The Titanic's Last Hero (8 page)

Then he was a pastor, a shepherd. It was borne in upon you that he was a man who realized that he had to render an account to the great Shepherd of the flock over which he had the oversight.

He prayed for you. O how he prayed! Some few of us had the privilege of spending seasons together with him in waiting upon God, and at these times he would lose himself entirely. Often have we been amazed at his boldness, asking God for great things and speaking to Him as if he were well acquainted with him. I have never met any man who was his equal in wrestling with God. I have seen the sweat literally pour from him as he agonized in prayer.

At times he seemed to have taken eagle’s wings to himself and be far away from us, far away in that blue sky where God is, and yet at the same time we realized that he brought heaven down to earth. When John Harper prayed, heaven and earth met, and those near him knew it because they felt it.

He was a Brainerd, an Edwards, a M’Cheyne, a William Burns, a Finney, and a Caughey rolled into one. How he prayed for the lambs of the flock! O friends, we owe a great debt to our Lord Jesus for allowing him to enter into our lives. We are spiritually richer today because of his prayers, and in days to come when spiritual blessings fall upon us, remember that in a great measure, many of them will be the answers to our departed brother’s prayers.

HE LIVED VIRTUALLY HOMELESS
AND DIED WITHOUT A GRAVE

Our friend, brother, and pastor has gone home. When his dear wife was taken from him some six years ago, he was, in a sense, a homeless man. It was his wife who made that home, just a little outside Glasgow, “home” to him. Now he has gone to her, and yet far better than even this, he has gone to his Lord and Savior, whom he adored, loved, and served.

When the Titanic went down, it took with it his poor, frail body, but not his spirit, for that has gone home to God. We must not, therefore, think of him as we knew him after the flesh, but as he is now with Christ. If we think of the man after the flesh, we shall see the poor body down in the sea and imagine that he is cold and lonely, which is not so. No, friends, we sorrow not as others. That body was but the earthly dwelling place of a noble man of God. The man has gone, and the earthly tabernacle is now tenantless. If we could, we would cover, guard, and lovingly lay that body in the grave because of the soul that once lived in it, but we cannot. Therefore, we submit and bow to the will of God. For God has been pleased to take our brother to Himself in this manner, for what purpose we do not know, but one thing we do know, God has done right, and to His will we say “amen.”

Photo of Hugh Morris, Evangelist

CHAPTER 7

THE MELTING EARNESTNESS AND INTENSITY OF
THE MAN

Tribute by Mr. Hugh Morris, Evangelist

Of sallow complexion and fragile frame,

He did not look very strong:

No one could have anticipated that

He would have lived through those years

To perform the great work he did,

For as a worker in the Master’s vineyard

He labored incessantly as all

who came into contact with him

IT WAS MY PRIVILEGE TO have the friendship of Mr. John Harper for twenty-five years. On reading the news of his sad end from the newspapers after the awful
Titanic
disaster, I could scarcely credit that such could be the fate of one I had parted with but a short time before, who, never since I had known him, seemed more fit for work physically, intellectually, and spiritually. I had heard him preach frequently, but the address he gave at the noon meeting in Bothwell Street, Glasgow, on the day of our last meeting on earth, Wednesday, March 20, stamped itself upon my mind by its lucidity, earnestness, and spiritual power, making one feel sure that his gifts as a proclaimer of God’s good news were not spent but had increased and strengthened since I had previously been in his company.

Twenty-five years ago as a boy of fully fourteen years of age, he began to work in the gardens of Barrochan House, Houston, Renfrewshire. Of sallow complexion and fragile frame, he did not look very strong. No one could have anticipated that he would have lived through those years to perform the great work he did, for as a worker in the Master’s vineyard, he labored incessantly, as all who came into contact with him know. One marked feature of those early years that made radiant his young life was his reverence for the things of God.

It was my good fortune to know John’s parents, and who can overestimate the benign influence of a home where Christ is Lord and Master, upon the young life growing up in the midst? His father was a most unassuming man, yet withal a man who made himself felt, for the love of God that filled his heart made him think, speak, and act in such a manner as to declare with no uncertain voice that he was a “servant of Jesus Christ” as the following incident will show.

One day in a farmyard, the workers were putting up hay in stacks. The farmer started to taunt George and sneer at his religion as he passed by. The workers laughed. George Harper said nothing for a time, but afterwards turning on the farmer, he repeated Revelation 21:8, “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death,” and some other texts of a kindred nature.

The laughter ceased, the old farmer stood trembling, and then turning on his heel, he fled into the house. From that day on, no one on that farm ever attempted to make light of George Harper or his religion. A man of true piety, mighty in the Scripture and powerful in prayer. Many a day at the meal hour, I have sat with my Bible in hand and listened with great profit to this “Master in Israel” opening up the Scripture. No one could listen to him as he prayed and not be moved by the melting earnestness and intensity of the man. One could never doubt but that he knew the straight road to the throne of grace.

I had left that district and gone home to reside at Largs. John Harper had gone to work in the carpet work at Elderslie, later on in the paper mill at Kilbarchan. The call came to preach the gospel, and he obeyed. All around that district, Johnstone, Kilbarchan, Linwood, Elderslie, and Bridge of Weir, he went preaching with power. First the school house and then a hall was taken for meetings in Bridge of Weir. I was asked several times to spend a weekend there.

THERE ARE FIVE HERE WHO HAVE NOT YET DECIDED FOR CHRIST

One meeting lives in my memory. The Sabbath day was wet and stormy. At the hour of meeting that night, the weather had not improved. We were looking for a small gathering as the way leading to the hall was down a long, dark, somewhat circuitous lane lined with trees. When on the platform, after he had given out the hymn, I asked him if he thought there were any unsaved present. He knew the workers well, and after a minute he whispered to me, “There are five here who have not yet decided for Christ.” I asked him to pray for the conversion of those five, and I would preach for their conversion. “Agreed,” he said with a smile. When the first meeting was over, no one made to go away. No pressure was brought to bear upon any, nor stratagems used to trap them. All voluntarily sat still, and on the five being asked if they desired to trust Christ, they said they did, and all five made a profession of faith in Jesus before leaving the hall. He used to speak of this meeting when we met in after days.

AT TWENTY YEARS OF AGE, HE WAS THE LEADING SPIRIT

Another gathering he organized was an open-air conference for Christian workers on the Brae of Ranfurly, Bridge of Weir, on a Saturday afternoon in the summertime. I took part in giving an address at that conference and can remember still the large gathering and the healthy spiritual life displayed by all present.

When one calls to mind that at this time he was not quite twenty years of age, and yet the leading spirit in all this work, it shows us that, coupled with those succeeding years of arduous toil and unfading zeal for the winning of the lost for Christ, he was not laboring in energy of the flesh, but in the “power of the spirit,” having received ordered from “the Leader and Commander” to go forth.

Of him it can be said now that his day’s work is over, having put “his hand to the plow,” he never looked back. About the time when he was carrying on work in full swing in the above-mentioned district, he wrote to me saying he saw and was convinced from the Word of God that he should be baptized by immersion, also requesting me to perform the rite.

I was not a pastor, nor at that time had even the title of evangelist, but as he was insistent that I should baptize him, one Sabbath morning we went together to the Noddle Burn on the north side of Largs, and there, in the pool under the bridge on the Wemyss Bay Road, John Harper, in obedience to his Lord, was baptized in New Testament form.

THE LAST WORDS OF JOHN AND HIS FATHER TO ME

The last time I saw his godly father in life, we had a talk together of the “things concerning the King.” And though at that time he was going about following his daily occupation, most calmly and with emphasis he assured me that he knew he was near the end of his sojourn here. In health, he was his usual, but he told me the prayers of many years had been answered, and the home call would come soon. True it was, for ere two weeks had passed, I was in Houston at his funeral.

Toward the end of last March, I shook hands with John. He was going off shortly afterward to Chicago. He said, “I may see you out there yet.” “Yes, keep believing” was my rejoinder. No. Not Chicago, but “the City which hath foundation” where no gospel campaigns are carried on, no sin, no partings, no heart-rending catastrophes, no blinding griefs. With Christ, with Him forever, we shall meet, bless God.

Photo of W.D. Dunn, Evangelist

CHAPTER 8

A BRAVE SOLDIER ON FIRE FOR GOD

Tribute by Mr. W.D. Dunn, Evangelist

And now the brave soldier’s

precious form

lies beneath the ocean waves,

and his blood-washed spirit

is present with the Lord

in yon land of light and glory

the homeland of all who love and

serve the Christ of God.

Farewell, beloved soldier,

we shall meet you in the morning

without a cloud.

I GLADLY CONTRIBUTE MY AFFECTIONATE testimony to the fidelity and sterling worth of the late pastor John Harper. I knew him for over twenty years, and during all that period we were in the closest fellowship with each other, in seeking the sanctification of the saints of God and the salvation of perishing souls. During my long experience in Christian work, I have been in touch with the cream of the Lord’s dear workmen, and without reserve, I can say that no pastor, nor teacher, nor evangelist ever moved my inner being more than the pleading and preaching of Pastor John Harper did, as he was always on fire for God and souls.

GIVE ME SOULS, OR I DIE

John Welch, in the corner of the glebe (meadow), at the midnight hour, said, “Oh God, give me Scotland, or I die,” and how often I have heard Pastor Harper say, when lying on his face before God, covered with perspiration, “Oh God, give me souls, or I die.” Then he would sob and weep as if his heart would break. Can we wonder that God gave him souls for Christ in hundreds?

Our beloved brother was a deep student of the precious Word of God—he believed it was God-breathed from Genesis to Revelation, and he preached it with a clear vision. I have often seen his after-meetings in Paisley Road Baptist Church, more like a battlefield than anything else; saints sobbing on account of their unlikeness to Christ, and poor lost sinners crying out for salvation.

HARPER “LIVED NEXT DOOR TO HEAVEN”