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On the night, Sunday, April 14, 1912,
The RMS Titanic sailed swiftly on the bitterly cold ocean
waters heading unknowingly into the pages of history. On board
this luxurious ocean liner were many rich and famous people.
At the time of the ship's launch, it was the world's largest
man-made moveable object. At 11:40 p.m. on that fateful night,
an iceberg scraped the ship's starboard side, showering the
decks with ice and ripping open six watertight compartments.
The sea poured in. After striking an iceberg the majestic
queen of the White Star fleet disappeared into the black, cold
waters of the North Atlantic. The ship took less than three
hours to enter its watery tomb, 1517 souls were lost, and only
706 survived.
On board the ship that night, with
his six-year-old daughter Nana, was Rev. John Harper. A
preacher since the age of seventeen, John Harper had started
his own church in Glasgow in September 1896. (Now known as the
Harper Memorial
Baptist Church.) This church, which John Harper had
started with just 25 members, had grown to over 500 members
when he left 13 years later. During this time he had married,
but was widowed in 1908. Through ill health, he was forced to
take a six-month sabbatical. Although his health never fully
returned, he then became pastor of a Walworth Road. Baptist
Church in London, and his success there led to an invitation
to preach a revival at Moody Church in Chicago in the winter
of 1911. The revival was successful and, although his health
was weakening, he agreed to return to Chicago that spring.
According to documented reports, as
soon as it was apparent that the ship was going to sink, John
Harper immediately took his daughter to a lifeboat. It is
reasonable to assume that this widowed preacher could have
easily gotten on board this boat to safety; however, it never
seems to have crossed his mind. He bent down and kissed his
precious little girl; looking into her eyes he told her that
she would see him again someday. The flares going off in the
dark sky above reflected the tears on his face as he turned
and headed towards the crowd of desperate humanity on the
sinking ocean liner.
As the rear of the huge ship began to
lurch upwards, it was reported that Harper was seen making his
way up the deck yelling, "Women, children and unsaved
into the lifeboats!" It was only minutes later that the
Titanic began to rumble deep within. Most people thought it
was an explosion; actually the gargantuan ship was literally
breaking in half. At this point, many people jumped off the
decks and into the icy, dark waters below. John Harper was one
of these people.
Four years after the Titanic went
down, at a survivors meeting, a young Scotsman rose in a
meeting in Hamilton, Canada, and said, "I am a survivor
of the Titanic. When I was drifting alone on a spar that awful
night, the tide brought Mr. John Harper, of Glasgow, also on a
piece of wreck near me. 'Man,' he said, 'are you saved?' 'No,'
I said. 'I am not.' He replied, 'Believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ and thou shalt be saved.'"
"The waves bore him away; but,
strange to say brought him back a little later, and he said,
'Are you saved now?' 'No,' I said, 'I cannot honestly say that
I am.' He said again, 'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and
thou shalt be saved,' and shortly after he went down; and
there, alone in the night, and with two miles of water under
me, I believed. I am John Harper's last convert."
(Aguilla Webb)
This servant of God did what he had
to do. While other people were trying to buy their way onto
the lifeboats and selfishly trying to save their own lives,
John Harper gave up his life so that others could be saved. "Greater
love hath no man than this, that he lay down his life for his
friends..." John Harper was truly the hero of the
Titanic!
John Harper was born May 29th,
1872 and died Sunday, April 14th, 1912
Author Unknown. Sources for
this article: "The Titanic's Last Hero" by Moody
Press 1997," John Climie, George Harper, & Bill
Guthrie from "Jesus Our Jubilee Ministries" in
Dallas, Oregon
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