Warning : This is a long post and This post might make you to Hate Me or Any preacher. But As long as you Hate satan with a passion and continue to Love God, I am happy.
Additional Warning : Many names of world renowned Preachers (False) are exposed in this article.
When ever we hear the term "Prosperity Gospel", we usually associate it with Money. You would have heard Tele-Evangelists say aloud on Television," Give to my ministry and God will cancel all your debts". You might have had doubts when Paul Dhinakaran (Jesus calls Ministries)showed his advertising skills using the Kirubasana petti plan, Golden key plan through which he stole money from Sincere Christians. You might have also seen the Late- Oral Roberts crying for money on TV. These are just two examples. If you Turn-ON your television sets and if you ever come across the two channels TBN and God TV, you would come across many anti-christs begging for money 24/7. But if the Prosperity Gospel was only about money, we could perhaps tolerate it. But it encompasses much, much more dangerous dogma than that!
What exactly is the Prosperity Gospel (THE OTHER GOSPEL)
The Prosperity Gospel is also known as "Word of Faith" theology, or the "Health, Wealth, Happiness Gospel
Prosperity Gospel endorses baptism and anointing of materials (Car, House, Bike, Laptop, iphone). It doesn't end there. It also endorses a lot of cultish doctrines.
- Prosperity Gospel preachers always endorse testimonies from people who were abundantly blessed financially because they offered money to those preachers.
- Giving to a ministry results in guaranteed financial gain for the giver - you "give to get"
- Financial generosity toward a ministry will unlock God's blessing on relationships, material gain, debt reduction, and healing
- Jesus Christ was not God in the flesh
- Any born-again man could have redeemed mankind through the atonement of his death
- Jesus Christ became Satan on the Cross
- Jesus Christ won salvation for the world by defeating Satan in Hell. He did not finish his work on the cross
- God can do nothing in the earth unless He is granted permission through the faith-filled words of a Spirit-filled believer
- Any born-again believer is a son or daughter of God and is therefore equal to the Son of God and is therefore a god
All the Prosperity Preachers preach a Gospel message packing their sermon around the above few points. The message might be emotional and inspiring. Some preachers might even use the very name of Jesus throughout their messages. Sincere Christians should open their eyes and discern which Jesus they are talking about? Is it the Jesus Christ of Nazareth from the Bible? Or Is it the Jesus that the preachers created and implanted in the minds of the believers? If you have itchy ears, you will be deceived.
Prosperity Teachers also teach that
- Poverty is a curse
- Sickness is a curse
They say that Jesus nailed it all on the cross. This statement itself contradicts their theology which is based on the belief that Jesus went to Hell and was tortured in hell. We should understand that Poverty and Sickness are still allowed by God to show two things
- When we live in poverty, we understand a lot of things. I am not endorsing any poverty Gospel. Jesus came as a poor man to make us rich in spirit even when we are poor. Being Rich or being Poor is not the question. Even if we are rich or even if we are poor, do we have the heart to Give and love one another? This is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Prosperity Gospel doesn't see this truth
- When we are sick (Chastisement / Diet / Evil forces -allowed by God), we should remember that God can heal us. Sickness is allowed by God so that we can recognize his supremacy and his healing power in us.
Most of the prosperity preachers who preached that "Sickness is a Curse" died after a prolonged illness ( eg - Late DGS Dhinakaran)
The prosperity Enforcer - Jesse Duplantis stated the following in his book.
The very first thing on Jesus' agenda was to get rid of poverty! Would you like to know why some people, including ministries, never get out of poverty? It's not because they aren't smart. It's not because they don't have windows of opportunity. It's because they're not anointed. If you're not anointed, poverty will follow you all the days of your life. His first objective was to get rid of poverty. Obviously, He considered poverty a worse problem than blind eyes.Jesse Duplantis, relating the account of Jesus reading from Luke 4:18 and from this text), Nov. 1997 Voice of the Covenant, p.5
Which Bible does Jesse read? The problem with Sincere Bible believing Christians is the failure to understand between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant.
Prosperity teachers quotes verses of earthly blessings mainly from the Old Testament (Totally out of context) and many sincere Christians have been victims to the twisted teaching from the pulpit . (One noted Prosperity teacher in Chennai is Rev Sam Chelladurai -AFT. He preaches this hellish doctrine too)
The prosperity teachers often say that Poverty is a curse, and they force the sheep to give money to the church by giving them a false promise that when they give money to the Church, God will bless them. This was found in the first century too. Apostle Paul mentions this in his letter to Titus
They must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach.Titus 1:11
Though earthly prosperity was a God given blessing in the Old Testament, Many prophets of God warned the sheep about "Money-Minded" preachers in the Old Testament also. Prophet Jeremiah's words echo this
The priests did not say, ‘Where is the LORD?’Those who handle the law did not know me;the shepherds transgressed against me;the prophets prophesied by Baaland went after things that do not profit. Jeremiah 2:8
Now prosperity preachers often say that sickness is a curse by quoting a verse from 3rd book of John
Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.3John 2
It is true that the Scripture presents good health, sufficient wealth and peace with contentment (happiness) as the blessing of God. But prosperity teachers twist this verse and say that it is the perfect will of God for these qualities to be displayed in the believer- in the sense that if someone is not enjoying these blessings then they are logically out of the will of God. Suffering, lack, ill health, has no place in the scheme of the Prosperity Gospel. Yet, these qualities are also sometimes the blessing of God. Paul writes that suffering as a blessing in his letter to the Romans.
More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces enduranceRomans 5:3
The prosperity preachers have just not twisted the words " Poverty" and "Sickness" . They have even given a new definition to the word "FAITH" which is unbiblical (By joning a couple of non-related verses from the Bible that talks about Faith)
Kenneth Copeland ( Another wolf in Sheep's Clothing )
The force of faith is released by words. Faith-filled words put the law of the Spirit of life into operation." Kenneth Copeland, "The Force of Faith", Ft. Worth: Kenneth Copeland Publications, 1983
According to Benny Hinn, Christians can use faith to prevent sickness (because it is never God's will for people to be sick, according to the Prosperity Gospel).
If the apostle Paul had received a revelation about the power of faith that Copeland and Benny had, he would never had suffered and certainly he would never have been imprisoned. What the apostle Paul didn't know, apparently, was that he could use faith as a force to change his circumstances by speaking it into existence.The teaching about faith by Prosperity Teachers is wrong. Biblical faith is not a force.Faith, according to the Scriptures is a gift from God.
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God Ephesians 2:8
Biblically, the object of faith is not the circumstance that the believer needs changing, but: God. The believer's faith is meant to be in God not in the ability to change their circumstances! Yet prominent Prosperity Preacher, Marilyn Hickey, teaches that " faith" can be used to "create money". She says that believers should use their faith to speak to their wallets ("bill-folds") and command them to be filled with money
Yet, there is a gift of faith that Romans 12:3 and 1 Corinthians 12:9 talks about. In this instance it seems that God gives someone the gift of faith so that they can be faithful in a particular task/project/ministry. Without this kind of Biblical faith there are countries that would never have been evangelised, hospitals not built, schools not established, churches not planted, and lives not reached. Not only does our Sovereign God ordain the election of His chosen ones, but He also ordains the means by which His election will be carried out. The role of faith in this process leads to God being glorified and this is the point of faith: the glory of God.
Now if you are fed up with this article, you can stop reading; but if you have a thirst to know more about the Prosperity Gospel teaching, you can read further. The words that follow are not gonna be as sweet as honey. They will prick. So if you can handle it, go ahead and read the rest of the article.
Prosperity teachers always link God with Prosperity with the simple equation - " GOD = PROSPERITY"
The traditional Christian concept of God encompasses His supreme sovereignty, His transcendence over creation, His unique magnificence, and His exclusive attributes (eternality, immutability, omnipresence, omnipotence, and omniscience). As such, God cannot be defined by the parameters of our dimension. That is, we experience the dimensions of space (height/width/depth) and time, but we cannot define the infinite God with such finite (limited) terms. But this is not the view of God presented by the Faith/Prosperity teachers. Their God is a very finite being.
He [God] doesn't even draw a distinction between Himself and us...You know what else that's settled, then, tonight? This hue and cry and controversy that has been spawned by the Devil to try and bring dissension within the body of Christ that we are gods. I am a little god!...I have His name. I'm one with Him. I'm in covenant relation. I am a little god! Critics, be gone!" Paul Crouch, "Praise the Lord" program on TBN [7 July 1986]
K.C Fred Price (Another wolf) went one step ahead and said that God can't don anything unless he receives the permission from the believer
"God can't do anything in this earth realm except what we, the body of Christ, allow Him to do. Now that statement is so--that's so--that's so foreign and so contrary to tradition that, like I said, if they could get their hands on me right now most evangelicals would burn me at the stake and dismember me and feed me to the crocodiles, because they'll consider that statement to be just heresy"Frederick K.C. Price, "Ever Increasing Faith" program on TBN [1 May 1992], audiotape #PR11. Cf. chapter 6, 85.
Copeland went two steps ahead and said that we can even COMMAND God
"As a believer, you have a right to make commands in the name of Jesus. Each time you stand on the Word, you are commanding God to a certain extent because it is His Word." Kenneth Copeland, "Our Covenant with God", Fort Worth, TX: KCP Publications, 1987, 32
Copeland then again committed spiritual prostitution by saying that God is a Failure
"I was shocked when I found out who the biggest failure in the Bible actually is...The biggest one is God...I mean, He lost His top-ranking, most anointed angel; the first man He ever created; the first woman He ever created; the whole earth and all the Fullness therein; a third of the angels, at least--that's a big loss, man... Now, the reason you don't think of God as a failure is He never said He's a failure. And you're not a failure till you say you're oneKenneth Copeland, "Praise-a-Thon" program on TBN [April 1988]
You might be thinking that I am over using Copeland here. But I have a reason here because, he is the God father and spiritual mentor of many Word-Faith Teachers.Many word-Faith teachers copy his quotes in their teachings viz Joyce Meyer, Joel Osteen, John Hagee, Joseph Prince, Chee Ann, John Arnott, Todd Bentley, Kong Hee and many more)
Kenneth Copeland did not stop with his blasphemies. He even went on to say that God could have even used him ( Instead of Jesus ) to redeem mankind.
"The Spirit of God spoke to me and He said, 'Son, realize this. Now follow me in this and don't let your tradition trip you up.'Think this way--a twice-born man whipped Satan in his own domain.' And I threw my Bible down...like that. I said, 'What?' He said, 'A born-again man defeated Satan, the firstborn of many brethren defeated him.' He said, 'You are the very image, the very copy of that one.' I said, 'Goodness, gracious sakes alive!' And I began to see what had gone on in there, and I said, 'Well now you don't mean, you couldn't dare mean, that I could have done the same thing?' He said, 'Oh yeah, if you'd had the knowledge of the Word of God that He did, you could've done the same thing, cause you're a reborn man too.'"Kenneth Copeland, Substitution and Identification,K. Copeland Ministries, 1989, audiotape #00-0202, Side B.
Contrary to the Prosperity/Word of Faith Teachers, God is not merely spiritually enlightened. Biblically, He is infinitely powerful, infinitely magnificent, infinitely wise and infinitely good. He is able to do whatever He pleases and He in no way requires our permission to do anything!
One more thing that the prosperity preachers preach is that Jesus did not complete his work on the cross.
Different prosperity preachers have different views on this. Check the following three foolish views.
Different prosperity preachers have different views on this. Check the following three foolish views.
- There was nothing unique about Christ"My, you know, whoosh! The Holy Ghost is just showing me some stuff. I'm getting dizzy! I'm telling you the truth--it's, it's just heavy right now on me...He's (referring to Jesus) in the underworld now. God isn't there, the Holy Ghost isn't there, and the Bible says He was begotten. Do you know what the word begotten means? It means reborn. Do you want another shocker? have you been begotten? So was he. Don't let anyone deceive you. Jesus was reborn. You say, 'What are you talking about?'...He was reborn. He had to be reborn...If He was not reborn, I would never be reborn. How can I face Jesus and say, 'Jesus you went through everything I've gone through, except the new birth?'"Benny Hinn, "Our Position in Christ, Part 11", Orlando, FL: Orlando Christian Centre, 1991, videotape # TV-254
- Our atonement is not the result of the Cross"Do you think that the punishment for our sin was to die on a cross? If that were the case, the two thieves could have paid your price. No, the punishment was to go into hell and to serve time in hell separated from God...Satan and all the demons of hell thought that they had Him bound and they threw a net over Jesus and they dragged Him down to the very pit of hell itself to serve our sentence."Fred K.C. Price, Ever Increasing Faith Messenger, Newsletter Crenshaw Christian Centre, Inglewood, CA. June 1980, p.7
- Christ was actually speaking "words of faith" when he said it was finished because there was still much to be done to achieve the salvation of mankind "When Jesus cried, 'It is finished!' He was not speaking of the plan of redemption. There were still three days and nights to go through before He went to the Throne...Jesus' death on the cross was only the beginning of the complete work of redemption." Kenneth Copeland, "Jesus Our Lord of Glory>", Believer's Voice of Victory, April 1982, p.10
TO ALL THE PROSPERITY PIMPS WHO PREACH FOR THEIR OWN BELLY - IF YOU ARE READING THIS ARTICLE :
STOP YOUR BLASPHEMY, YOU WOLVES. I AM JUST PRAYING TO GOD TO GIVE ME THAT SPIRITUAL WHIP SO THAT YOU COULD BE WHIPPED HARD UNTIL YOU CHANGE YOUR WAYS AND REPENT. ( NO WONDER PAUL WAS ANGRY WHEN HE SAID THAT HE MIGHT EVEN COME WITH A CANE)
How to identify if a preacher is preaching earthly prosperity gospel or the True Gospel?
1. A prosperity gospel preacher will call those who don't believe in that gospel as "poverty gospel followers". Yes there are many Christians who live in false humility and live like beggars thinking that this is what gospel is all about. Prosperity gospel exponents will label all those who oppose them in this category of Christians who live in false humility. So the first step to identify a prosperity gospel preacher is that he will always attack those who don't accept his prosperity gospel message.
2. Prosperity gospel preachers will quote the prosperity verses quoted in the old testament as blessings. This is where Christians get deceived in a bigger way. In the old testament the blessing was mainly earthly blessings. Abraham's blessings flowed across generations (Abraham did not enjoy the blessings. But his generation enjoyed it. Solomon asked for wisdom and God blessed him with earthly riches. Many of the old testament promises circle around earthly blessings. Even the psalmist David in many of his psalms thanks God for blessing him materially. We also see that David also asks God to punish his enemies in the psalms. This is old covenant teaching. But in the New covenant - after the coming of our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ, the blessings are spiritual and not earthly blessings. But many present day preachers who preach on new Covenant say that we are not under the Old covenant and we are not bound by the law. But still when it comes to blessings, they go back to all the blessings mentioned in the old testament.
3. Many earthly prosperity preachers use the classic example of Job. They teach that Satan stole everything that Job had. So Satan steals your money and makes you poor but you can drive away Satan in the name of Jesus Christ. This kind of teaching is not biblical. We have to note that Job did not have the power to drive away Satan using the name of Jesus. He did not even know why he was going through the pain. But he always held on to God even when he had nothing. That is what we have to learn from Job. Job did not curse God. Also we have to know that Satan is very cunning that he gives worldly blessings and material prosperity to people (He tried to tempt Jesus with earthly blessings too). Many believers fall prey to this trick of Satan. This is why the bible clearly tells us that we can't serve God and Mammon. Many Christians are taught that if they follow Jesus they will get materially rich. This world is just a passing phase for us. This is not our home. Our home is heaven.
4.I have often heard preachers say that if you are poor, it is because Satan has stolen your inheritance. They even preach that the sign of being a child of God is being materially prosperous. But only a child of God will know that when we truly follow Christ there will be more material and earthly losses than gains. Satan is a thief; but he is not out there to steal our money. He is out there to steal our soul. Many run behind money and lose their soul. Beware of earthly prosperity preachers. 1 Timothy 6th chapter explains the difference between true followers of Christ and those who follow money.
No. God takes care of our needs. He is our provider. He knows what is best for us. He does not make us greedy. Matthew 6:33 explains this in the best possible way. The Apostles of Christ lived for Christ. They lived for His kingdom and they never ran after money. But today a whole breed of Christian believers are created to follow another Jesus (2 Cor 11:4).
Paul's words in Phil 1:21 should be in the breath of every Christian. " For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain".
3. Many earthly prosperity preachers use the classic example of Job. They teach that Satan stole everything that Job had. So Satan steals your money and makes you poor but you can drive away Satan in the name of Jesus Christ. This kind of teaching is not biblical. We have to note that Job did not have the power to drive away Satan using the name of Jesus. He did not even know why he was going through the pain. But he always held on to God even when he had nothing. That is what we have to learn from Job. Job did not curse God. Also we have to know that Satan is very cunning that he gives worldly blessings and material prosperity to people (He tried to tempt Jesus with earthly blessings too). Many believers fall prey to this trick of Satan. This is why the bible clearly tells us that we can't serve God and Mammon. Many Christians are taught that if they follow Jesus they will get materially rich. This world is just a passing phase for us. This is not our home. Our home is heaven.
4.I have often heard preachers say that if you are poor, it is because Satan has stolen your inheritance. They even preach that the sign of being a child of God is being materially prosperous. But only a child of God will know that when we truly follow Christ there will be more material and earthly losses than gains. Satan is a thief; but he is not out there to steal our money. He is out there to steal our soul. Many run behind money and lose their soul. Beware of earthly prosperity preachers. 1 Timothy 6th chapter explains the difference between true followers of Christ and those who follow money.
So does this mean that God will not bless his children?
No. God takes care of our needs. He is our provider. He knows what is best for us. He does not make us greedy. Matthew 6:33 explains this in the best possible way. The Apostles of Christ lived for Christ. They lived for His kingdom and they never ran after money. But today a whole breed of Christian believers are created to follow another Jesus (2 Cor 11:4).
Paul's words in Phil 1:21 should be in the breath of every Christian. " For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain".
- Shielded in God's love
Prason
For any clarifications in this article, please mail the author at prason@chronicwriter.com
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