October 19th’s reading in Day by Day with the Persecuted Church devotional is from Dr. Nicolae Gheorghita, a Baptist pastor in Romania.
What a strong testament to his faith, and to the truth of God’s word ~
Sometimes God uses atheists to prove that the Bible is true.
One day the secret police came to my house and confiscated many Christian books. I was summoned to appear for investigation the following day.
A military prosecutor and four secret police officers questioned me for 10 hours, they then asked me if there was anything else for which I would like to confess, so I said “Sir, this investigation does not take me by surprise, because I knew this would happen. The Lord Jesus Christ told His followers that they would be arrested and suffer if they wanted to follow Him. If I would not be a disciple, would you have arrested me?” They looked at me and said ”No.”
“So the Bible is true,” I continued. “This investigation confirms to me the biblical truth, and I am willing to face the consequences; I am willing to pay the price. Your job is to set the price and mine is to pay it with gladness because I love my God – and He will strengthen me to bear his burden. But I also want you to know that He loves you too.” They looked at me astonished and bewildered. They apologized to me and told me I was free to go home. “We were only doing our job,” they said.
Let us never be ashamed of the Gospel. It is the power of God for salvation.
One day the secret police came to my house and confiscated many Christian books. I was summoned to appear for investigation the following day.
A military prosecutor and four secret police officers questioned me for 10 hours, they then asked me if there was anything else for which I would like to confess, so I said “Sir, this investigation does not take me by surprise, because I knew this would happen. The Lord Jesus Christ told His followers that they would be arrested and suffer if they wanted to follow Him. If I would not be a disciple, would you have arrested me?” They looked at me and said ”No.”
“So the Bible is true,” I continued. “This investigation confirms to me the biblical truth, and I am willing to face the consequences; I am willing to pay the price. Your job is to set the price and mine is to pay it with gladness because I love my God – and He will strengthen me to bear his burden. But I also want you to know that He loves you too.” They looked at me astonished and bewildered. They apologized to me and told me I was free to go home. “We were only doing our job,” they said.
Let us never be ashamed of the Gospel. It is the power of God for salvation.
