Source: https://www.bertha-dudde.org/en/proclamation/5776

5776 Whoever pays tribute to the world pays tribute to Satan....

September 26, 1953: Book 63

Whoever pays tribute to the world also pays tribute to Satan.... these Words are harsh and will severely hurt all worldly people, for no person wants to be accused of associating with Satan and yet, the world is his domain and thus everyone who is captivated by the world is also his servant. You humans live indeed in the midst of the world, as long as you live on earth you must certainly assert yourselves in the world, yet to what extent your heart is involved in it is the decisive factor as to how much you subject yourselves to the world.... Your innermost striving, your heart's desire, will be judged, and if this concerns the world then you are also enslaved by the one who is its prince, for then you will be purely earthly-minded, whereas you should strive towards spiritual matters and therefore have to overcome material things in order to obtain spiritual possessions. You cannot avoid the world but must overcome it, i.e., at the beginning of your earthly life as a human being you are placed into the world which belongs to God's adversary and have to take up the fight against it in order to emerge victorious and then enter that world which is spiritual, called the kingdom of God.... You must travel the path through earthly life, through the material world, but you must liberate yourselves from the restraints which have to be regarded as Satan's chains as long as you are under the spell of the world, as long as you longingly desire what you should overcome.

The material world is his kingdom.... It shelters the fallen spiritual substances which belong to him but which are not at his disposal as long as they are bound in the works of creation by God's will. He can, however, influence the human being because in the state of free will he must be subject to every influence in order to make a decision, in order to pass the test of will which is the reason and purpose of his earthly life. And God's adversary uses this influence in a truly frightening way.... He does not want to lose the soul due to its own free choice and therefore lures the human being to his side by offering everything he deems desirable but which belongs to his world, which separates him from God, which diverts him from the goal he is meant to reach on earth. He is lord over matter, lord over the material world.... and everyone who serves the world serves him.... everyone who desires the world and associates with material wealth associates with Satan, and he must be told this truth, he cannot be gently treated due to ill-conceived consideration by withholding this truth from him.... He is connected with Satan and his servant, thus he will also share his fate when the day of retribution comes.... Two lords wrest for your souls and both are offering you their kingdoms.... yet one is transient, the other is everlasting.... You, however, are immortal, and if you have not acquired the everlasting kingdom on earth then you will have nothing after the death of your body but profound darkness around you which will torment you indescribably.... the kingdom of Satan, who cannot offer you anything else but whose followers you have increased through your desires on earth. Detach yourselves from him while you are still living on earth, renounce what belongs to the world, strive for spiritual wealth which alone guarantees you an eternal life, a life in light and strength and beatitude....

Amen

Translated by Heidi Hanna