Timothy
March 29th, 2005, 11:05 PM
The Titanic Passenger Who Was Saved Twice
Appeared in The Berean Searchlight - December 2000 Issue
The ship that was said to be so unsinkable that even God Himself could not take it down did sink in the icy waters of the North Atlantic in 1912....
Of the 1,528 people who ended up in the icy water, only six were eventually rescued. One of those six was actually saved twice that night, according to a little publicized account of heroism published in 1912, published by John Climie of Scotland.
Among the passengers of the ill-fated luxury liner was a Scottish minister named John Harper, who had boarded the Titanic with his 6 year old daughter, Nana. He was travelling to Moody Church in Chicago, Illinois, where he had been invited to preach for three months.
When the Titanic struck the iceberg and began to sink, Harper got his daughter placed into one of the lifeboats. He then began preaching the last sermon of his young life. As water began filling the ship, Harper was heard shouting, “Let the women, children and the unsaved into the lifeboats.”
Survivors reported that Harper took off his own life jacket and gave it to another man. “Don’t worry about me,” he reportedly said, “I’m not going down, I’m going up!”
When the ship began to sink, more than 1,500 passengers jumped or fell into the icy waters. As one by one each gradually drowned or froze to death, Harper was seen swimming from one passenger to another, pleading with them to accept Christ as their Savior.
Only six of the 1,500 people in the water were eventually rescued. One of those six later identified himself as Harper’s last convert. This young man had climbed up on a piece of debris. Harper, who was struggling in the water near him, shouted out, “Are you saved?” “No,” the man replied. Harper then shouted the words from the Bible: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.” There was no answer, and a moment later he drifted away on the waves.
As fate would have it, the current later brought the two men back together again. Harper asked him the second time, “Are you saved?”
Once again, the answer was “no.” With his dying breath, Harper shouted, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.”
John Harper then slipped under the waves for the last time, according to the book The Titanic’s Last Hero by Moody Adams (The Olive Press, 1997), which quotes the 1912 account by John Climie.
When the man in the water saw Harper go under and stay under he turned his life over to Christ on the spot. Four years later, at a meeting for Titanic survivors in Ontario, Canada, this man testified how John Harper had led him to the Lord that night....
The story of John Harper reminds us of a great lesson, the secret of the ages: “There’s more to life than mere survival.”
—The Christian Crusade newspaper staff
Appeared in The Berean Searchlight - December 2000 Issue
The ship that was said to be so unsinkable that even God Himself could not take it down did sink in the icy waters of the North Atlantic in 1912....
Of the 1,528 people who ended up in the icy water, only six were eventually rescued. One of those six was actually saved twice that night, according to a little publicized account of heroism published in 1912, published by John Climie of Scotland.
Among the passengers of the ill-fated luxury liner was a Scottish minister named John Harper, who had boarded the Titanic with his 6 year old daughter, Nana. He was travelling to Moody Church in Chicago, Illinois, where he had been invited to preach for three months.
When the Titanic struck the iceberg and began to sink, Harper got his daughter placed into one of the lifeboats. He then began preaching the last sermon of his young life. As water began filling the ship, Harper was heard shouting, “Let the women, children and the unsaved into the lifeboats.”
Survivors reported that Harper took off his own life jacket and gave it to another man. “Don’t worry about me,” he reportedly said, “I’m not going down, I’m going up!”
When the ship began to sink, more than 1,500 passengers jumped or fell into the icy waters. As one by one each gradually drowned or froze to death, Harper was seen swimming from one passenger to another, pleading with them to accept Christ as their Savior.
Only six of the 1,500 people in the water were eventually rescued. One of those six later identified himself as Harper’s last convert. This young man had climbed up on a piece of debris. Harper, who was struggling in the water near him, shouted out, “Are you saved?” “No,” the man replied. Harper then shouted the words from the Bible: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.” There was no answer, and a moment later he drifted away on the waves.
As fate would have it, the current later brought the two men back together again. Harper asked him the second time, “Are you saved?”
Once again, the answer was “no.” With his dying breath, Harper shouted, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.”
John Harper then slipped under the waves for the last time, according to the book The Titanic’s Last Hero by Moody Adams (The Olive Press, 1997), which quotes the 1912 account by John Climie.
When the man in the water saw Harper go under and stay under he turned his life over to Christ on the spot. Four years later, at a meeting for Titanic survivors in Ontario, Canada, this man testified how John Harper had led him to the Lord that night....
The story of John Harper reminds us of a great lesson, the secret of the ages: “There’s more to life than mere survival.”
—The Christian Crusade newspaper staff