The Preacher aboard the Titanic Who Sacrificed His Life so that Others Could Have Eternal Life

Teresa Neumann : Apr 18, 2012
Douglas W. Mize - Baptist Press News

"Immediately after the tragedy, the White Star Line in Liverpool, England placed a board outside its office with only two classes of passengers reading, KNOWN TO BE SAVED and KNOWN TO BE LOST. The owners of the Titanic had simply reaffirmed what John Harper already knew. There are people who know Christ and will spend eternity with God in Heaven and many others who will not."

(Taylors, SC)—Many "Titanic" stories have been surfacing as the world commemorates its epic sinking 100 years ago. But one account, of Pastor John Harper, a widowed preacher and pastor from England who was on his way to preach at Moody Church in Chicago, truly stands out.

A fellow pastor once said of Harper, "He was a great open-air preacher and could always command large and appreciative audiences. He could deal with all kinds of interrupters, his great and intelligent grasp of Bible truths enabling him to successfully combat all assailants."

According to a Baptist News report, Harper had been traveling with his young daughter aboard the Titanic when it hit an iceberg and began to sink. After leading his daughter to a lifeboat, the report notes that Harper chose to provide the masses with more chances to know Christ. "[He] ran person to person, passionately telling others about Christ and was heard shouting, 'women, children and the unsaved into the lifeboats.’"

Up until the last minute, the report notes, Harper pleaded with people to give their lives to Jesus. He even, reportedly, gave his lifejacket to a man who rebuffed the Gospel, telling him, "You need this more than I do."

Even as he struggled to survive in the frigid water, the preacher was said to have swam about sharing the Gospel with as many fellow swimmers as possible.

Click on the link provided to read more about this courageous man of God and how one man was able to tell a meeting of Titanic survivors four years after the tragedy, "I am the last convert of John Harper."