The Titanic's Last Hero (12 page)

HARPER’S WORDS BROUGHT DEEP CONVICTION

Testimony #7

On the Sabbath evening of July 4, 1897, I went to hear Mr. Harper. The text he spoke from was Revelation 3:20. “Behold, I stand at the door and knock.” I had been convicted of my sinful state for some time, and as Mr. Harper went on, my conviction deepened. I saw I needed a Savior.

There I surrendered my all, and I have been going on my way rejoicing ever since. It has not always been sunshine, but Christ is all in all to me. I am a member of Paisley Road Baptist Church, and so is my wife.

—S.M.K.

HARPER SHOWED ME MY NEED FOR CHRIST

Testimony #8

On the Sabbath evening of June 27, 1897, I went to the Boilermakers’ Hall, Govan, where Pastor Harper was then preaching. The text he spoke from was John 3:36. “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.”

I was convicted of sin, saw my need of a Savior, and there and then surrendered to Christ.

—Anon.

CHAPTER 16

A MESSAGE FROM JOHN HARPER

Delivered in 1911 at the

Moody Church in Chicago

VISION, COMPASSION, INTERCESSION—THESE ARE three great links in the golden chain of redemptive service. How clearly you can see them in the saving ministry and life service of our Lord Jesus Himself. He saw the multitudes as sheep without a shepherd—scattered, torn, bruised, and bleeding—and if that was the vision before His eyes when He looked on a multitude from the quiet religious villages of Galilee, where the people were moral in their habits of life and not sunken with drink and manifold vice, what would be the vision before Him if He looked today on Chicago?

With that vision, His heart was moved with compassion, agitated with deep feeling—agonized within Him would be a better word. He had compassion on them, taking their pain and sorrow up into His own heart of love, and with that love-swept spirit He turns to His disciples and says, “Pray ye.” On every possible occasion, He slips off Himself to the lonely mountainside to spend the night or early morning hours in prayer.

Beloved, how few of us have the Master’s vision, and hence, how few of us have the compassion-filled heart, the consequent ministry of intercession! If any one conviction has laid hold of my spirit more than another, and has held it in a grasp as solemn as eternity for some years past, it is that the overwhelming need of the church and the doomed world is intercessors—not so much preachers, however great that need is—but men of the mountain solitude and midnight watch, who know how to stand between God and men, in fasting and prayer, who will not leave the throne of grace until from His presence will go forth times of refreshing and salvation that will make His name a praise in the earth.

Then will preachers with the tongues of fire and workers mantled with His power be given to the church, and the whole awakened, Spirit-filled church will become the instrument of our glorified Lord in awakening a godless world to the conviction of sin and sense of need of the atoning blood and to the fear of coming wrath.

A very little while and He will come, and the door will be shut, and the door of Christendom sealed. Only a brief season can remain for us all. But what may not be done in these quickly passing days! What seasons of prayer and intercession may we not have! What sacrifices for Him may we not make! What power from the throne may we not receive! What scenes of blessing may we not witness in the gathering out of the last members of the body of Christ from this doomed and darkening world, while upon it the night shadows of coming judgment are falling fast!

Beyond this little while there will be the glory of His presence, the glad reunion with the loved, the thrilling “well done” of the Master at His judgment seat—the entering in, to go out no more forever.

But there will be no more opportunity of praying lost souls to His feet and winning them to His heart forever.

CHAPTER 17

BEAUTIFUL IN THE MORNING

The night before the
Titanic
sank, Mr. Harper was seen earnestly seeking to lead a young man to Christ. Afterwards, when on deck, seeing a glint of red in the west, he said, “It will be beautiful in the morning.”

Oh, fair must it be in the morning,

When the sunset enkindles the west,

And the clouds, in their golden adorning,

Creep quietly down to their rest!

Rest we, like them, in the hope that a dawn

Calm and resplendent comes marching on.

Ah, drear is the tale of the morning,

And awesome the wail in the tide,

When the hand of the Ice-King, unwarning,

Tears open the vessel’s side,

And into the depths of the ruthless deep

Thrusts multitudes fast in their final sleep.

Yet fair must it be in the morning,

If fair did the sun go down.

God’s heroes, the death-trammels spurning,

Press up to the victor’s crown.

Where then is thy victory, vaunting grave,

When ours is the SAVIOR, mighty to save?

See, faithful to Christ, his Master,

Intent on the task He gave,

On the eve of the dire disaster

One is telling His power to save.

If sinks the sun with so pure a light,

It will rise again both serene and bright.

The death of the righteous who dieth

Is gateway to life evermore;

The joy that all glories outvieth

For him is laid up in store.

Painless and tearless,

with “no more sea,”

Beauteous indeed

shall the morning be.

—Horace E. Govan

CHAPTER 18

FOUR SERMON OUTLINES BY
JOHN HARPER

I. “Christ’s Chosen Ones”

“THEY ARE NOT OF THE world, even as I am not of the world” (John 17:16).

1. His chosen ones were given to Him by the Father, verse 6.
2. For them He prays—not for the world, verse 9.

3. They are hated by the world, verse 14.

4. He seeks that they be kept from the evil of the world, verse 15.

5. He sends them as He was sent Himself into the world, verse 18.

6. He desires their unity to convince the world, verse 21.

7. He shows that the Father is not known to the world, verse 25.

The words of the text (verse 16) present to us:

1. A DISTINGUISHING TRUTH OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH

a. Christians are not of the world in the origin of their life—They are born from above.

b. Not of the world in the character of their service—The Christian life consists in doing the will of God.

c. Not in the world in the nature of their conduct—They follow after holiness. They abhor sin.

d. Not of the world in the sources of their joy—Their joy is in God; the world finds pleasure in sin.

e. Not of the world in the theme of their conversation—Their desire is “tell me more about Jesus.”

2. THE WORDS OF THE TEXT PRESENT US WITH A SEARCHING TEST FOR THE CHRISTIAN HEART.

a. If not of the world this will be seen:

i. in the hour of bereavement and loss

ii. amid trial and perplexity

iii. in the decisions and choices we make

iv. in times of prosperity and success

3. THE WORDS OF THE TEXT SUGGEST TO US THAT THERE WILL SURELY BE TRIAL IN THE CHRISTIAN LIFE.

a. The world will reject us.

b. The world will not love us.

II. “Who Is the Fool?”

“
I
have sinned I have played the fool” (I Samuel 26:21).

The text clearly indicates that:

1. THE MAN IS A FOOL WHO SACRIFICES HIS LIFE AT THE SHRINE OF SINFUL INDULGENCE.

“
Fools
make a mock at sin” (Proverbs 14:9). Another reading is, “
Sin
makes a mock at fools.”

It mocks men by promising what it never performs. Men sacrifice all and gain nothing.

a. Sin robs of peace of conscience.

b. Sin robs of purity of mind.

c. Sin robs of health of body.

d. Sin robs of the hope of heaven.

2. THE MAN IS A FOOL WHO SHROUDS HIMSELF IN INFIDELITY.

“The
fool
hath said in his heart there is no God” (Psalm 14:1).

a. Is he not a fool who gives up light for darkness?

b. Is he not a fool who gives up home for hopelessness?

c. Is he not a fool who gives up gospel comfort for a cheerless philosophy?

3. THE MAN IS A FOOL WHO PUTS OFF THE DECISIOIN FOR CHRIST TILL HE IS DYING.

He is a fool because he is a present loser.

a. He loses true joy of heart.

b. He loses peace of conscience.

c. He loses victory over sin.

d. He loses capacity to enjoy life.

He may be an eternal loser. He may delay till too late.

III. “Love to Be Remembered”

“Draw me, we will run after Thee: the King hath brought me into His chambers; we will be glad and rejoice in Thee, we will remember Thy love more than wine” (Song of Solomon 1:4).

In this verse we have love’s three-fold resolve:

1. A RESOLVE TO FOLLOW

a. It is eager following: “We will run after Thee.”

b. It is close following. Not Peter-like, afar off. But David-like, “My soul followeth hard after Thee.” Note that it is following, not running
before
Him. “He will run
after
thee.”

2. A RESOLVE TO BE GLAD AND REJOICE

a. Note the source of the believer’s joy. It is “in Thee.”

b. Not in the “good ointments” (verse 3)—symbols of the graces he bestows.

c. Not in the “chambers” (verse 4)—symbols of the privileges and happy experiences He gives.

d. But “in Thee.” All our joy, both passive and active, must be in Him.

3. A RESOLVE TO REMEMBER—what a memory! We will remember every occasion that He has made us feel the beating of His heart of love to us.

a. We will remember the
fact
of His love. Dare we ever forget this fact?

b. We will remember the
extent
of His love. It reaches down to us in our sin.

c. We will remember the eternity of His love. We cannot go back to its beginnings. We cannot reach to its end. It is eternal. When in His love, we are in a circle.

d. We will remember the purpose of his love. He loved us that He might save us from our sins and save us unto Himself.

Note some of the RESULTS THAT FOLLOW from remembering His love:

1. It provides for us a heavenly feast. We obtain a cordial better than wine.

2. It gives us an antidote from fear. Joseph Irons puts it thus:

“Thyself I crave,

Thy presence is my life, my joy, my heaven,

And all without Thyself is dead to me.”

IV. “ So Great Salvation”

“How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation” (Hebrews 2:3).

Salvation is God’s greatest work. The salvation of a lost world is greater than the creation of a new world. Salvation is great when we consider:

1. THE GREATNESS OF THE PERIL FROM WHICH IT DELIVERS

Souls are in danger of being lost.

2. THE GREATNESS OF THE PRICE PAID TO PROVIDE IT

The precious Blood of Christ is of unspeakable worth.

3. THE GREATNESS OF THE POWER WHICH IT EXHIBITS

a. In saving from defilement of sin

b. From the desire to sin

c. From the dominion of sin

4. THE GREATNESS OF THE POSITION TO WHICH IT EXALTS

It makes us sons of God; heirs of glory.

5. THE GREATNESS OF THE PROSPECT WHICH IT HOLDS OUT

Assures us of heaven

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