I Appeal to You
... through Bertha Dudde  - 11.07.1940 

1516   ‘You are Peter, the rock ....’

Some gladness in receiving the following message is a prerequisite: the living faith is the rock upon which Jesus wanted to see His church built .... a faith so profound and steadfast like that experienced by Peter while the Lord was close to him. Thus Peter was an example for anyone who wanted to belong to the church of Christ. Because without this faith the teaching of Christ, i.e. His Gospel, could not be received .... Only faith affirms Jesus Christ and accepts Him as the Son of God and Redeemer of the world .... If people were to accept what the disciples were spreading across the world they first had to believe in a God of love, goodness and compassion, in a God of omnipotence and wisdom, in a God of justice .... Only then could His teachings penetrate them as divine will, hence profound faith was a prerequisite. All His disciples were profoundly faithful, and therefore they accepted His teachings very quickly and endeavoured to do justice to the divine will which He had revealed to them. And by doing so they penetrated the knowledge of divine truth ever more, and this also developed their ability to teach in accordance with God’s will which would never have been possible if they had lacked faith. Thus the Lord says ‘upon you I will build My church ....’ And His church is the community of those who want to follow Jesus Christ; His church is the small community of those who firmly and steadfastly believe everything the Lord has said and done on earth; who, for the sake of this faith, make an effort to fulfil God’s commandments, who desire eternal life and thus live earthly life in accordance with God’s will .... The church is a community of believers ....

And when people are profoundly faithful no power in hell could ever disturb this faith and exercise control over such utterly devout people who only seek God and acknowledge Him as their Lord and Creator. Profound faith in God will always overcome the power of the adversary, because anyone who lives in faith also lives in love, and love is the adversary’s harshest opponent. Hence nothing is more understandable than the Lord using the most devout of His disciples as an example, that He makes firm faith a prerequisite of belonging to His church .... that therefore Peter exemplified this faith and that Jesus Christ wants to count all those to His church who are also profoundly devout .... It is so easy to understand these words, and how are they understood by the world ....

Amen