I Appeal to You
... through Bertha Dudde  - 12.05.1959 

7361   ‘The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence ....’ II.

Much is expected of those who are still too attached to the world, they truly must use violence in order to acquire the kingdom of heaven, for due to their various weaknesses and cravings they are chained to the one who is lord of this world. If they want to release themselves they need a strong will to take a different path. It is therefore not an easy intention for a downright worldly person .... He needs help to do so; he needs the support of a Power which opposes the lord of the world, which is capable of releasing him from the control of the former. Hence he needs help from Jesus Christ, Who alone has this power and can snatch the human being from the adversary .... The more captivated a person is by the world the greater is the adversary’s power over him, and this person truly has to fight against the temptations and attractions of this world. And this battle is not an easy one and neither would a person succeed, but as soon as he has resolved to release himself the thought will not leave him again, for then God Himself will intervene and try to exert His influence in every way without, however, forcing the person into changing his way of life. But once the thought of renouncing the world for the sake of a higher goal has arisen in a person, his thoughts will occupy themselves with God and His will increasingly more, he will also remember the divine Redeemer Jesus Christ and may receive a strengthening of will from His side, depending on his own will and its inclination. Then the severity of the battle against worldly temptation will ease but the kingdom of heaven will come ever closer, because the person will have taken up the fight against the ruler of the world and he will begin to become captivated by the kingdom which is ‘not of this world’ .... ‘The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force ....’

These Words were said to worldly people who can only separate themselves from their previous lord by the use of force, because for all others apply the Words ‘My yoke is easy, and My burden is light ....’ In that case, however, the world, with all its temptations, must have been overcome already, then a person will no longer feel the burden as much, he will deem God’s wishes easy to live up to because he will already be in contact with Him and will be consciously walking the path leading into the spiritual kingdom .... He will have already conquered the world with the result that the kingdoms will then be exchanged .... that this world will lie behind him and the kingdom of God will rank first .... that the person will no longer be burdened by excessive weight and will therefore be able to travel the earthly path almost unburdened .... with an easy yoke and a light burden .... Nevertheless, this path leads to the goal, just as a violent battle against the world will let the person reach the goal, so that he will be able to take possession of the ‘heavenly kingdom’ when he discards his physical body and enters the spiritual realm .... For his will, which aimed towards the spiritual realm, was victorious, because he will always be granted the strength he needs as soon as he has the serious will to take possession of the ‘heavenly kingdom’ .... And this decision must be taken in earthly life, the world must be recognised as the possession of God’s adversary and God’s kingdom as not of this world .... Then the human being’s good will is enough in order to be granted the strength for taking up the fight against the earthly world with all its enticements and attractions and only to strive towards the kingdom of heaven, which certainly requires violence by someone who belongs to this earthly world but also wants to attain life in beatitude. The earthly world, however, will never be able to grant a person eternal beatitudes, the earthly world can only give earthly, that is, transient things which disappear when the human being dies and must leave earthly belongings behind .... But anyone who has already turned towards the spiritual kingdom will not fear physical death, for he knows that he cannot cease to exist, instead he will go on living in a kingdom which is incomparably more beautiful than the earthly world and therefore it should be everyone’s goal and endeavour to acquire it as long as he lives on Earth ....

Amen