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WHO IS THE CREATOR OF SEX!
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A SECRET BIBLE CODE DISCOVERED Israeli scientists discover an ancient secret code programmed into the Old Testament text that predicts the Future! 8 page site!

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HEAVENLY NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCES Reports from people who died and came back to life and how they saw the future and Heaven!

"JESUS CAME & DANCED WITH ME" Volunteer in China tells of an astounding out-of-body experience and her special visitor when she was sick in the hospital!

YOUNG CRIPPLED PAKISTANI GIRL GETS NIGHTLY VISIT FROM JESUS! Read this shocking but very special love-filled true story that took place in 1974!

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A STRANGE RING CLOUD FEB 28 1963 In Flagstaff Arizona a ring-formed cloud appeared while William Branham gets a message & vision of seven angels!

AN ALTERNATIVE UFO THEORY
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'THE MATRIX' MOVIE! Sad that such a deep movie is so little understood. A modern day parable of the Spirit World and struggle of good versus evil! But you'd better be quick to catch it!

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A LITTLE WORD FROM OUR SWEET HELPER AND FRIEND!

Last Site Update
June 12 2002

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Famous Last Words
What famous and infamous people said when they died. Funny, sober, pathetic & hopeful. Also the martyrs' last words!

The inevitable end will come to us all, we will all fall victim to the looming claws of the grim reaper. But what will we leave behind us... how will we be remembered? Our last words are a keepsake, a memory of us and the lives we lived.
Aldous Huxley wrote in the preface to his book "Brave New World", that one should judge all things as if one saw them from one's deathbed. The following are such perspectives! The last words of small and great men reflect how they saw themselves, life, the world and what really mattered when it came down to it!
The Prophet Amos said: "Therefore prepare thyself to meet thy God!"
And King David said in the Book of Psalms (Ps 90:12):
"So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom."

NB: This independent web-maker does not gloat over poor souls that died in terror and torment, but is sincerely sorry for the ignorant who were never enabled by those who possessed it, to see and know the truth in love firsthand!
If anyone has any other famous last words, do send us an e-mail please!

Sir Thomas More:
English Catholic statesman who was beheaded in 1535 on orders of Henry the Eight, for his convictions, because he wouldn’t endorse Henry's divorce:
"See me safe up (onto the scaffold); for my coming down, let me shift myself"

Anne Boleyn, Protestant wife of Henry the Eight.
Before being decapitated on orders of her husband Henry the Eight, she quipped:
"The executioner is, I believe, very expert; and my neck is very slender"

Henry the Eighth, King of England, d. 1547:
When his turn came:
"All is lost. Monks, monks, monks! So, now all is gone—Empire, Body and Soul!"

Hannibal,
Carthagan leader and enemy of Rome who crossed the Alps on elephants.
"Let us now relieve the Romans of their fears by the death of a feeble old man."

Roman Emperor Augustus:
"Did I play my role well? If so, then applause, because the comedy is finished!"

Dr. William Hunter
"If I had strength to hold a pen I would write down how easy and pleasant a thing it is to die."

General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, d. 1863 Killed in error by his own troops at the battle of Chancellorsville during the US Civil War.
"Let us pass over the river, and rest under the shade of the trees."

Keats, English poet
"Severn - I - lift me up - I am dying - I shall die easy; don't be frightened - be firm, and thank God it has come."

Isaac Newton, great Christian Scientist,
"I don't know what I may seem to the world. But as to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seashore and diverting myself now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than the ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.

Palmeston
"Die, my dear doctor? That is the last thing I shall do."

Professor J.H. Huxley, the famous agnostic, as he lay dying suddenly looked up at some sight invisible to mortal eyes, and staring awhile, whispered at last, "So it is true."

Sir Francis Newport, head of the English Infidel Club, said to those gathered around his death bed,
"Do not tell me there is no God for I know there is one, and that I am in his angry presence! You need not tell me there is no hell, for I already feel my soul slipping into its fires! Wretches, cease your idle talk about there being hope for me! I know that I am lost forever."

Dwight L. Moody, Christian preacher, awakening from sleep shortly before he died said:
"Earth recedes. Heaven opens before me. If this death, it is sweet! There is no valley here. God is calling me, and I must go." "No, no, Father," said Moody's son, "You are dreaming."
"I am not dreaming," replied Moody. "I have been within the gates. I have seen the children's faces."
His last words were, "This is my triumph; this is my coronation day! It is glorious!"

Duke of Monmouth (to his executioner)
"There are six guineas for you, and do not hack me as you did my Lord Russell."

Malesherbes, to his priest uttering last rites
"Hold your tongue! Your wretched chatter disgusts me."

Leonardo da Vinci:
Italian inventor and artist, died in 1519
"I have offended God and mankind because my work did not reach the quality it should have"

Niccolo Machiavelli:
Florentine diplomat and political philosopher, died in 1527
"I desire to go to Hell and not to Heaven. In the former I shall enjoy the company of popes, kings and princes, while in the latter are only beggars, monks and apostles"

William Somerset Maugham:
British author, died in 1965
"Dying is a very dull and dreary affair. And my advice to you is to have nothing whatever to do with it"

Gen. John Sedgewick:
Union commander in the American Civil War, shot at the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House in 1864 while looking over a parapet at the enemy lines
"They couldn't hit an elephant at this dist..."

Churchill:
English Statesman and co-conspirator of the selling out of Eastern Europe at Yalta to Russia & Communism, together with fellow Freemasons Roosevelt and Stalin, who wrote in his autobiography: "I could have prevented the war!" (W.W.II) He said at his death bed:
"What a fool I have been!"

Pancho Villa, Mexican revolutionary leader:
"Don't let it end like this. Tell them I said something…"

Georges Danton,
To His Executioner, during the French Revolution:
"Show my head to the people, it is worth seeing."

James Rodges,
Murderer, on being asked for a final request before a firing squad:
"Why, yes! A bulletproof vest."

Friedrich Nietzsche, pernicious philosopher who preached "God is dead"
Nietzsche died in spiritual darkness, a babbling madman. On a wall in Austria a graffiti said, "God is dead, --Nietzsche!"
Someone else wrote under it, "Nietzsche is dead! --God."
(See picture for proof!)

Oscar Wilde,
Sipping champagne on his deathbed:
"And now, I am dying beyond my means."

H. G. Wells:
"Go away...I'm all right."

Ludwig von Beethoven:
"Friends applaud, the comedy is over."

Dominique Bouhours, French grammarian;d. 1702
"I am about to, or I am going to, die; either expression is used."

Thomas Jefferson, US President, d. July 4, 1826
"This is the fourth…?"

John Adams, US President, d. July 4, 1826 (Actually, Jefferson had died earlier that same day.)
"Thomas Jefferson?--Still surv.... "

Jean Paul Sartre, existentialist
"I failed!"

Emily Dickinson, poet, d. 1886
"I must go in! The fog is rising…"

The prophet Mohammed:
"O Allah! Pardon my sins. Yes, I come."

Nurse Cavell
Before facing a German firing squad in 1915,
"Patriotism is not enough. I must have no hatred or bitterness towards anyone."

Henry Ward Beecher:
"Now comes the mystery."

Karl Marx, born in a Christian Jewish family, originator of Communism.
On his deathbed surrounded by candles burning to Lucifer, screamed at his nurse who asked him if he had any last words:
"Go on, get out! Last words are for fools who haven't said enough."

Lawrence Oates:
British explorer, who sacrificed himself in 1912 in an attempt to save his starving companions during Scott's expedition to the Pole:
"I am just going outside and I may be some time"

Crowfoot (American Blackfoot Indian Orator):
"What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night. It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime. It is the little shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset."

Diana (Spencer), Princess of Wales, d. August 31, 1997
"My God. What's happened?"

Cesare Borgia, statesman:
"I have taken care of everything in the course of my life, only not for death, and now I have to die completely unprepared."

Cardinal Mazarin:
"Oh my poor soul, what is to become of you? — Where do you go?"

Thomas Hobbes, English Philosopher:
"It's my turn, to take a leap into the darkness!

David Hume, the Atheist,
He cried: "I am in flames!" His desperation was a horrible scene.

Voltaire, the famous skeptic,
Voltaire died a terrible death. His nurse said: "For all the money in Europe I wouldn’t want to see another unbeliever die! All night long he cried for forgiveness."

Napoleon Bonaparte,
About Napoleon, Count Montholon wrote: "The Emperor died forsaken by all, on this horrible rock. (St. Helena) His death struggle was awful!"

Thomas Edison, American inventor
"It is very beautiful over there."

Goethe, German Poet
"Light, More light!"

William of Orange, first King of the Netherlands, as he was shot by an assassin,
"My God, my God, have mercy on me, and on my poor people!"

John Newton b. 1725. d. 1807.
Originally a slaver, he had a dramatic mid-ocean change of heart that led him to turn his slave ship around and take the people back to their homeland. He became a Presbyterian minister and preached against the slave-trade, inspiring William Wilberforce who brought about the abolition of slavery in Britain and its colonies. He is most famous for having authored the words to the hymn "Amazing Grace".
As he neared his end, exclaimed, "I am still in the land of the dying; I shall be in the land of the living soon."

Heinrich Heine,
Heine, the great Skeptic, later changed his attitude. In the postscript to his poem collection "Romancero" (30.9.1851) he wrote: "When you are on your deathbed, you become more sensitive and you would like to make peace with God and the world… Poems, that only contained halfway reproaches against God, I delivered over to the flames in a fearful zeal. It is better, that the verses burn than the verse maker… I returned to God as a prodigal son, after I fed the swine with the Hegelians for a long time… In the theology I have to accuse myself of retreating, because I returned to a 'personal God'."
As he died: "God will forgive me. It's his job."

Sir Thomas Scott,
Scott, once president of the English Lower House said: "Up until this time, I thought that there was no God neither Hell. Now I know and feel that there are both, and I am delivered to perdition by the righteous judgment of the Almighty."

Stalin at the table at his Dacha! Swetlana sits on the lap of mass-murderer Beria!

Stalin

A Chinese Communist, who delivered many Christians to their execution, came to a pastor and said: "I’ve seen many of you die. The Christians die differently. What is their secret?"

Sir Walter Raleigh, d. October 29, 1618 Executed by beheading.
So the heart be right, it is no matter which way the head lieth.

Karla Faye Tucker Brown, d. February 3, 1998, Executed by injection, Texas.
"I am going to be face to face with Jesus now. . . . I love you all very much. I will see you all when you get there. . . . I will wait for you.

Edgar Allan Poe, writer, d. October 7, 1849
"Lord help my poor soul."

Andrew Jackson, US President, d. 1845
"Oh, do not cry - be good children and we will all meet in heaven."

Thomas à Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, d.1170
"I am ready to die for my Lord, that in my blood the Church may obtain liberty and peace."

Joseph Addison, writer, d. June 17, 1719
"See in what peace a Christian can die."

Charles V, King of France, d. 1380
"Ay Jesus."

Stephen the first Christian Martyr, as he was being stoned to death by the Farisees, assisted by Saul, who later met Jesus in a vision and changed into the Apostel Paul:
"Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!"

Jesus Christ:
Jesus, after a long morning of torture and a 3 hour lasting excruciating crucifixion, He first forgave his Roman enemies from the cross, saying: "Father forgive them, for they don’t know what they do!" Then he granted eternal life to a repentant thief that was crucified beside him, saying, "Today you shall be with me in Paradise" After the Father's Spirit left Him as He died for the sins of the world, he said, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken me!" Then He said "It is finished!" and after He had cried out with a loud voice, "Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit"—He gave up the ghost!

* * *

"I DON’T WANT TO TAKE ANYMORE PLANES!"
Victim wrote note to his family before his Jet crashed.

TOKYO -- Hirotsugu Kawaguchi, a 52 year old Japanese father of three, wrote several notes to his children aboard a Japan Air Lines flight 123, a few moments before his Boeing 747 crashed, killing 520 people last Aug. The notes were addressed to his son, Tsuyoshi, 21 years old and his two daughters Chiyoko, 17 and Mariko, 24 years old.

WHAT WILL YOU SAY?
WHAT DO YOU SAY NOW?
WHAT IS YOUR PERSPECTIVE ON LIFE?
WILL YOU GO UP WHERE LOVE IS FOREVER?

UP

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TESTIMONIES AND THE LAST SAYINGS OF MARTYRS

Johannes (John) Huss of Bohemia, Czech reformist burned by the Roman Catholic Church as a "heretic" on July 6th, 1415 in Constance (Courtesy: Story of Liberty by Charles Carleton Coffin)
The procession crossed the bridge and halted in a meadow, between the gardens of the city and the gate of Gottlieben. Here the execution was to take place. Being come to the spot where he was to die, the martyr kneeled down, and began reciting the penitential psalms. He offered up short and fervent supplications, and oftentimes repeated, as the bystanders bore witness, the words, "Lord Jesus, into thy hands I commend my spirit." "We know not," said those who were near him, "what his life has been, but verily he prays after a devout and godly fashion." Turning his gaze upward in prayer, the paper crown fell off. One of the soldiers rushed forward and replaced it, saying that "he must be burned with the devils whom he had served." Again the martyr smiled. The stake was driven deep into the ground. Huss was tied to it with ropes. He stood facing the east. "This," cried some, "is not the right attitude for a heretic." He was again unbound, turned to the west, and made fast to the beam by a chain that passed round his neck. "It is thus," said he, "that you silence the goose, but a hundred years hence there will arise a swan whose singing you shall not be able to silence."
He stood with his feet on the targets, which were mixed with straw that they might the more readily ignite. Wood was piled all round him up to the chin. Before applying the torch, Louis of Bavaria and the Marshal of the Empire approached, and for the last time implored him to have a care for his life, and renounce his errors. "What errors," asked Huss, "shall I renounce? I know myself guilty of none. I call God to witness that all that I have written and preached has been with the view of rescuing souls from sin and perdition; and, therefore, most joyfully will I confirm with my blood that truth which I have written and preached."
At the hearing of these words they departed from him, and John Huss had now done talking with men. The fire was applied, the flames blazed upward.
"Do not believe," he says to the people, "that I have taught anything but the truth." No trembling of the lips - no whitening of his cheeks. He is going to testify to the truth. Why should he fear? Truth and liberty are eternal, and will live when emperor and pope have passed away. Truth makes men free, and it will be glorious to die for freedom. The fagots are piled around him - bundles of dry sticks. The executioner stands with his torch. "Renounce your error," shouts the Duke of Bavaria. "I have taught no error. The truths I have I taught will seal with my blood." "Burn him." The executioner holds his torch to the fagots. "John Huss," says Fox, "began to sing with a loud voice, 'Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me.' And when he began to say the same the third time, the wind so blew the flame in his face that it choked him."
Poggius, who was secretary to the council, and Aeneas Sylvius, who afterwards became Pope, and whose narratives are not liable to the suspicion of being coloured, bear even higher testimony to the heroic demeanour of both Huss and Jerome at their execution. "Both," says the latter historian, "bore themselves with constant mind when their last hour approached. They prepared for the fire as if they were going to a marriage feast. They uttered no cry of pain. When the flames rose they began to sing hymns; and scarce could the vehemency of the fire stop their singing."
What is it that the people hear coming from that sheet of flame? "Glory be to God on high, and on earth peace, good will toward men." It is the song which the angels sung above the pastures of above the pastures of Bethlehem. And this: "We praise thee, we bless thee, we worship thee, we give thanks to thee for thy great glory." It is Gloria in Excelsis. The smoke blinds him, the flames are circling above his head. Yet the voice goes on: "Thou that takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on me." The flames wrap him round, his head falls on his breast.
Huss had given up the ghost. When the flames had subsided, it was found that only the lower parts of his body were consumed, and that the upper parts, held fast by the chain, hung suspended on the stake. The executioners kindled the fire anew, in order to consume what remained of the martyr. When the flames had a second time subsided, the heart was found still entire amid the ashes. A third time had the fire to be kindled. At last all was burned. The ashes were carefully collected, the very soil was dug up, and all was carted away and thrown into the Rhine; so anxious were his persecutors that not the slightest vestige of John Huss--not even a thread of his raiment, for that too was burned along with his body--should be left upon the earth.

ROGERS MARTYRDOM
Mr. Rogers said, "That which I have preached I will seal with my blood!" "Then," said the sheriff, "thou art a heretic." "That shall be known," said Rogers, "at the day of judgment." "Well," quoth the sheriff, "I will never pray for thee." "But I will pray for you," replied Rogers; and so was brought the same day, which was Monday the 4th of February, towards Smithfield, saying the psalm "Miserere" by the way, all the people rejoicing at his constancy, with great praises and thanks to God for the same. And there, in the presence of Rochester, comptroller of the queen's household, sir Richard Southwell, both the sheriffs, and many people, the fire was put unto him; and when it had taken hold both upon his legs and shoulders, he, as one feeling no smart, washed his hands in the flame, as though it had been in cold water. After lifting up his hands unto heaven, not removing the same until such time as the devouring fire had consumed them, most mildly this happy martyr yielded up his spirit into the hands of his heavenly Father.

THOMAS CRANMER, ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY. Martyred 12 September, 1555
Then was an iron chain tied about Cranmer, whom when they perceived to be more steadfast than that he could be moved from his sentence, they commanded the fire to be set unto him. And when the wood was kindled and the fire began to burn near him, stretching out his arm, he put his right hand into the flame, which he held so steadfast and unmovable, (saving that once with the same hand he wiped his face,) that all men might see his hand burned before his body was touched. His body did so abide the burning of the flame with such constancy and steadfastness, that standing always in one place without moving his body, he seemed to move no more than the stake to which he was bound; his eyes were lifted up into heaven, and oftentimes he repeated "his unworthy right hand," so long as his voice would suffer him; and using often the words of Stephen," Lord Jesus, receive my spirit," in the greatness of the flames he gave up the ghost, in the sixty-seventh year of his age.

JOHN HOOPER, BISHOP OF WORCESTER AND GLOUCESTER
Martyred 22nd of January, 1555
Then the hoop of iron prepared for his middle was brought, which being somewhat too short, he shrank and pressed in his body with and, until it fastened: but when they offered to have bound his neck and legs with the other hoops, he refused them, saying, "I am well assured I shall not trouble you." Being now ready he looked around on all the people, of whom he might be well seen, for he was both tall, and stood also upon a high stool, and beheld that in every corner lifting up nothing to be seen but weeping and sorrowful people. Then lifting up his eyes and hands to heaven he prayed in silence. By and by, he that was appointed to make the fire came to him and asked him forgiveness. He asked why he should forgive him, saying that he never knew any offence he had committed against him. "O, sir," said the man, "I am appointed to make the fire." "Therein," said Mr. Hooper, "thou dost nothing to offend me: God forgive thee thy sins, and do thine office, I pray thee." Then the reeds were cast up, and he receiving two bundles of them in his own hands embraced them, and putting one of them under each arm, showed with his hand how the rest should be bestowed, and pointed to the place where any were wanting. Command was now given that the fire should be kindled. But because there were not fewer green fagots than two horses could carry, it did not kindle speedily, but was some time before it took the reeds upon the fagots. At length it burned about him; but the wind having full strength in that place, and it being a lowering cold morning, it blew the flame from him, so that he was in a manner little more than touched by the fire. Endeavours were then made to increase the flame, and then the bladders of gunpowder exploded; but did him little good, being so placed, and the wind leaving such power. In this fire he prayed with a loud voice, "Lord Jesus, have mercy upon me! Lord Jesus, have mercy upon me! Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!" And these were the last words he was heard to utter. Yet he struck his breast with his hands, until by the renewing of the fire his strength was gone and his hand stuck fast in striking the iron upon his breast. So immediately, bowing forwards, he yielded up his spirit. Thus lingering were his last sufferings. He was nearly three quarters of an hour or more in the fire, as a lamb, patiently bearing the extremity thereof, neither moving forwards, backwards, nor to any side; but he died as quietly as a child in his bed; and he now reigneth as a blessed martyr in the joys of heaven, prepared for the faithful in Christ before the foundation of the world; for whose constancy all christians are bound to praise God.

William Tyndale Born 1484 ? -- Martyred October 6, 1536
At last, After much reasoning, when no reason would serve, although he deserved no death, he was condemned by virtue of the Emperor Decree , made in the Assembly at Augsburgh (as is before signified) and upon the same brought forth to the place of Execution, was there tied to the Stake, and then strangled first by the Hangman, and afterwards with fire consumed in the morning, at the Town of Filford, A.D. 1536; crying thus at the stake with a fervent zeal, and a loud voice, "Lord open the king of England's eyes."
Text taken from pages 301 to 306 The Second Volume of the Ecclesiastical History: Containing the Acts and Monuments of Martyrs:

Latimer & Ridley burnt alive at Oxford in the year 1555.
Then they brought a lighted fagot, and laid the same down at Ridley’s feet; upon which Latimer said calling out from the fire, “Be of good comfort, Master Ridley, and play the man. We shall this day light such a candle, by God’s grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out. (from Foxe's Book of Martyrs)

How Polycarp was martyred in about 168 A.D.
Polycarp was born abound 70 A.D. He was sold as a slave in his childhood to a wealthy woman named Calisto. She reared him as her son. He came to know Christ as his Savior in those early years. As he grew older, he had the opportunity to study under the Apostle John and others who had personally sat under the teaching of Jesus Christ. Polycarp was actively involved in serving the Lord in the Church of Smyrna. Upon the death of Calisto, he became heir to all of her estate. He used his inheritance to advance the cause of Christ and to help those who were in need. When the of his church, Pastor Bucolos, died the Apostles and particularly the Apostle John appointed Polycarp to be the Pastor of the Church of Smyrna. Polycarp faithfully ministered in that church for many years. Persecution of Christians was the order of the day when Marcus Aurelius was the Emporer of Rome.
For many years Polycarp was spared. But, the full forced of persecution was unleashed on Polycarp in the later years of his ministry. Three days before he was arrested the Lord revealed to him in a dream that he would be burned at the stake. When the soldiers came to get him, his friends insisted on hiding him. Polycarp made it clear that in the future, he would not allow himself to be hidden. Soon the soldiers discovered where he had been taken. When he saw them coming, he went out and greeted them warmly and offered them food. As they were eating, he requested that he be allowed to pray before they took him away. His request was granted. For two hours he prayed fervently out loud and my book says, "inasmuch that many of the soldiers began to repent, that they were come out against so godly an old man."
When he was done praying they set him on a donkey and took him into the city to be tried as one who was an adversary of the authorized pagan religion. When he arrived, they sat him in a chariot and began to urge him to say the Caesar was God and offer a sacrifice to him. They said, there is no harm in that is there? At first he refused to answer. Finally, after they continued to press him Polycarp said, "I shall not do what you would persuade me to."
This made his judges very angry. They had confidently supposed that they would be able to easily persuade him to do what they wanted him to do. They became vicious in their words and actions. They literally threw him out of the chariot he had been sitting in, which caused serious injury to his thigh. This display of force incited the blood thirsty mob to the point that they were so loud in their curses and jeers that no one could hear. As they were dragging Polycarp to the place of execution, a voice rang out from Heaven loud and clear, above the harangue of the crowd which said, "Be strong, Polycarp, and quit thyself like a man." [The phrase "quit you" means, to carry through, or perform to the end. Hence, be strong and stand like a man to the end.]
The record states that while no one saw who it was that spoke to Polycarp, many of the believers who were in the crowd clearly heard the voice also. To be sure, Polycarp stood for the Lord Jesus Christ to the end, despite all the efforts to persuade him to renounce Christ. One of the judges tried to get him to deny his faith by saying, "Reverence thy old age…Swear by Casear's Fortune. Repent, and say; Take away the Wicked." The historian goes on to say, "Polycarp, looking with a stern countenance upon the whole multitude of wicked Gentiles, that was gathered together in the Lifts, and shaking his hand at them, looked up to Heaven, and groaning said, Take away the Wicked." But the judge was not satisfied with this. He said, "Sware, and I will set thee at liberty; reproach Christ." It is at this point that Polycarp gives his famous response -- "Eighty and six years have I now served Christ, and he has never done me the least wrong: How then can I blaspheme my King and my Savior?"
The judge then angrily urges him to, "swear by the Genius of Caesar." Polycarp refuses, but offered to share his faith in Christ. The judge rejected the offer and threatened, "I have wild beasts ready, to those I will cast thee except thou repent." Polycarp responds calmly, "Call for them then: For we Christians are fixed in our minds not to change from good to evil; But for me it will be good to be changed from Evil, to Good." The furious judge said, "Seeing that thou dispiseth the Wild Beasts, I will cause thee to be devoured by Fire, unless thou shall repent." Polycarp answered, "Thou threatenest me with Fire which burns for an hour, and so is extinguished; but knowest not the Fire of the Future Judgment, and of that Eternal Punishment, which is reserved for the Ungodly. But why tarriest thou? Bring forth what thou wilt!"
The judge loudly cried out three times, "Polycarp has confessed himself to be a Christian." The mob responded in fury, "This is the Doctor of Asia; The Father of the Christians; an the overthrower of our Gods. He that has taught so many not to sacrifice, nor pay any worship to the Gods." At first they cried out that the lions should be loosed on him and then that he should be burned alive. They took Polycarp to the stake and were going to nail him there. He spoke up and said, "Let me alone as I am: For he who has given me strength to endure the Fire, will also enable me, without your securing me by nails, to stand without moving in the pile." They merely tied him to the stake.
He prayed this prayer before the fire was was kindled -- Lord God Almighty, the Father of thy Well-beloved, and Blessed Son, Jesus Christ, by whom we have received Knowledge of thee; the God of Angels and Powers, and of every Creature, and especially the whole Race of Just Men who live in thy presence! I give thee hearty thanks that thou hast vouchsafed (allowed) to bring me to this Day, and to this Hour; that I should have a part in the Number of thy Martyrs, in the Cup of thy Christ, to the Resurrection of Eternal Life, both of Soul and Body, in the Incorruption of the Holy Ghost. Among which may I be accepted this Day before thee, as a fat and acceptable Sacrifice; as thou the true God, with who is no falsehood, has both before ordained, and manifested unto me, and also hath now fulfilled it. For this, and for all things else, I praise thee, I bless thee, I glorify thee by the Eternal, and Heavenly High Priest, Jesus Christ they Beloved Son; whit whom to Thee and the Holy Ghost, be Glory both now, and to all succeeding Ages, AMEN.
Upon the "AMEN" the executioner lighted the fire, but something strange happened. The flames arched around Polycarp like a sail of a ship filled with wind and he would not burn. After some time, the command was given to the executioner to stab him with a sword, so he did. The result was that so much blood flowed from the wound that it extinguished the fire. The fire was rekindled and Polycarps body was burned to ashes. Polycarp was faithful to the Lord unto death.

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