To The End

To The End

- August 17, 2017

John Harper

(29 May 1872 – 15 April 1912)

He was a Baptist pastor from Great Britain who died in the Titanic disaster on the North Atlantic. Harper was born in the village of Houston, Renfrewshire, Scotland, in 1872. He personally embraced his parents' Christian faith at age 14 and began preaching at 18.

He supported himself in early adulthood by doing manual labor in a mill until Baptist pastor E.A.Carter of Baptist Pioneer Mission in London heard of his preaching and placed him in ministry work in Govan, Scotland. In 1897, he became the first pastor of Paisley Road Baptist Church in Glasgow, Scotland. Under his care, the church quickly grew from 25 members to over 500 and soon moved to a new location on Plantation Street. In 1922, it moved into its present building on Craigiehall Street and was renamed Harper Memorial Baptist Church in his honor.

At the time of the Titanic disaster, Harper was 39, a widower with a six-year-old daughter, Annie Jessie (Nana), and pastor of Walworth Road Baptist Church in London. He was traveling with his daughter and sister Jessie W. Leitch to Chicago to preach for several weeks at the Moody Church, where he had been guest minister the previous fall, when the ship hit an iceberg on the night of 14 April 1912, and was lost.

He was heard hurrying every non-believer to get into all available life boats. His daughter and sister were put on a lifeboat and survived, but Harper stayed behind. Some who survived told that Harper preached the Gospel to the end (especially Acts 16:31), first aboard the ship and then and as it began to sink he jumped into the freezing water and preached to the people floating in the sea before dying in it himself.

The story of John Harper aboard the Titanic is told in the book, The Titanic's Last Hero, published by Moody Adams. A children's version of John Harper's last days on board the Titanic was published by Christian Focus Publications in March 2011 titled 'Titanic- Ship of Dreams - John Harper' written by Robert Plant.

The passion of his life was soul-winning. It was no unusual thing for him never to go to bed on a Saturday night, pleading for souls, and crying for divine power to enable him to preach for the glory of God on Sunday morning. - Pastor John Dick

Comments

Kletos Covenantal Ministries is a small house gathering of Christians inside Brgy. Batia, Bocaue, Bulacan standing solely on the absolute authority, sufficiency, and inerrancy of God's Holy Word by the power of the Holy Spirit for the glory of God, the Father of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We are Presbyterian in church polity. We adhere strongly to the Westminster Confession of Faith (Larger and Smaller), the Athanasian and Nicene Creeds, and the Heidelberg Catechism. Our emphasis is on prayer, experimental/experiential preaching, the active proclamation of God's word in public, catechism, and daily intentional Family Worship in the homes.

Who I Am

I am a husband, and a father.

I am a mere recipient of my Father's mercy by the gracious merit of my Lord and Savior, Jesus, the Christ of God.
An unprofitable servant.

Raised as a Roman Catholic, lived like a demon for 24 years in that religion, became a "Christian" and joined a rich church twice, while living as a hypocrite for 19 more years, 14 of those in adultery. Finally found by Christ out of his own good mercy, convicted of my severe offenses, I realized I was helplessly lost. Regenerated and renewed according to the will of God through Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit. Granted the gift of repentance and faith. Was saved. Washed in the blood of the Lamb. Passed from death unto life. Justified. Dying daily in sanctification. Soon to be glorified.

I pray in God's mercy that I may endure to the end carrying His name, proclaiming His kingdom, and preaching the good news of Christ's salvation, the good work of regeneration by the Holy Spirit, and the victorious power of the Resurrection unto sanctification which is in Christ Jesus, to all who will believe and behave the gospel.

I do not believe Christ saved me to merely hide inside a church building to be a good member, but He enlisted me to be a warring soldier for His kingdom to come; nor do I believe the Holy Spirit indwells in a believer and lets him live as the same old person prior to being saved. If, despite my service, the most Sovereign Lord assigns me to hell at the end, then I have no merit of my own to present to him for myself, other than that which is found in Christ. Though I deserve His justice, I can only plead His mercy. Regardless, God is still truly worthy of all service, worship, and praise.

I am in no way superior, more good, or better than the person I meet on the street. The only difference is I fully realize that I am a guilty criminal before God and that I rightly deserve to die under his justice, yet by His mercy and grace He forgave me - and so I am eternally grateful for this act of kindness that no good act in my entire life can ever truly repay. The common "churchian" knows this, yet has no evidence for it. I am of no such company.

Out of gratitude, I willingly set out to fulfill the Great Commission of proclaiming the good news about the Lord Jesus Christ where all the fishes are - out on the street. Faithfully declaring the clear Gospel of repentance unto salvation, which is able to save to the uttermost, the newness of life in Christ, the persecution that comes with such profession, and the terrifying wrath & judgment of God to come upon the sons of disobedience.

If I lift Him up therefore, He will in turn draw His elect to Himself, thus glorifying the Father, who deserves the reverence He demands from all people and creation. May the Lamb that was slain receive the reward for his suffering.

Grace alone.
Faith Alone.
Christ alone.
Scripture alone.
For the glory of God alone.