, here God is speaking to the ungodly." -- Joseph Prince

Let us not lose sight of the overall lesson he is conveying within the smaller verse references he makes. Prince has compared Exodus to these present last days we are living in, claiming that just like God allowed the Israelites to plunder the Egyptians, He will now transfer the wealth of the unrighteous unto the believers today. except he knows that is not biblically supported so he goes on a scripture treasure hunt to try and piece together unrelated verses to fool you into his position. He claimed Proverbs 13 teaches that sinners have a ministry in collecting wealth for you when it says nothing of the sort. He taught that the Ecclesiastes verses, which also speak in generalities of how God will use all things including the wealth of the unrighteous for His purposes, is somehow part of this biblical pattern he has created regarding a false money transfer for you. He has taken two scripture portions regarding general principles and created a false doctrine out of whole cloth that God is going to make you rich on the wealth of the unrighteous. Now he turns to James, the third set of key verses above. These verses make no mention of a wealth transfer of any kind! This is God speaking against those whose gains were made illicitly here on earth and how their wealth now cries out against them and the lifestyles they have led will be judged as well. Prince just wants us to focus in the fact that it says "last days" because he thinks it proves that our generation will be the one that sees this great wealth transfer that he has made up. Once again however, these James verses, while a powerful rebuke about storing up wealth and not using it for the betterment of others, has nothing to do with an imaginary transfer of that rotted and corroded wealth unto those listening to Joseph Prince. (We will not contest the author's assessments at this point, for he has not supplied us with any evidence they are true. We simply wish that he would document his presentation, and also, add a paragraph break or two.) 

"The default mode for money is always unrighteous. The bible says money is unrighteous because it is used most often in an unrighteous way. But you can sanctify it. I said you can sanctify it. How? With your tithing. If you wonder why your life is so hard financially. Why things are happening you have no explanation for. The devourer is devouring. Perhaps this is the answer. Let me tell you, this is my style. This is not a commandment. It is for those who can receive it. So breathe, no one is asking you for money but I have a moral authority to preach this because I don't draw a salary from this church." -- Joseph Prince

Wow. This is the master snake oil salesman at work. ("Scorched earth discernment.")

There is so much deceptive and disgusting to unpack here. ("Scorched earth discernment.")

I will try to go in order. (That would be helpful for a change.)

First of all, (There will be no "second of all.") 

the bible does not say the default mode of money is unrighteous. (Lk. 16:9 I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. The word worldly is ἀδικία, ας, ἡ (adikia), which means unrighteousness, riches wrongly acquired. While Prince's phrasing is inelegant, it is generally correct.)

That is from the depraved mind of Joseph Prince. ("Scorched earth discernment.")

What makes him a dangerous teacher is he follows up comments like that with reasonable sounding sound bites. Well, money is used most often in an unrighteous manner so of course the default mode is unrighteous. Sounds so right but it simply made up. When I pay my rent and bills, that is not unrighteous. When I by food and clothes for me and my family that is not unrighteous. Even when I spend money to take a vacation, that is not unrighteous. Even if it were, that does not make the money unrighteous but rather my use of the money. No beloved -- the love of money is the root of all sorts of evil but the money itself is neutral. (Undocumented claim.)

Why then did Prince make this claim? Because he wants to sell you on tithing. (Undocumented claim.)

He wants your money. Let me first deal with the absurdity of an antinomianism preacher insisting on tithing. ("Antimonianism" comes up again, yet remains unexplained as to how it might relate to Prince.)

Prince is greasy grace. ("Scorched earth discernment.")

He does not think the law belongs in the life of any believer, except apparently for tithing! This inherent contradiction is how you know he is false. (If the author is correct about his assertions regarding Prince's teaching on "greasy grace," we would certainly accept that there is a contradiction here. But we don't know any of this, because the author simply writes these things as if they were self-evident.)

His entire theology is based upon eliminating the law and living by grace (Undocumented assertion.)

but he ties the yoke of tithing around your neck when talking out of the other side of his mouth! Money cannot be sanctified nor does it need to be. (Undocumented assertion.)

It certainly will not be any cleaner because you gave a cut to a notorious false teacher like Joseph Prince.

Now that he has set the trap, he provides the bait, which is good old-fashioned guilt. He plays to the desperation of most people's lives. Do you have financial hardships? Who doesn't? Are things happening that you can't explain? Can we get any vaguer? Is the devourer devouring gets thrown in for a sense of piety but Prince has already baited the trap by asking questions that 90% of people would answer yes to and then "suggests" it may be because of tithing. How evil and insidious. Then he tries to back off his part in presenting this false teaching. It is not a commandment -- you have to be able to receive it. This leaves the listener with two choices -- they either receive it and tithe or they are not as spiritual as they had thought. Once again, pure evil. No one is asking for money? You are! You even then pretend to have the authority to ask for the money because you do not draw a salary from the church!

Now, let me address this as well. It is commendable that Prince, like Joel Osteen, draw no salary (He says it's commendable, with a subsequent "but." "But" negates everything that appeared before it.)

but the reason why is they are already multi-millionaires and that was generated out of the same wallets that he is demanding tithe. People like Prince and Osteen make their money from the sales of their books but who do you think buys their books? What a sham. Prince still benefits infinitely from the tithes his church draws because it is the church that is his platform for legitimacy and relevance to able to sell his wares to begin with! Now Prince really tosses the bile out the window:

"It is something called royalty among common people. And yet you know He is not someone who is servile. He is someone regal when you're in His presence. That's what God wants from His people. The smell of heaven and royalty. Even though you are humble you're not servile. You're humble but there is a regal princess quality about you. This is what God wants from His people. You are a royal priesthood." -- Joseph Prince

Jesus Christ was not servile? (Let's quote Prince: He is not someone who is servile. But did Prince say He is not someone who was servile? Nope. The author misrepresents Prince's correct statement.)

My bible says He was like a lamb led to slaughter yet He would not open his mouth. My bible says He washed His disciples' feet. God wants us to smell like heaven and royalty? Seriously?

(2Co. 2:15-16 For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. 16 To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life.)

You knew you were with someone regal when in His presence? My bible says that He had no form of majesty! (This is all past tense. Does not the author understand that Jesus is now exalted to the right hand of God? [Ac. 2:33] That God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name? [Ph. 2:9] That He is exalted above the heavens? [He. 7:26]) 

What Joseph Prince is trying to do here is scratch your itching ears while he picks your pocket. To get there he had to completely reinvent Jesus. The bible implores us to be humble and yes even servile. (Undocumented assertion.)

Our royalty comes from Him and our priesthood comes from the Gospel we must preach. It has nothing to do with earthly treasures. Mercifully, the video ends:

"So Romans 11:16 says if the first 10% is holy, guess what happens to the other 90%? It becomes holy. If I was God it would 90%! You live off the ten. Yet people complain about the 10! Listen, if you don't want to give, don't. This is for those with revelation. So He only asks for 10 percent and if the 10 is holy then the 90 % is holy and the devil can't touch what is holy." -- Joseph Prince

It comes as no surprise that Romans 11:16 says no such thing. (Let's actually quote the verse: 

Ro. 11:16 If the part of the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; if the root is holy, so are the branches.

The author doesn't bother to tell us what the verse really means.)

Having laid out the false narrative background about wealth transfers, Prince laid the trap on tithing and baited it with guilt. Now he closes the deal. He reiterates the "only 10%" mantra. He closes with yet another insidious lie. That by tithing you ensure none of your money is dirty. He is promising that the devil can't touch your money if you just pay him first, right.

Beloved, Joseph prince is a wolf of the highest order devouring the sheep of the Lord. Yes he is slick and difficult at times to discern but we must approach him with an open bible (A status never embraced by the author.)

and warn those who are leaning into his teachings because I can tell you that no one is harder preach the truth to than a Prince adherent. As for this nonsense, there is no great wealth transfer coming. Sorry but if you plunder the Egyptians today, you will probably be arrested for it. Prince plays to the Christian ego again by saying only people with revelation would understand this message. I have a revelation beloved. (The author appeals to his own revelation after mocking Prince's same appeal.)

Joseph Prince should be marked and avoided because his destruction has been set from long ago. ("Scorched earth discernment." 

The author relegates Prince to hell, taking the place of God in rendering final judgment. Despicable.)