Page 1 - Good News November 2019 paper
P. 1

Harper then ran along the decks
                                               pleading  with  people  to  turn  to
                                               Christ, and, with the ship sinking,
                                               he  called  upon  the  Titanic's
                                               orchestra  to  play,  "Nearer,  My
                                               God, to Thee." Gathering people
                                               around him on deck, he then knelt
                                               down,  and  "with  holy  joy  in  his
                                               face," raised his arms in prayer.
                                               As  the  ship  began  to  lurch,  he
                                               jumped  into  the  icy  waters  and
                                               swam  frantically  to  all  he  could
                                               reach, beseeching them to turn to
                                               the  Lord  Jesus  and  be  saved.
                                               Finally,  as  hypothermia  set  in,
                                               John  Harper  sank  beneath  the
                                               waters and passed into the Lord's
                                               Presence. He was 39.                  brought him back a little later, and   of John Harper's preaching had
                                                                                     he  said,  "Are  you  saved  now?"   been "the Cross of Christ, God's
                                               Four years later, a young Scots-      "No,"  I  said,  "I  cannot  honestly   marvellous grace to man, and the
                                               man by the name of Aguilla Webb       say  that  I  am."  He  said  again,   soon coming of our Lord Jesus
               ohn Harper [a Baptist pastor    stood up in a meeting in Hamilton,    "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,   Christ."
               from  Glasgow,  Scotland]  Canada,  and  gave  the  following         and  thou  shalt  be  saved,"  and   - Paul Wilkinson
          Jhad  spent  three  months  testimony: I am a survivor of the              shortly after, he went down; and
          ministering  at  Moody  Church  in   Titanic. When I was drifting alone    there, alone in the night, and with   1. George Harper, "My Brother As
          Chicago,  during  which  time  the   on a spar that awful night, the tide   two  miles  of  water  under  me,  I   I  Knew  Him,"  in  Moody Adams,
          church had experienced "one of       brought  Mr  John  Harper  of  believed. I am John Harper's last           The Titanic's Last Hero (Belfast:
          the most wonderful revivals in its   Glasgow,  also  on  a  piece  of  the   convert.                           Ambassador,  1998),  55,  cited  in
          history." He had not been back in    wreck,  near  me.  "Man,"  he  said,                                       Wilkinson,  "You  Shall  Be  My
          Britain  long,  however,  when  he   "are you saved?" "No," I said, "I     In a tribute to Harper, which was    Witnesses."
          was asked to return and continue     am not." He replied, "Believe on      published  in  1912  under  the
          his ministry. Harper quickly made    the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  thou   heading, "The Three Themes of a      2. "A True Story from the Titanic,"
          arrangements for himself and his     shalt be saved." The waves bore       Hero,"  William  Andrew  of  Glas-   http:www.corkfpc.com/14.html
          six-year-old  daughter,  Nana,  to   him  away;  but,  strange  to  say,   gow noted that the three themes      cited in Wilkinson.
          travel back to America on board
          the Lusitania but decided to delay
          their  departure  for  one  week  so
          that they could sail on a new ship
          which  was  about  to  make  its
          maiden voyage - the Titanic.

          The Titanic struck an iceberg at
          23:40 on April 14, 1912. As the call
          was  issued  for  passengers  to
          vacate  their  cabins,  Harper
          wrapped  his  daughter  in  a
          blanket, told her that she would
          see  him  again  one  day,  and
          passed  her  to  one  of  the  crew-
          men.  After  watching  her  safely
          board  one  of  the  lifeboats,  he
          removed his life-jacket and gave
          it to one of the other passengers.
          One  survivor  distinctly  remem-
          bered  hearing  him  shout,
          "Women,  children,  and  the
          unsaved  into  the  lifeboats!"
   1   2   3   4   5   6