Would the Groom Allow His Bride to Suffer? — What Holly Thinks

I’m often asked how I can believe that Christ, the Groom, would allow the Church, His beloved bride, to be persecuted by the Antichrist.

Those who ask me this question can’t understand how I can think that our loving, all-powerful Lord would sit back and watch while His people are massacred. But I’m just as baffled by their question.

Yes, one of the images Scripture uses of the relationship between Christ and the Church is that of a groom and his bride. But this doesn’t mean that Christ won’t allow His people to suffer in this present life. What of the thousands upon thousands of Christians who’ve been persecuted throughout church history?

If you’ve never read the book Fox’s Book of Martyrs, I encourage you to do so. Read it online here. First published in 1563, it contains numerous accounts of persecuted Christians — from the first martyr, Stephen, all the way through the Protestant Reformation.

The descriptions of torture and killings are difficult to read. But it’s also inspiring to read the last words of real Christians who paid the ultimate price for faithfulness to their Lord. Accounts like these will become all the more important to strengthening our own faith as we approach the last-days tribulation.

The author, John Fox, an English scholar, compiled the book at great risk to his own life so we could have the testimony of these saints preserved. Many of the martyrs featured in the book were his contemporaries. Martyrdom wasn’t an abstract concept to him, but a present reality — just as it is for many Christians in our own day. Read about the current persecution of Chinese Christians here.

Of course, the reason I believe that Christians will be persecuted by the Antichrist is because the Bible says so (see, for example, Revelation 6:9-11, Rev. 13:15 and Matthew 24:21-22). And I don’t believe that Christ’s love for His people is in any way negated by this. We know that all the temporary suffering God allows us to have will work out for our eternal good (Romans 8:28).

The argument that the Groom would never allow His bride to suffer persecution certainly tugs at the heart strings. But it flies not only in the face of Scripture, but also the experience of countless Christians.

— Holly Pivec
8/11/08