The night the Titanic sank in 1912 on April 14th, 1,528 people went into the frigid waters. John Harper, after putting his only daughter on a lifeboat, was seen swimming frantically to people in the water leading them to Jesus before the hypothermia became fatal. Rev. Harper swam up to one young man who had climbed up on a piece of debris.
Rev. Harper asked him between breaths, "Are you saved?" The young man replied that he was not.
Harper then tried to lead him to Christ only to have the
young man who was near shock, reply no. John Harper then took off his life
jacket and threw it to the man and said "Here then, you need this more
than I do..." and swam away to other people.
A few minutes later Harper swam back to the young man and
succeeded in leading him to salvation. Of the 1,528 people that went into the
water that night, six were rescued by the lifeboats. One of them was this young
man on the debris.
Four years later, at a survivors meeting, this young man
stood up and in tears recounted how John Harper had led him to Christ. Rev.
Harper had tried to swim back to help other people, yet because of the intense
cold, had grown too weak to swim. His last words before going under in the
frigid waters were "Believe on the
name of the Lord Jesus and you will be saved."
Does Hollywood remember this man? No. Oh well, no matter.
This servant of God did what he had to do. While other people were trying to
buy their way onto the lifeboats and were selfishly trying to save their own lives,
John Harper gave up his life so that others could be saved.
John Harper knew what it meant to live life with urgency.
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