Source: https://www.bertha-dudde.org/en/proclamation/4312

4312 Church of Christ.... "You are Peter, the rock...."

May 24, 1948: Book 51

A community of faith in the sense of Christ means the union of people who, through their way of life, through unselfish neighbourly love, have acquired such a living, profound faith that they understand everything Jesus taught on earth and therefore do not doubt a word, for the understanding of what God demands to be believed is always only the result of a correctly led way of life and will also always result in a living faith, the conviction of pure truth and therefore also of a consciousness of strength to be able to accomplish everything, which only has faith as its foundation. Such a community is the true church of Christ, it is the church which He founded on earth with the words: "You are Peter, the rock, on you I will build My church." And this church will remain in existence, it will not be able to be shaken by the forces of the underworld when the last battle on earth will break out against faith. Then it will become apparent who belongs to this church, who possesses the strength of faith that he will not fall away when hell will storm against everything spiritual. Then only the truly loving people whose faith is a living one will stand firm, for the others will be too weak to resist. They will be deprived of everything they have understood about the church until now, every ceremony, every outward appearance will fall away, the places of ecclesiastical activity will be closed or destroyed, there will be no possibility to carry out the actions which seem important to them and they will seriously be confronted with the decision to confess for or against God. But the decision will not be difficult for those who have living faith, who can believe because they understand, while the others, still blind in spirit, have nothing to hold on to and fall away from God for the sake of their physical well-being, who surrender their faith because it was only a dead faith, a formal faith. But you, who belong to Christ's church, should constantly promote this church, you should enlighten people and try to make the difference clear to them so that they will shape their formal faith into a living faith, you should show them the path to understanding what Jesus taught and encourage them to walk the path of love, which alone gives birth to a living faith and leads to full understanding of His word. Only this small congregation of the true church of Christ will survive the final battle, because every school of thought will be declared war beforehand and all its followers will lose who do not belong to the true church of Christ. But God will grant them His support, He will be in their midst, strengthen their faith, enlighten their spirit and give them strength to persevere until the end. And for the sake of this church of Christ He obviously works amongst people through His spirit.... He instructs them and conveys His word to earth so that His church will gain followers, so that they will be exceptionally strengthened by His word, which comes from above and is blessed with His strength....

Amen

Translated by Doris Boekers