{"id":2866,"date":"2023-03-15T08:33:00","date_gmt":"2023-03-15T08:33:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/?p=2866"},"modified":"2023-03-14T21:46:02","modified_gmt":"2023-03-14T21:46:02","slug":"stories-of-christian-martyrs-john-paton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/stories-of-christian-martyrs-john-paton\/","title":{"rendered":"Stories of Christian Martyrs: John Paton"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Captain John Paton, a legendary Scottish soldier and Covenanter, is best known for his stirring testimony delivered from the scaffold on May 9, 1684. He fought bravely for Gustavus Adolphus in Germany, and also for his Covenanter brethren against the English crown in pitched battles going back to 1644. His last testament to faith has become Captain Paton\u2019s gift to the ages:
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Request your free magazine<\/p>\r\n\t\t\tSubscribe<\/a>\r\n\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n\r\n\t\n\n\n

Dear Friends and Spectators,
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You are come here to look upon me a dying man\u2026I am a poor sinner, and could never merit but wrath, and have no righteousness of my own; all is Christ\u2019s and His alone; and I have laid claim to His righteousness and His sufferings by faith in Jesus Christ; through imputation they are mine; for I have accepted of His offer on His own terms, and sworn away myself to Him, to be at His disposal, both privately and publicly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now I have put it upon Him to ratify in heaven all that I have purposed to do on earth, and to do away with all my imperfections and failings, and to stay my heart on Him\u2026I now leave my testimony, as a dying man, against the horrid usurpation of our Lord\u2019s prerogative and crown-right\u2026for He is given by the Father to be the head of His church\u2026Oh! Be oft at the throne, and give God no rest. Make sure your soul\u2019s interest. Seek His pardon freely, and then He will come with peace. Seek all the graces of His Spirit, the grace of love, the grace of holy fear and humility \u2026 Now I desire to salute you, dear friends in the Lord Jesus Christ, both prisoner, banished, widow and fatherless, or wandering and cast out for Christ\u2019s sake and the Gospel\u2019s; even the blessings of Christ\u2019s sufferings be with you all, strengthen, establish, support, and settle you\u2026Now as to my poor sympathizing wife and six small children upon the Almighty Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, who hath promised to be a father to the fatherless, and a husband to the widow, the widow and orphans\u2019 stay. Be Thou all in all to them, O Lord\u2026And now farewell, wife and children. Farewell all friends and relations. Farewell all worldly enjoyments. Farewell sweet Scriptures, preaching, praying, reading, singing, and all duties. And welcome, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I desire to commit my soul to Thee in well doing. Lord, receive my spirit.
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Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life.
Luke 18:29-30<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This story is an excerpt from Foxe: Voices of the Martyrs. <\/em>You can get your own copy free with any donation to The Voice of the Martyrs.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Captain John Paton, a legendary Scottish soldier and Covenanter, is best known for his stirring testimony delivered from the scaffold on May 9, 1684. He fought bravely for Gustavus Adolphus in Germany, and also for his Covenanter brethren against the English crown in pitched battles going back to 1644. His last testament to faith has become Captain Paton\u2019s gift to the ages: Dear Friends and Spectators, You are come here to look upon me a dying man\u2026I am a poor sinner, and could never merit but wrath, and have no righteousness of my own; all is Christ\u2019s and His alone; and I have laid claim to His righteousness and His sufferings by faith in Jesus Christ; through imputation they are mine; for I have accepted of His offer on His own terms, and sworn away myself to Him, to be at His disposal, both privately and publicly. Now I have put it upon Him to ratify in heaven all that I have purposed to do on earth, and to do away with all my imperfections and failings, and to stay my heart on Him\u2026I now leave my testimony, as a dying man, against the horrid usurpation of our Lord\u2019s prerogative<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1774,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[96],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2866","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-foxe","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"\nStories of Christian Martyrs: John Paton - Stories<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Captain John Paton, a legendary Scottish soldier and Covenanter, is best known for his stirring testimony delivered from the scaffold.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/stories-of-christian-martyrs-john-paton\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Stories of Christian Martyrs: John Paton - 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