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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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