I Appeal to You
... through Bertha Dudde  - 07.12.1949 

4794   Leaders’ and teachers’ way of life is decisive for truth ....

It is of utmost importance for you humans to be informed of the truth and that you therefore join a school of thought which upholds the truth, whose leaders and teachers are educated by God and thus enable the working of the spirit within themselves. And by the way of life of those who claim to be the representatives of the truth from God you will always be able to recognise the degree of truth, and thus you will at all times know how much value can be ascribed to their teachings. Therefore you should first pay attention to the attitude the leaders and teachers of a school of thought have towards the divine commandments, towards the commandment of love for God and their neighbour. Don’t let their speeches alone deceive you, whether they put into practise what they teach is the only crucial factor and places people into the service of God. For a way of life according to God’s will makes the human being an aspirant for the spiritual kingdom and therefore he will think correctly, for a person who fulfils God’s commandments recognises the truth and his power of judgment is considerably enhanced through the enlightenment of his spirit, which becomes effective as a result of his loving activity. A person whose way of life corresponds to God’s will can always be believed, and if he then endorses a specific school of thought he will also work for God and His kingdom, because God will never let a person become guilty of a lie if he strives towards Him and wants to advocate the truth.

The human being’s will always has priority, and accordingly God will take care of him or He will turn away from him. The right will, however, is full of humility and obedience towards God; hence he will never try to stand out, that is, he will not want to achieve earthly advantages or honour and fame, no reputation or high office, he will only quietly and modestly serve God and for the sake of truth endorse the truth because he feels that only truth leads to God and due to his love for his fellow human beings he would like to lead them to God as well. The teachers themselves have to be educated by God .... Yet only love will gain them this extraordinary privilege, and therefore a person has to have love if his spiritual knowledge is to be acknowledged as truth, as directly received knowledge from God. Consequently, where you humans cannot detect love in a servant of God you should also reject his spiritual information, for it is not from above, it is Satan’s work of deception who, under cover of piety, tries to spread error and will always find good ground where love is missing. Test it and appeal to God for help to make the right judgment, yet do not accept without scrutiny if you don’t have the guarantee that the Word of God is imparted to you directly from above. Test all things you are offered, by appealing to God, and keep what is good .... This is God’s will so that His spirit shall become active in you ....

Amen