John Harper was a Scottish preacher that was aboard the Titanic, on his way to preach in the US, when it hit the iceberg. His wife had died a few years earlier, leaving him to raise their 6-year-old daughter alone. His sister generously agreed to help him raise her. They did everything together, including traveling to evangelize, and all three of them were on board that infamous day.
With death being a certainty, as the Titanic took on water, John made sure his daughter and sister were safe in a lifeboat. Then loudly, from the tilting deck he declared, “The time is NOW to get right with God! You are a sinner that needs a Savior and His name is Jesus Christ. Believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved!”
A noble man insisted that the well-known preacher put on a life jacket, so he did. Soon, he was now in the icy water floating among many others who were terrified. He continued to preach… “Are you saved?” he asked a young man. “No, I’m not saved,” the desperate man replied. There in the frigid waters he led him to the Lord. Then he moved on to another man that was struggling to stay afloat. He took off his life jacket and gave it to him stating, “You need this more than I do,” then proceeded to give him the Gospel. John Harper sunk and died shortly after this encounter, but the man had received Christ.
Years later at a reunion of the Titanic survivors, people came forward, each one claiming to be John’s last convert. They were thrilled to learn that through this harrowing experience, the torch of the Gospel had been passed on to many people who carried it boldly and brightly everywhere they went.
One hundred years later, another reunion took place at John Harper’s church in Scotland, and third generation and fourth generation believers gathered - all of them descendants of those saved at the Titanic.
What a lesson for us all today, to continue to boldly share the saving Grace of Christ even as our countries are crumbling from within, and the moral fiber of our nations are shipwrecked, but friends, we have the torch of the Gospel! As long as we have air in our lungs, may we share it!
“No one after lighting a torch puts it under a basket, but on the lamp stand, giving light to all the house” (Matthew 5:15).
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