How Do You Sleep At Night?

By Rob Pue

June 5, 2022

At the end of Matthew 28, Jesus gave His disciples the Great Commission. He said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

In John, Chapter 14, when our Lord was instructing His disciples as to what would soon come, He made another very bold — and very clear — statement: “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in Me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in My name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.” He then went on to explain how those who love Him will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Verse 17 says, of the Holy Spirit, “…whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. You know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.”

Now, I ask you: do we believe these words of Jesus? Or not? He said, “ALL authority in heaven and earth has been given to Me.” If Jesus has ALL authority, how much is left for the devil? The answer is, none. Our Lord’s earthly ministry was marked by many miracles, many healings, profound teaching and intense courage. He was absolutely counter-cultural and He confronted the religious and political leaders in those days with the pure truth of God, and we know He came to destroy the works of the devil.

Of course, Satan and his demons continue to rage against God and His children; they continue to wreak havoc and chaos in this world, as the spiritual warfare that’s been going on since the fall of man will continue until Christ returns to rule and reign. Jesus put Satan in his place when He walked this earth. But when He ascended to heaven, He left that job for US — Christians — to do. And Jesus told us, “…whoever believes in Me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do.” That’s quite a statement, but I will never doubt the words of Christ. If He said it is so, then it is, no matter how much doubt the devil may tempt me with. Because I have the Holy Spirit, I’m able to discern between lies and truth, between good and evil. Satan is a defeated enemy, but he’s busier than ever these days deceiving the unsaved world — all those who CANNOT receive the Holy Spirit of Truth. But I know the Spirit lives in me. If you are one of God’s true children, He lives in you, too.

Now, Jesus also warned us that in this world we will have tribulation, but we should never fear that, because He has overcome the world — and we have too, through our salvation in Him. Christians have always been some of the most persecuted people in the world and many have given their lives for Christ — a small price to pay for the reward of eternal life in God’s Kingdom after having stood firm ‘til the end.

Unfortunately, though, man has a carnal, fleshly nature as well as a spiritual side. When we bow to our fleshly nature, rather than follow the counsel of the Holy Spirit, we become easy targets for Satan and we become useless to God. “Good for nothing, except to be thrown out and trampled under the feet of men,” Jesus said in Matthew 5. And unfortunately, this seems to be where the modern American Church has been residing for decades now. So many professing Christians seem to be ashamed of Jesus — too cowardly to let their light shine before men…for fear of being mocked. Most church-goers are too ashamed of their faith to even pray over a meal in public; many can’t even bring themselves to do that in their own homes with their own families. This being the situation, how, then, are we ever to impact the world for the Savior we claim to serve?

If we don’t even have the courage to pray — in public or in private, among family and friends, what chance do we have to “turn the world upside down” as the early disciples did? Read the book of Acts. Notice it’s called the book of “ACTS” because the disciples took action. James 1:22 instructs us, “…be doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” Sadly, many today are grossly deceived. They may attend services at a church building several times a week, but their religion is in vain, and they’re only deceiving themselves. “Having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof.” And the Bible tells us, “…from such, turn away.”

Modern American Christianity has become “Churchianity.” We have a “form” of godliness, but it’s vain, powerless and irrelevant. As I recall, the government declared — and most pastors agreed — “Non-essential.” I really hate to lay so much of the blame for this at the feet of our pastors, but knowing the truth of the matter, I must. As I asked at the outset: do we believe the words of Jesus, or not? Because we can draw a direct correlation between the cowardly stance of most pastors and today’s non-essential, ineffective, irrelevant “Church.”

Having studied God’s Word long enough to make a vocation of the pastorate, our preachers should know better. They should be the most courageous of us all, teaching the whole counsel of God, the “weightier matters of the law,” speaking even the HARD things — and then leading their flock out of the church-house to the streets — to preach the truth in this wicked world of demonic deception and make disciples and save souls.

Jesus called His people not just to be the salt and light of the world but also “fishers of men,” but our modern American churches have become what I call “de-boning facilities.” If, by some chance, a man is invited to church, it seems the first order of business is for that church to remove the poor man’s backbone. Our churches today are not places where people are trained and equipped for ministry with courage and conviction. They’ve become the religious equivalent to the “safe spaces” we now see on our college campuses, where students can hide from the real world, “safe” in their Leftist worldviews, without ever being challenged to think or learn truth.

In 2014, George Barna completed a two-year study that revealed most pastors believe that the Bible addresses the current issues of the day, but few speak about them from the pulpit. Barna’s organization asked pastors across the country about their beliefs regarding the relevancy of Scripture to societal, moral and political issues — and the content of their sermons in light of their beliefs. He found that 90% said “yes, the Bible speaks to every one of these issues.” But less than 10% of pastors would ever speak on them.

Perhaps even more telling is how these same pastors defined a “successful” church. It turns out they measure success by 1) Attendance, 2) Giving, 3) Number of Programs, 4) Number of Staff, and 5) Square Footage. Pastor Chuck Baldwin stated, “It has been decades since even a sizeable minority of pastors have bothered to educate and inform their congregations as to the Biblical principles relating to America’s political, cultural and societal lives.” He went on to say, “America’s malaise is directly due to the deliberate disobedience of America’s pastors — and the willingness of the Christians in the pews to tolerate the disobedience of their pastor.”

Baldwin concluded, “When Paul wrote his own epitaph, it read, ‘I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.’ He didn’t say, ‘I had a large congregation, we had big offerings, we had a lot of programs, I had a large staff and we had large facilities.’ These ministers are not pastors; they are CEOs. They are not Bible teachers, they are performers. They are not shepherds; they are hirelings.” [Enemies Within: The Church]

So as I look around at what’s become of our country and at what is now coming upon the whole world, I see the judgment of God on an ungodly people. If we’re to be honest with ourselves, even those who call themselves “Christians” don’t really qualify to use Jesus’ name. Pastors have so much power over the works of the devil and over this present darkness we’re living in — the power of Christ Himself, all power in heaven and on earth, through the working of the Holy Spirit that SHOULD be within them. Jesus promised that if they were faithful, they could do even greater works than He, Himself did. Yet they cower in fear. Fear of the opinions of unsaved men and women. Fear of losing attendance and income. Fear of being controversial. Fear of losing popularity.

I have news for you: Jesus was probably the most controversial Man to ever walk the earth. We were commanded to do as HE did, not be like the religious hypocrites. Revelation 21:8 speaks of those who will end up in the lake of fire. First on the list are the “cowardly and unbelieving.” Jesus ranks the cowardly and unbelieving ahead of the rest those that will suffer the second death: “the abominable, and murderers and whoremongers and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars.” I wouldn’t want to be on that list.

I’ve long said that Pastors should be preaching from their pulpits with a Bible in one hand and today’s headlines in the other. Pick your topic: sodomite so-called “marriage,” the murder of innocent babies in the womb, the lies of politicians, the lies of the government, health officials and Big Pharma, the “unjust weights and measures” we see in every stolen election, the kings of the earth constantly conspiring against the Lord and His anointed, the deliberate twisting of the minds of our little children in public schools, the sexualization of our kids and young people, the lies of “transgenderism.” The building of the New World Order, the coming One-World digital currency and mark of the beast. The so-called “Great Reset.” The deliberate destruction of our economy and every American institution. The rebuilding of Babylon. [Enemies Within: The Church]

Yes, God’s Word instructs us on all these things, yet our pastors will never speak a word about any of it. And so the people are left to wander on their own, make up their own minds, do what they feel is right in their own imaginations, following the official narrative of the lying mainstream media and crooked politicians. And why would that surprise anyone? The pastors will not speak. They refuse to teach righteously on these matters. These are not “political” things. These are moral things. It’s their duty, yet they remain cowards.

Hear these words from Ezekiel 34, “Thus says the Lord God to the shepherds: ‘Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flocks? You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool; you slaughter the fatlings, but you do not feed the flock. The weak you have not strengthened, nor have you healed those who were sick, nor bound up the broken, nor brought back what was driven away, nor sought what was lost; but with force and cruelty you have ruled them. So they were scattered because there was no shepherd; and they became food for all the beasts of the field when they were scattered. My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and on every high hill; yes, My flock was scattered over the whole face of the earth, and no one was seeking or searching for them.’”

Yes, the sheep are scattered, wandering, lost, wondering what to do…and they’ve become the victims of evil, wicked, demonic Global Elites bent on their ultimate destruction. They’ve become food for the devils seeking to control the whole world. And pastor — YOU have said nothing. How do you sleep at night?

1 Peter 5:2, “Feed the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly.” Acts 20:28, “Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the Church of God, which He obtained with His own blood.”

Understand, I’m not casting judgment on all pastors. I know several very good, courageous and diligent ministers who DO preach the whole of God’s Word, who DO raise up and train disciples for the work of the ministry and who DO rightly divide the Word of truth. But what was perhaps 10% in 2014, I dare say is now closer to 1% or fewer. Pastors have the very power of God Himself at their disposal, and nothing to fear, yet most continue to live according to the flesh — fearful, cowardly and unbelieving. And they’re leading millions astray while the world burns. If only they had an ounce of courage. [Enemies Within: The Church]

Audio CDs and text versions of this message are available when you call me at Wisconsin Christian News, (715) 486-8066. Or email Rob@WisconsinChristianNews.com. Ask for message number 361.

E-Mail Rob Pue: Rob@WisconsinChristianNews.com