Rescue the Perishing

In the spring of 1912, John Harper and his young daughter, Annie, embarked on a once-in-a-lifetime journey to America. Harper, a Scottish Baptist pastor, and widower had received the invitation to preach in Chicago and boarded a vessel that would take them across the Atlantic. There is always a risk in traveling by sea, but with a ship that is “unsinkable,” the passage to America would sure to be a comfortable and uneventful one.

April 14, 1912, the Titanic struck an iceberg and as water flooded into the ship, it would only be a matter of time before the vessel would be lost. Harper rushed to the deck with his young daughter and after placing her in a lifeboat, he began to aid in the rescue effort, calling out to the frantic passengers “Women, children, and unsaved people to the lifeboats!” As the sounds of a ship in its death throes and the cry of frenzied, desperate people filled the night air, it was reported by survivors that the voice of John Harper was heard clearly and powerfully preaching the gospel. It was also said, that after a man refused Harper's appeal to “believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved!”, John took off his own life jacket and gave it to the man saying, “you will need this more than me.”

As the ship descended to the bottom of the Atlantic, the unfortunate souls who didn’t make it to the lifeboats found themselves floating in frigid waters, clinging desperately to whatever piece of debris they could find. Harper was among them, and he swam to as many as he could to give them a final encouragement unto Christ, and to pray for and with them in their final moments. One of those individuals happened to be Steve Crain, who saw Harper struggling to stay afloat.

Harper called out to Steve, “Are you saved?”

“No” Steve replied.

“Believe in the Lord Jesus and you shall be saved!”

As the waves, began to overwhelm Harper, he again shouted to Steve.

“Are you saved?”

“No, I am not.”

“Call upon the name of the Lord and you shall be saved!”

And with that final appeal, Harper slipped under the waves for the last time.

Years later in a gathering of survivors in Canada, Steve Crain shared how Harper led him to Christ the night of the shipwreck and how he was Harper’s Last Convert.

I wonder, if faced with the disaster of the Titanic and the blackness of sea that is poised to swallow me into its abyss, how would I respond? I would like to think that I would be as bold as John Harper. However, that is easy to say in the comfort of a climate-controlled church office. The fact is none of us truly know what we would do until we are in the situation. Yet, if we are faithful to Christ now, walking with Him in intimate fellowship, and reminded daily of His promises in the Bible, when faced with a crisis of any sort, we will not be overcome.

The Apostle John writes in Revelation 12:7-17, talking about the utter defeat and throwing down of Satan, who was responsible for the affliction, tyranny, and martyrdom of the saints of God, he says in verse 11, “And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.” In other words, when facing death, the people of God remained faithful to the gospel.

John Harper could have saved his life, but instead plunged into the icy waters to love others unto Christ at the expense of his own life. We may never find ourselves on a sinking ship in the middle of the Atlantic, but we are surrounded by a multitude of individuals who are drowning in sin and hopelessness. Are we willing, as John Harper was, to rescue the perishing and care for the dying by plunging into the water of their suffering?

The Christian life is a costly one, but the cost is worth it to bring glory to Christ and to see his name made great in people’s hearts. If you were to ask John Harper if the giving of his life worth it, I am sure he would point to Steve Crain and say, “Absolutely!”