(1) Mankind has been corrupted so deeply by Satan that frequent illness has become the norm for them. One should take from those illnesses a lesson on how to resolve corruption, without complaining and without blaming God;

(2) One does not contract a serious disease by happenstance; upon falling ill, one should come before God and examine whether they have committed some transgression, and confess it to Him in repentance;

(3) The presence of disease is God’s love. One should seek the truth and submit to God, and, even when sick, they should perform their duty well and remain faithful to the very end. Only doing so meets with God’s approval;

(4) When sick, it is the sufferer’s choice whether to seek medical care or to rely on faith alone. What matters most is being able to know oneself and purifying one’s corruption, which ensures accordance with God’s will.

Relevant Words of God:

What is the source of the lifelong suffering from birth, death, illness, and old age that humans endure? What caused people to have these things? Humans did not have them when they were first created, did they? Where, then, did these things come from? They came into being after humans were tempted by Satan and their flesh became degenerate. The pain of human flesh, its afflictions, and its emptiness, as well as the extremely miserable affairs of the human world, only came once Satan had corrupted mankind. After humans were corrupted by Satan, it began to torment them. As a result, they became more and more degenerate. The diseases of humanity grew more and more acute, and their suffering became more and more severe. Increasingly, people sensed the emptiness and tragedy of the human world, as well as their inability to go on living there, and they felt less and less hope for the world. Thus, this suffering was brought down upon humans by Satan.

—“The Significance of God’s Tasting of Worldly Suffering” in Records of Talks of Christ of the Last Days

Suffering illness is a hardship for people, because some ailments can put their lives at risk at any time. In point of fact, if people truly have faith in God, the first thing it behooves them to know is that the span of their life is in His hands. When God gives people illness, it feels like sickness to them, but, in actual fact, what they have been given is grace, not illness. People must first of all recognize and be sure about this fact, and take it seriously. When people are suffering from illness, they can come often before God, and make sure to do what they should, with prudence and caution, and do their duty with greater care and diligence than others. As far as people are concerned, this is a protection, not shackles. It is the negative way of handling things. In addition, everyone’s lifespan has been predetermined by God. If an illness appears on its surface to be terminal, but, from God’s point of view, your time has not yet come and your mission is not yet complete, then He will not take you away. If you are not meant to die, then, even if you do not pray, or take care of yourself, or take your condition seriously, or see it as a grave enough matter to seek treatment, you cannot die. If God has entrusted you with a commission, and your mission is not complete, then He will not allow you to die, but will keep you alive until the final moment. Do you have faith in this? If you do not, you will be constantly praying cautiously, saying, “God! I have to complete my commission. I want to spend my final days in utter devotion to You, so that I will leave no regrets behind!” You will frequently make such excuses and use such methods in an effort to strike a bargain with God. In truth, whether you try to bargain for more time, or do not take your illness seriously at all, it does not matter; from God’s point of view, as long as you can fulfill your duty and are still of use, and as long as He still wants to use you and is determined to do so—if you are not meant to die—then you cannot die, for God determined your lifespan before creating the world. Do you have faith in this? If you acknowledge this only as a matter of doctrine, then your course of action will be no more than a course of action; if you acknowledge, in the depth of your heart, that God will do this, then there will be many changes in how you do things and how you practice. Of course, sick or not, all people must live their lives with some common sense when it comes to maintaining their health. If you get sick, you should also have some general knowledge of how to treat your sickness. This is something people should do themselves. However, treating an illness in this way should not be meant to challenge the lifespan set for you by God, nor should you do so to guarantee that you can live out the lifespan that He has set for you. What does this mean? It can be put this way: In a passive regard, if you do not take your illness seriously, fulfill your duty however you should, and get a bit more rest than others, if you have not delayed your duty, will your illness get worse? It will not, nor will it lead to your death, which depends on what God does. In other words, if, in God’s view, your predestined lifespan has not yet run its course, then, even if you get sick, He will not allow you to die. If your illness is not terminal, but your time has come, then God will take you away whenever He wants. Is this not completely at the mercy of God’s whim? It is at the mercy of His predetermination! This is how you should look at this matter. You might do your part and go to the doctor, take some medicine, look after your health, and get exercise, but you need to understand deep down that a person’s life is in God’s hands, and a person’s lifespan is predetermined by God. No one can transcend what God has predetermined. If you do not possess even this small measure of understanding, then you do not truly have faith, and do not actually believe in God.

—“Only by Seeking the Truth Can One Know God’s Deeds” in Records of Talks of Christ of the Last Days

How should the onset of sickness be experienced? You should come before God to pray and seek to grasp His will, and examine just what it is that you did wrong, or what corrupt dispositions there are within you that you cannot resolve. You cannot resolve your corrupt dispositions without pain. People must be tempered by pain; only then will they cease to be dissolute and live before God at all times. When faced with suffering, people will always pray. There will be no thought of food, clothing, or fun; in their hearts, they will pray, and examine whether they have done anything wrong during this time. Most of the time, when people are beset by serious illness or some unusual sickness, and it causes them great pain, these things do not happen by accident; whether you are sick or healthy, God’s will is behind it all. Ordinarily when the Holy Spirit works, you feel everything is fine. When you are in good health, you are able to seek God, but at the onset of hardship, you are not, nor do you know how to. You merely live amid sickness, thinking only of how you can be cured so that you can get over it more quickly. At such times you envy those who are without illness, and you wish to escape this sickness as soon as you can—this is a negative and antagonistic mood. Sometimes, people think to themselves, “Was this illness caused by my own stupidity, or is God’s will behind it?” Some sicknesses are normal, like when you catch a cold or suffer from excessive internal heat, or you have the flu. But with any serious illness—when you are struck down with sickness, and when, out of nowhere, life becomes unbearable—that kind of sensation or illness does not happen by accident. At the onset of illness or pain, do you pray to God and seek God? And does the Holy Spirit merely enlighten and illuminate you? This is not the only way He works. How does God test people? Is it not through making them suffer pain? Where there are trials, there is pain—how could people suffer without trials? And how could people change without suffering? When trials are accompanied by pain, this is the work of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes God gives people pain, or else they would be unaware of heaven’s heights or earth’s depths, and they would become insolent. In some matters, merely relying on fellowshiping on the truth will not solve the problem. Other people point out your problem to you, and you yourself are aware of it, but you are unable to change. No matter how you rely on your willpower to exercise self-restraint, perhaps even going so far as to slap yourself about the face and knock yourself about the head, it still does not solve the problem, for your nature still exists within you. This thing is alive, it is like the living thoughts of man, and it can appear at any time. So what can you do if it cannot be solved? People must be refined by certain illnesses, and when they are, there are those who cannot bear the torment and begin to pray and seek. Before you get sick, you are dissolute and insolent, but sickness makes you well-behaved. Could you still be insolent? When your every word is feeble, could you still lecture people, could you still be arrogant? At such times, you ask for nothing, only for the pain to end, and you give no thought to what to eat, what to wear, what to enjoy. Most of you have yet to experience such a feeling. When you have, you will understand.

—“See All Things Through the Eyes of Truth” in Records of Talks of Christ of the Last Days

Almighty God, the Head of all things, wields His kingly power from His throne. He rules over the universe and all things, and He is in the act of guiding us on the whole earth. We shall at every moment be close to Him, and come before Him in quietness, never missing a single moment, and with lessons for us to learn at all times. Everything, from the surrounding environment to people, affairs, and things, all exist by permission of His throne. Do not on any account let grievances arise in your heart, or God will not bestow His grace upon you. When sickness befalls, this is God’s love, and surely His kind intentions are harbored within. Though your body may undergo a bit of suffering, entertain no ideas from Satan. Praise God in the midst of illness and enjoy God in the midst of your praise. Do not lose heart in the face of illness, keep seeking again and again and do not give up, and God will illuminate you with His light. How was Job’s faith? Almighty God is an all-powerful physician! To dwell in sickness is to be sick, but to dwell in the spirit is to be well. So long as you still have one breath, God will not let you die.

We have within us the resurrected life of Christ. Undeniably, we lack faith in the presence of God: Would that God would put true faith within us. Sweet indeed is the word of God! God’s word is potent medicine! It puts to shame the devils and Satan! Grasping God’s word gives us support. His word acts fast to save our hearts! It dispels all things and sets all at peace. Faith is like a single log bridge: Those who cling abjectly to life will have difficulty in crossing it, but those who are ready to sacrifice themselves can pass over, sure of foot and worry-free. If man harbors timid and fearful thoughts, it is because Satan has fooled them, afraid that we will cross the bridge of faith to enter into God. Satan is trying in every way possible to send us its thoughts. We should at every moment pray for God to illuminate us with His light, at every moment rely on God to purge Satan’s poison from within us, practice within our spirit at every moment how to come close to God, and let God have dominion over our whole being.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Utterances of Christ in the Beginning, Chapter 6

Sometimes God puts you in certain situations, or uses certain people to deal with you, to make you feel upset, to teach you a lesson; this is the work God does today, this is one aspect of it. Another aspect is that God brings pain upon your flesh. It is like how Paul always said there was a thorn in his flesh. What thorn was he talking about? It was sickness. He knew all too well what his sickness was all about: It was down to his disposition, his nature. Without this thorn, if he were not beset by illness, then at any time, at any place, he would be liable to try to establish his own kingdom, but when he fell sick, he lost the energy to do it. And so, sickness is most often a “protective umbrella” for people. If you were not sick, if you were in fine fettle, perhaps you would go on to commit some evil, or do some harm. When you are insolent and dissolute, you are liable to become unreasonable, and when you cause trouble, you will regret it, and what happens will no longer be up to you. A little illness is therefore a good thing, it protects people. It could be that you become able to solve other people’s difficulties and can also solve the problems with your own thinking. If your illness does not get better, then there is nothing you can do about it. When you get sick, it is really not up to you. When you get sick and it does not get better no matter what you do, then this pain is your due, so do not try to escape it. You must pray, seek, and submit, and you must seek for God’s intentions: “O God! I know that I am corrupt, that my nature is bad, that I am liable to do things that rebel against and oppose You, things that bring You pain and hurt, so it is good that You have given me this illness. I should submit to it. But I ask that You enlighten me, that You allow me to know Your will, and make me understand what You would change and perfect about me. I ask only that You guide me, that You allow me to understand the direction of the path of human life, that You allow me to understand this truth.” You must seek and pray. Do not muddle along, thinking, “It’s nothing. I definitely haven’t offended God.” Do not jump to conclusions so lightly. If God is truly in your heart, then you will not let go of whatever befalls you. You will pray and seek, you will grasp God’s will in everything that happens, and when God sees how obedient you are, He will gradually lessen your pain.

—“See All Things Through the Eyes of Truth” in Records of Talks of Christ of the Last Days

No matter what happens to you, you must come before God—this is right. You must reflect on yourself while not delaying the performance of your duty. Do not only reflect and never perform your duty—that would be wrong. No matter what trial befalls you, you must treat it as a burden given to you by God. Say some people are beset by great sickness and unbearable suffering, some even face death. How should they approach this kind of situation? In many cases, the trials of God are burdens He gives to people. However great the burden bestowed upon you by God, that is the weight of burden you should undertake, for God understands you, and knows you will be able to bear it. The burden given to you by God will not exceed your stature or the limits of your endurance, so there is no question that you will be able to bear it. No matter what manner of burden God gives you, what kind of trial, remember one thing: Whether or not you understand God’s will and whether or not you are enlightened and illuminated by the Holy Spirit when you pray, whether or not this trial is God disciplining you or warning you, it does not matter if you do not understand. As long as you do not cease performing the duty that you ought to perform and can faithfully abide by your duty, God will be satisfied, and you will stand firm in your testimony. Seeing that they are suffering from a serious illness and are going to die, some people think to themselves: “It was to avoid death that I started believing in God—but it turns out that even after all these years of performing my duty, He’s going to let me die. I should get on with my own business and forget performing my duty.” What attitude is this? You have been performing your duty for all these years, you have listened to all these sermons, and still you have not understood the truth. One trial topples you, brings you to your knees, lays you bare. Is such a person worthy of being cared for by God? They are totally without loyalty. So what is the duty they have spent all these years performing known as? It is known as “doing service,” and they have just been exerting themselves. If, in your faith in God and pursuit of the truth, you are able to say, “Whatever sickness or disagreeable event God allows to befall me—no matter what God does—I must obey, and stay in my place as a created being. Before all else, I must put this aspect of the truth—obedience—into practice, I implement it, and live out the reality of obedience to God. Moreover, I must not cast aside what God has commissioned to me and the duty I should perform. Even on my last breath, I must abide by my duty.” Is this not bearing testimony? When you have this kind of resolve and this kind of state, are you still able to complain about God? No, you are not. At such a time, you must think to yourself, “God gives me this breath, He has provided for me all these years, He has taken much pain from me, given me much grace, and many truths. I have understood many truths and mysteries that people have not understood for generations. I have gained so much from God, so I must repay God! Before, my stature was too small, I understood nothing, and everything I did was hurtful to God. I may not have another chance to repay God in the future. No matter how much time I have left, I must offer the little strength I have and do what I can for God, so that God can see that all these years of providing for me have not been in vain, but have borne fruit. Let me bring comfort to God, and no longer hurt or disappoint Him.” How about thinking this way? Do not think about how to save yourself or escape, thinking, “When will this illness be cured? When it is, I shall do my best to perform my duty and be loyal. How can I be loyal when I’m ill? How can I perform the duty of a created being?” As long as you have a single breath, are you not capable of performing your duty? As long as you have a single breath, are you capable of not bringing shame upon God? As long as you have a single breath, as long as your mind is lucid, are you capable of not complaining about God? It is easy to say “Yes” now, but it will not be so easy when this really happens to you. And so, you must pursue the truth, often work hard on the truth, and spend more time thinking, “How can I satisfy God’s will? How can I repay God’s love? How can I perform the duty of a created being?” What is a created being? Is the responsibility of a created being merely to listen to the words of God? No—it is to live out the words of God. God has given you so much truth, so much of the way, and so much life, so that you may live out these things, and bear testimony to Him. This is what ought to be done by a created being.

—“The Path Comes From Often Pondering the Truth” in Records of Talks of Christ of the Last Days

As soon as some people come down with a slight illness, they rack their brains and use all kinds of methods to treat it, but, no matter what they do, they cannot be cured. The more they treat the illness, the more serious it gets. They simply do not come before God to seek out what exactly caused them to get sick, or to discover the root of their illness; they think on their own of how to handle it. As a result, despite all the methods they have used, their illness remains, until, once they have stopped trying to cure it, it suddenly goes away, without their noticing it. Another person might come down with what seems to be an unremarkable illness and say, “It’s nothing; I don’t need to get it looked at. I’ll just place my trust in God”—and then one day, they suddenly drop dead. Why does this happen? It happens because, in God’s view, this person’s mission on earth is complete, so God takes him away. There are those who die without having fallen ill, and there are also those with a major disease who do not die, and are even able to live another ten or twenty years. This all depends on what God has predetermined. If you recognize this, then you have genuine faith in God. If, over time, your illness worsens and you need to take a bit of medicine to get it under control, then take your medicine as normal and get some exercise; relax, and treat your situation calmly. What do you think of this attitude? This is the sort of attitude enjoyed by people with true faith in God. You do not take medicine or receive an injection, and do not exercise or keep your health up, but are still extremely worried, and you pray constantly. You say, “God, I must do my best to fulfill my duty. I have not yet completed my mission. I have a wish and am resolved; only You can let me live to the final hour, and only You can fulfill my wish. I can’t die; if I die, I won’t be able to fulfill my duty as a created being. I want to fulfill the duty of a created being; I wish to glorify You and praise You unto the end. I want to see Your day of glory.” On the surface, your refusal to take medicine or get shots might make you seem very strong and to be full of faith in God, but your faith is actually smaller than a mustard seed: You are terrified, and have no trust in God. What happened? How did it come to pass that you do not have genuine faith in God? Humans absolutely do not comprehend the attitude, principles, and methods with which the Creator regards created beings; people rely on their own measly suspicions, notions, and imaginings to guess at what God will do. If God is going to allow you to live, then you will be fine, no matter how serious your illness might be; if He is not going to allow you to live, then you should die, and you must, even if you are not sick at all. To know this is true knowledge and true faith. So, does God make people fall sick at random? It is not random; it is a way to refine their faith. It is suffering that people must endure. If He makes you fall sick, do not try to escape it; if He does not, then do not request it. All is in the Creator’s hands, and people must learn to let nature take its course. What is nature? Nothing in nature is random; it all comes from God. This is the truth. Among sufferers of the same disease, some die and others live; all of this was predetermined by God. If you can live, it proves that you have not yet completed the mission God gave you. You should work hard at completing it, and cherish this time; do not waste it. This is what it is. If you are sick, do not try to escape it, and, if you are not sick, do not request it. In any matter, you cannot get what you want merely by requesting it, nor can you escape anything just because you want to. No one can change that which God has decided to do.

—“Only by Seeking the Truth Can One Know God’s Deeds” in Records of Talks of Christ of the Last Days

Some people pray as soon as they fall ill, but seeing themselves no better after they have finished praying, they simply live in the sickness, constantly complaining, saying, “I believe in God, but He hasn’t made me better. I’m sick all day long….” And after they have finished complaining, they die. If God eliminates your flesh and casts you into Hades, then it is all over for you—you no longer have any chance of salvation. If you die and go to hell, your soul is forfeit. Will you have another chance if the work of salvation reaches its final stage and you still have not been saved? You will have no more chances! If you perish during God’s work of salvation, your destination will have already been set. You will not die of the sickness of old age; yours will not be a normal death—you will die from being punished. And those who die from being punished no longer have any chance of salvation, and could be punished anywhere! Has Paul not been punished in Hades all this time? It has been two thousand years, and he is still being punished there! You are in even more trouble if you deliberately commit sin—your punishment will be even more severe!

Some people say, “I feel like the work of the Holy Spirit has been absent from me for some time. I’m always getting sick and feeling unwell, and I’m always having to face tough situations.” This is correct. Sometimes the Holy Spirit works one way, and sometimes He works another; sometimes He enlightens you, using fellowship to allow you to understand certain truths, and sometimes He uses situations to elucidate you, situations in which you are tested, tempered, trained, so that you may grow. Some diseases, however, are man-made. They happen because you do not know how to look after yourself or take care of your health, in which case you should be more attentive. But regardless of whether the sickness is man-made or bestowed by the Holy Spirit, it is always God’s especial grace toward you, all so that you can learn a lesson, and so you must thank God and not complain. Each complaint is a stain upon you, a sin that cannot be scrubbed clean! When you complain once, how long will it take to turn your state around? When you become a little negative, it could take a month to get yourself right again; when you complain, and say certain negative things, you may not get yourself right again even within a year, and the Holy Spirit will cease His work. It is a serious matter to complain. It becomes even harder for you to gain the work of the Holy Spirit. It takes a lot of effort in prayer to gain a little of the work of the Holy Spirit, and it is no easy feat to turn your mindset all the way around; this can only be resolved by seeking the truth.

—“See All Things Through the Eyes of Truth” in Records of Talks of Christ of the Last Days

No one goes their whole life without suffering. For some people, it has to do with family, for some, with work, for some, with marriage, and for some, with physical illness. Everyone suffers. Some say, “Why must people suffer? How great it would be to live our whole lives peacefully and happily. Can’t we not suffer?” No—everyone must suffer. Suffering causes every person to experience the myriad sensations of physical life, whether these sensations be positive, negative, active or passive; suffering gives you different feelings and appreciations, which, for you, are all life experience. If you can seek the truth and seek the will of God from these, then you will draw ever closer to the goals given to you by God. That is one aspect, and it is also in order to make people more experienced. Another aspect is the responsibility that God gives to man. What responsibility? To undergo this suffering. You must bear this suffering. If you can bear it, then this is testimony. Faced with illness, some people are afraid others will find out, they think it is something shameful, when in fact this is nothing to be ashamed of. As a normal person, if, amid illness, you are able to accept the various kinds of suffering that God arranges for you, and are still able to perform your duty normally, are able to complete the commissions that God gives you normally, then this is testimony, and it is something that shames and defeats Satan. And so, any suffering should be accepted and submitted to by every created being and every person. This is how you should understand it, this is in line with the will of God, and it is God’s intention. This is what God arranges for every created being. His putting you in these situations and conditions is equivalent to giving you a responsibility, obligation, and commission, and so you should accept them. Is this not the truth? As long as it comes from God, as long as God makes such a demand of you, then it is the truth. Why is it said to be the truth? This is because if you accept these words as the truth, then when you encounter an issue, these words will be able to solve your notions and rebelliousness, they will allow you smooth passage through this issue, and they will allow you to bear testimony, and not go against the will of God or rebel against God. If you are able to submit to the conditions and situations that God places you in, then you understand the truth, and if you can bear such testimony, then you bring shame upon Satan.

—“Only by Resolving One’s Notions Can One Enter the Right Track of Believing in God (1)” in Records of Talks of Christ of the Last Days