Source: https://www.bertha-dudde.org/en/proclamation/4061

4061 The work of God's servants concerning formal believers.... The church of Christ....

June 11, 1947: Book 50

Your particular task is to influence the many believers who feel affiliated to the church and yet cannot be regarded as belonging to My church, for they no longer stand on the foundation of faith. They have built their church on sand, which will give way under their feet if their faith is to be tested. They deem themselves devout and also profess with their lips what the church tells them to believe. Nevertheless, they are not deeply convinced of any religious doctrine, they would be unable to completely agree with any one if they seriously had to form an opinion of it. And this conventional faith, which was merely accepted and will not be abandoned for the sake of the outside world is almost worse than unbelief, for an unbelieving person can be provided with explanations in form of discussions, even disputes, whereas the former offers little opportunity of informing him because he will only profess everything again with his lips and yet is far removed from becoming a convinced representative of that which he acknowledges with his mouth. And he will belong to those who fall away when the decision of faith is demanded of him. For only then will he give his opinion about controversial issues and, not having any knowledge and consequently no realisation of the significance and value of a true faith, he will totally ignorantly relinquish that which is most valuable, the faith in Me as Creator of heaven and earth, the faith in Jesus Christ as Redeemer of the world and the faith in the continuation of life after death, which would motivate him to live an appropriately responsible life on earth, which he owes to Me as Father and Judge of eternity. But they will find no mercy before My eyes, for many times they are offered the opportunity to penetrate religious truths and to acquire a living faith, yet they accept no instructions and neither do they openly declare their opposing points of view but only ever leave their fellow human beings under the impression that they belong to the church which I founded on earth as a human being.

I summed up the faithful congregation with the Word 'My church' and will only ever consider those people as belonging to My church who call a living faith their own, for My church is not a worldly organisation, it cannot be externally recognised but is merely the union of believing people on earth, it is My congregation which, although it is small, is extremely dear to Me. The formal believers, however, stand outside the circuit of My flow of love, nevertheless, they can join My congregation at any time when that which they believe themselves to be has become reality, when they own a living faith and are very happy with possessing it. And a sign of a living faith is the fact that they gladly speak about divine matters, that they look for and enthusiastically hold spiritual conversations and that they provide clarifications where their fellow human beings are still in the dark. For once someone belongs to My church he will also appreciate My treasures, he will know about the significance of the time and the approaching end. He will remain loyal to My church for there is nothing left on earth that would be desirable for him. The living faith has opened this knowledge up for him, and he knows the alarming ramifications of a conventional faith, of the soul's fate in the beyond, subsequently he will do whatever it takes to draw people's attention to the danger they are in; he will try to make them understand it so that they will still be able to gain a living faith in the last hour. But whether it is successful entirely depends on the human being's will, the freedom of which shall not be curtailed if the soul is to ascend. And yet it is your task to influence the formal believers as much as possible since they are, after all, in greatest danger and are therefore in need of help because they lack realisation, and wherever help is necessary it shall be given, so that no-one can say that the blessings of divine mercy had bypassed him.... I want to help all people, but whether My help is accepted is determined by people themselves, and I let them keep their freedom....

Amen

Translated by Heidi Hanna