I Appeal to You
... through Bertha Dudde  - 22.04.1947 

4028   The church of Christ .... Peter, the rock .... Worldly organisations ....

Those who belong to My church will find each other and form a close bond, and they will always want to know the truth, to live with love and to be of service to Me for time and eternity. For they carry My spirit within themselves, they have awakened the spiritual spark, which is My share, into life and thereby became a member of My church which I founded Myself. And I will bless them evermore. Anyone who knows the truth, that is, who is educated by My spirit within him, also knows that love and faith are the foundation of My church; he also knows how I want My Word to be understood ‘Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church ....’ He further knows that it is not to be understood as an organisation formed by people but that My church comprises all people who have established the right kind of relationship with Me as a result of their will and their love for Me and their neighbour. I only require people’s fulfilment of My commandment of love and strong faith and have promised eternal bliss, eternal life, to those who believe in Me .... but to believe in Me means to accept My teaching as being divine and to live accordingly .... And to them I promised eternal life. Consequently they must also belong to My church, to the community of believers whom I call My church. But does that mean that they require a worldly union which is established by joining an organisation which has a worldly origin? This question is of such great significance that it needs to be considered in-depth. No organisation exists which could boast to have been founded by Me, however, each one can fully and completely affiliate itself to the church founded by Me. Hence, their members would be able to consider themselves as belonging to My church if they shaped themselves into a rock of faith .... The character of My church first must prevail in an organisation, their followers must be imbued by profound faith in Me, then the worldly founded church will include My believers and they, in turn, can regard themselves in every organisation as aspirants of My kingdom, for they belong to My church which I Myself founded on earth. My Words have to be understood purely spiritually, i.e., they only contain the request for unshakeable faith, and on this alone depends the working of the spirit, which is the most certain characteristic of My church, for anyone who has true faith also has love, because true faith is only alive through activity of love. And the sign of life is the expression of My spirit in the human being. Anyone who thus is taught by My spirit, who is permeated by its truth, can rightfully claim to belong to My church, he belongs to My Own, and he will also stand up for My teaching with conviction, for he has absorbed it himself with heart and mind, it has fortified his belief and made him free and happy, and he is driven by love to want to give the same to his fellow human beings ....

However, a worldly-religious organisation is by no means necessary to first shape people into aspirants of the spiritual kingdom, for again, I only look at the person’s heart, his will and his thoughts. If they strive towards Me then he will already have found Me .... if they digress from pure spirituality then an ecclesiastical organisation will not achieve a change, for whatever takes place under compulsion is of no value before My eyes. But desire for Me can only be aroused in every person through the announcement of My Word. This is why I don’t condemn the worldly-religious organisations but support them insofar as that I support the teachers working in them where feasible, providing their life corresponds to My commandments at the same time. And if one of them belongs to the church founded by Me, so that he therefore firmly and steadfastly believes in My love, might and wisdom, then I will also permeate him with My spirit, enabling him to successfully influence the flock of his small congregation so that they, too, will desire the Word which alone makes it possible for them to mature fully. Nevertheless it is of far greater merit if the person struggles and searches of his own accord, if he pays attention to his inner voice which will always advise him of what is right and encourage him to be lovingly active. If he complies with this voice he will come closer to Me considerably earlier, he will have a living understanding of My Word, he accepts it in his heart and will also live accordingly .... he will belong in truth to the church of Christ, which is insurmountable and will stand firm against even the staunchest onslaughts still waged by infernal forces before the end. For I also gave people the promise that the gates of hell shall not prevail against it, because My church is unchangeable and will continue to exist until the end .... It will also become the basis of all spiritual striving on the new earth. Everyone will belong to My church because only profoundly faithful people who love Me above all else will inhabit this new earth, whereas all others will fall away if they are mere members of worldly-religious organisations who are without inner life ....

Amen