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John Gibson Paton Quotes

Among many who sought to deter me, was one dear old Christian gentleman, whose crowning argument always was, The cannibals! you will be eaten by cannibals! At last I replied, Mr. Dickson, you are advanced in years now,

Among many who sought to deter me, was one dear old Christian gentleman, whose crowning argument always was, "The cannibals! you will be eaten by cannibals!" At last I replied, "Mr. Dickson, you are advanced in years now, and your own prospect is soon to be laid in the grave, there to be eaten by worms; I confess to you, that if I can but live and die serving and honouring the Lord Jesus, it will make no difference to me whether I am eaten by cannibals or by worms."

John Gibson Paton
Christian, Jesus, Years
John Gibson Paton (1907). “John G. Paton, missionary to the New Hebrides: An autobiography edited by his brother. New and complete illustrated edition: 1824-1907”

As I lay down my pen, let me record my immovable conviction that this is the noblest service in which any human being can spend or be spent; and that, if God gave me back my life to be lived over again, I would without one quiver of hesitation lay it on the altar to Christ, that He might use it as before in similar ministries of love, especially amongst those who have never yet heard the Name of Jesus.

John Gibson Paton
Jesus, Son, Might Use
"John G. Paton: Missionary to the New Hebrides".

This is strength; this is peace; to feel, in entering on every day, that all its duties and trials have been committed to the Lord Jesus - that, come what may, He will use us for His own glory and our real good!

John Gibson Paton
Jesus, Real, Missionary
John Gibson Paton, James Paton (1891). “John G. Paton: Missionary to the New Hebrides”

Nothing so clears the vision and lifts up the life, as a decision to move forward in what you know to be entirely the will of the Lord.

John Gibson Paton
Christian, Moving, Decision
John Gibson Paton, James Paton (1904). “The Story of John G. Paton, Told for Young Folks: Or, Thirty Years Among South Sea Cannibals. Rearranged and Edited by James Paton”

If I die here in Glasgow, I shall be eaten by worms; If I can but live and die serving the Lord Jesus, it will make no difference to me whether I am eaten by cannibals or by worms; for in the Great Day my resurrection body will arise as fair as yours in the likeness of our risen Redeemer.

John Gibson Paton
Jesus, Differences, Great Day

At the moment I put the bread and wine into those dark hands, once stained with the blood of cannibalism, now stretched out to receive and partake the emblems and seals of the Redeemer's love, I had a foretaste of the joy of glory that well nigh broke my heart to pieces. I shall never taste a deeper bliss, till I gaze on the glorified face of Jesus himself.

John Gibson Paton
Jesus, Heart, Wine
John Gibson Paton (1907). “John G. Paton, missionary to the New Hebrides: An autobiography edited by his brother. New and complete illustrated edition: 1824-1907”

I had my nearest and most intimate glimpses of the presence of my Lord in those dread moments when musket, club or spear was being levelled at my life.

John Gibson Paton
Glimpse, Missionary, Clubs

... and over that side of the island all their sacred men were at work trying to kill me by their (magical) arts. Messengers arrived from every quarter of the island, inquiring anxiously about my health, and wondering if I was not feeling sick.

John Gibson Paton
Art, Men, Islands

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