7884 The letter kills.... Lifeless proclaimers of the Word....

May 3, 1961: Book 82

It is the spirit which gives life.... and every letter read with an unawakened spirit kills; it will remain incomprehensible to the human being regardless of how much effort he intellectually exerts in order to fathom its meaning.... And this has led to many errors, insofar as that My Word was translated or preached to fellow human beings by people who were spiritually unawakened themselves and who let their intellect dictate where the heart alone should have been able to judge or clarify matters had My spirit been allowed to express itself through it. I Myself was no longer able to speak to people through a preacher; instead he provided them with his own teachings and explanations which no longer corresponded to the truth. And thus the meaning of the Gospel, which I Myself taught on earth, became increasingly more distorted in due course, and only a few read 'My Word' with an awakened spirit and derive the right benefit from it for their souls. For all others, however, the strength of My Word remains ineffective, they listen to it, but because they don't understand it correctly they don't live accordingly and therefore cannot attain spiritual awakening either.... For rarely will preachers mention the 'working of the spirit in the human being' because they don't understand it themselves.... because they don't know that it is the direct result of a life of love and that they would be able to convince themselves that they become brightly illuminated if they lived a life of love themselves.... They read the sentence: The letter kills, but the spirit gives life.... and don't know what it means.... for they are still spiritually unawakened themselves. And this is why one can almost speak of a dead Christendom, this is why My Word, which is contained in the Book of Books, does not do a lot for people anymore, this is why the faith has become faint and weak, it lacks the strength of life, for it can only come alive through love, and love awakens the spirit....

And if only a tender seedling grows from the warmth of love, then it will soon become strong and vigorous.... A living faith will develop and everything will awaken to life which so far had lain dormant in the person.... The soul will arise and allow itself to be influenced by the spark of spirit, it will come alive and never ever lose this life again. But then the person will also understand every Word which originated from Me.... he will be able to distinguish error from truth and by no means fall prey to error, for then he will be instructed by the spirit and empty letters will mean nothing to him, he will know the spiritual meaning of the Word.... And every Word that once came forth from Me and reaches his ears and heart will grant him life. Then he will truly no longer be a dead Christian and also be able to vividly testify to Me, he will not just use the Words of the Scriptures but also be capable of clarifying their spiritual meaning.... he will in truth be a teacher of his fellow human beings in accordance with My will, for he then will let Me Myself be in him so that I can express Myself through the spirit when he instructs his fellow human beings.... And only those who work on My instructions are My true servants.... For I do not call a proclaimer of My Word who only knows the letters without understanding their spiritual meaning My servant.... because he has appointed himself and not made himself worthy of My calling first, which requires that a person wanting to work for Me is spiritually awake. Yet as soon as he not only teaches love, which is the epitome of My Gospel.... as soon as he also lives a life of love, he will also awaken the spirit in him to life, and then he will be a welcome servant for Me through whom I will be able to work, through whom I will be able to address people Myself who then can also perceptibly feel the strength of My Word.... And those who allow themselves to be awakened will come to life again, who look for Me with a sincere will and appeal to Me for the strength of My spirit.... For they will make an effort to live My Word.... by living a life of love they will awaken the spirit within them, they will no longer be lifeless proclaimers of My Word but full of life and bearing witness to Me....

Amen

This proclamation is used in the following themebook:

Themebook	Title	Download
18	God and the Churches	ePub   PDF   Kindle

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