Refusing to Deny Christ
A few years into his sentence Haralan Popov was moved to what they called “the pit”. It was basically a hole in the ground where they kept prisoners so tight together they could hardly move. And he was in there for days and days and days, with prisoners around him dying.
Popov's Dilemma: Choosing Faith Over Freedom
Then one day he was called into the secret police office. And they said to him, “Comrade Popov”, and Popov said that alarm bells went off in his head – they addressed him as “Comrade”, which made him quite suspicious.
But they continued: “We have decided to free you from the pit, since we feel you will be more sensible and obliging in the future.” Popov says he couldn’t believe it, such hope filled his heart… the thought of no more torture, no more rotting away in the pit.
Then came the catch! When the chief officer said “We only want you to do us a little favor. When we let you go, we want you to go to the barracks and give us a written report on the condition of the prisoners there and what they talk about.”
Popov’s hope dissipated. And this is what he writes: “I knew this was the most decisive choice in my life; either to accept the invitation and be freed from the pit so that I could come out in the fresh air and the sun, or to decline to do the little ‘‘favor,’’ and remain faithful to my God and retain the confidence of my fellow prisoners and probably die in the pit…
For a moment, I closed my eyes in silent prayer. The two men awaited my answer. Suddenly God’s Word came to me: ‘that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perishes, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ’’ (1 Peter 1:7). It was completely clear to me then that if I said ‘‘yes’’ I would become an apostate and lose my faith and my hope in God.
Standing Firm in Faith: A Call to Endure Amidst Persecution
And so he said to the officers “Never could I do that… ‘Do what you want to me and this body. It is but clay. But I will never deny my faith.”
They threw him back in the pit.
Now, the fact that you’re listening to this on your phone or reading it online means you aren’t in a prison or a pit. But more and more, Christians are being forced to deny their faith. More and more, Christians are being persecuted and forced to go against the things that we know to be true in God’s Word.
And I wonder what our response will be? Will we take the easy route and say and do what the world and the culture want us to say and do? Or will we like Popov be able to say “do what you want to me and this body, it is but clay, but I will never deny my faith!”
Jesus said “Whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 10:33).
Hold tight to your faith, friends! And no matter how you’re tempted to go against God, don’t deny your faith, but stand up for your faith.
God promises a great reward if you endure to the end and don’t give in.
