Lord’s embrace on May 6, 1909, did he serve the Lord at Paisley Road during John Harper’s pastorate. The one impressed me tremendously by the sweet and transparent holiness of his life, the other no less by his burning and devoted zeal, both qualities being manifestly born of their ardent love for the Savior. When one experiences how easy it is to allow the keen edge of spiritual life to dull, one prizes the privilege of such friendships as these, and how many of the rank and file of our Christian community, like myself, must have been blessed through contact with these two lives, eternity alone will reveal.
TO SPEND AND BE SPENT
To be in the company of John Harper was to have created anew in one’s heart the desire to “spend and be spent” in the Master’s service. Some of us can well imagine John in those last awful minutes on board the doomed Titanic, standing amidst a group of stricken, repentant souls and pointing them to the Savior he had loved and served so well, helping them to seize their eleventh-hour opportunity.
God has not many servants whom He could trust with such a service, and that to me at least is the explanation of our brother being on board the Titanic instead of on the Lusitania as he had at one time planned.
May we all follow John Harper insofar as he followed Jesus.
Photo of Robert Logan, Evangelist
CHAPTER 10
AN OVERWHELMING VISION
Tribute by Mr. Robert Logan, Evangelist
But oh! how he burned
prayed, labored, and wept
for the conversion of sinners;
and, blessed by God, great numbers
were led to the Savior’s feet
through his consecrated efforts.
THE SUDDEN AND UNEXPECTED END of our beloved brother, Mr. Harper, came to those of us who knew him and loved him as a staggering blow, and even yet we feel it difficult to think of him as having departed from the scene of his zealous, self-sacrificing, and fruitful labors.
THE STRENGTH OF HIS PERSONAL LIFE
Mr. Harper was a strong man. He was strong in his love to the brethren. The grip of his kindly hand and his brotherly salutation were always cheering.
He was strong in his love and reverence for the Bible. His progress in Bible study and Bible knowledge was very striking.
He was strong in his love for prayer. He knew as few men seemed to know that true power with men must be preceded by communion with God. Hence with him it was not the ordinary ten or fifteen minutes of waiting upon God. He spent hours in persistent wrestling with God in prayer for the salvation of perishing souls. Oh for a mighty increase of such intercessors!
THE STRENGTH OF HIS CONCERN FOR OTHERS
He was strong in his love for the perishing. He had an intense love for souls. He was eager for the sanctification of saints. But oh! how he burned, prayed, labored, and wept for the conversion of sinners, and, blessed be God, great numbers were led to the Savior’s feet through his consecrated efforts.
THE SOURCE OF HIS STRENGTH
He was strong in his love for the Savior who died for him. He lived, walked, prayed, and preached under the sense of an overwhelming vision of Calvary. Hence Christ and Him crucified was ever John Harper’s theme. To him the name of Jesus was sweet, sacred, and precious. May his mantle fall upon not a few of us so that we may successfully run the race that is set before us until the day dawns when we shall meet to part no more.
CHAPTER 11
A MAN OF TENDER COUNSEL AND ENCOURAGEMENT
Tribute by Mr. Alex Galbraith, Seamen’s Missionary
Glasgow, Scotland
The contents of his (Harper’s) letter
were mainly along the lines of
urging to incessant activity
for the ingathering of the lost,
and the up-building of the saints,
and encouraging myself personally
to go on in the work
among the fallen and the outcast.
MY ACQUAINTANCE AND FELLOWSHIP WITH dear Brother John Harper, whom I loved in the Lord, goes back for at least twelve or fourteen years. I saw the man develop and grow spiritually, in zeal for the souls of men,
Tim Lahaye, Jerry B. Jenkins