My mind had trouble processing what I was hearing, but yet, here it was in all it's Laodicean glory. The pastor of a huge megachurch was in front of his congregation, telling them that he had seen the risen Lord Jesus Christ face to face on "good Friday" evening.
"No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him." John 1:18 (KJV)
Celebration church in Jacksonville, Florida, has about
12,000 people in weekly attendance for their services. They are an excellent example of the Laodicean church that Jesus said would be in evidence in the last days before the rapture. Rich, increased with goods, and preaching ear tickling sermons for their mostly Bible illiterate congregation. But today the pastor, Stovall Weems, kicked it up a notch or two. Or three. How did he do that? He claimed to have met Jesus face to face.
Today Pastor Stovall Weems claimed to have seen Jesus face to face, and heard His voice audibly with his ears. Something that is an absolute impossibility in the Church Age according to the Bible.
As fate would have it, I just happened to be sitting in the congregation of Celebration Church this Easter Sunday morning, at the 11:30 AM service. There were thousands of people in attendance, so many people that they delayed started the service until around 12:15 PM to allow all the people to come in. I started filming video from the moment the pastor said the following words. (
Click here to watch the video of Pastor Weem's claim of meeting Jesus face to face.)
"I have a message to preach to you about the resurrection, and it was an awesome message", the pastor said. Then he dropped the other shoe. "But...uh, instead of preaching about the resurrection, I want to tell you about my meeting with the resurrection".
From there it was off the end time Laodicean races as Pastor Weems regaled his congregation with the very tall tale of his personal meeting with Jesus
As I sat there this morning, filming the pastor's message, conflicting thoughts went through my head. First I wondered if he was intentionally deceiving his audience, claiming to have met Jesus personally when the Bible declares that such a thing is not possible in the Church Age.
"(For we walk by faith, not by sight:)" 2 Corinthians 5:7 (KJV)
"No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him." John 1:18 (KJV)
Yes, the apostle Paul saw the risen Lord Jesus face to face after His resurrection, and the sight was so intense it burned his eyes and he went blind. But that aside, Paul was handpicked by Jesus to lead the New Testament church, and that meeting is recorded in the pages of the Bible. If Stovall Weems truly met Jesus Christ face to face, then that should be in the Bible as well.
"But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee; Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee, To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me. To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me." Acts 26:16-19 (KJV)
Pastor Weems continued. "I want to talk to you about the experience I had Friday night, where I met and I saw our risen Saviour." "Now listen, I understand the consequences that come with making a statement like that. Okay?"
My mind had trouble processing what I was hearing, but yet, here it was in all it's Laodicean glory. The pastor of a huge megachurch was in front of his congregation, telling them that he had seen the risen Lord Jesus Christ face to face on "good Friday" evening. And the people, though hesitant at first, began lapping it up. Tears came to my eyes as the end times spectacle continued.
"For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables." 2 Timothy 4:3,4 (KJV)
"Nothing like this has ever happened to me. I think the longevity and the integrity of our ministry speaks for itself. When this happened Friday night I was really a wreck. I was sobbing, I couldn't sleep, this went on into Saturday." "I realized today that there was no way I could preach a message about the resurrection when I was with the resurrection Friday night."
"Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;" 2 Thessalonians 4:3 (KJV)
The great falling away, the apostasy of the professing Christian church is operating at full speed as we head towards the 70th anniversary of regathered Israel in May. Pastor Weems' "meeting" with Jesus Christ is proof positive of that. I only hope and pray that there will be at least some Bible believers within his congregation who will openly rebuke his false statement.
But sadly, I don't think that will happen.
Pastor Stovall, if you are reading this, you did
not meet Jesus face to face. According to Bible doctrine for the Church Age, this is not possible. Hopefully, you will come to your senses and recant your the false teaching of your current position. Because if you don't, then you will have to be ready to accept the "cult status" label that will be rightfully placed on your church. The next step for someone who claims a personal meeting with Jesus, is being "anointed by Jesus" to be the next
Jim Jones or
David Koresh.
Jesus Christ tells us in Revelation 3 that the last state of the Christian church is apostasy, and that's exactly what we are seeing right now. And it's exactly what I saw this morning.
"And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent." Revelation 3:14-19 (KJV)
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