Preached at Columbia First SDA Church 3/13/ 1999 Preached Boone New Life Company- 2/24/2003
Preached at Banner Elk, NC 6/7/03
Modified from a sermon by Doug Batchelor
I'd like to talk to you this morning about a well-known chapter in seafaring history.
I think we can learn things from history as the principles of God's Word are applied to it.
In 1995 they discovered the ruins of the great ship the Titanic. It had been hidden in 13,000 feet of water for over 70 years.
The whole story of the Titanic is a fascinating story and it is filled with intrigue.
And there are a lot of lessons we can draw from the experience of the Titanic and those aboard it.
The Titanic was built in Belfast, and it was built in record time.
Actually, the Titanic was one of two ships built by White Star Lines.
The Titanic was an advanced ship for its day. It had a complete 12-volt electrical system.
The captain of the ship was named John Smith.
He was ready to retire.
Sort of as an honor they let him have charge of the Titanic's maiden voyage across the Atlantic.
Smith was a bit of an arrogant man.
He was so sure that the Titanic was unsinkable, that when the reporters were there at the launching of the boat.
One of the reporters asked him, "Is it true that the Titanic is unsinkable?"
Smith answered, "God Himself could not sink this ship."
There was a lady listening to that statement Smith made, and the lady refused to take the voyage because she said, "God will not allow puny man to shake his fist in His face."
That lady's daughter named Emma Wolf is still alive today.
Captain Smith wanted to retire in a blaze of glory, not only piloting the Titanic, but he wanted to cross the Atlantic in record time.
Now the Titanic had three huge propellers and it had four smoke stacks.
So as they took off, the ship was making great headway.
The Titanic, by the way, was the only boat in history that had a fire on board the entire time it was in service.
There was an electrical fire in one of the rooms when they took off so they sealed the room off and it
was smoldering and burning the whole time the ship was out to sea.
They didn't want to upset people, so they didn't advertise it at all.
They hid the trouble as some people hide their sins, overly confident that it won't effect their voyage to heaven!
Better how much better to confess them and by faith receive the victory from our High Priest to put
the fire out!
Instead, many try to seal it off and live with it!
It was a luxury liner even by today's standards.
Back then to have a pool aboard ship was really extravagant.
The Titanic had an Olympic size swimming pool, a barbershop, a gym, a beauty salon, a running track around the ship, etc.
The Titanic took off the same year my father was born in 1912.
When the Titanic took off, there were only 40 millionaires in North America. Today there are - thousands.
Eleven of the 40 were aboard the Titanic for its maiden voyage. You might recognize a couple of their names.
One was named Molly Brown, sometimes called the unsinkable Molly Brown, she was an heiress of a silver mining family.
Another was John Jacob Astor of the Astor fortune who built a hotel for a clerk that was kind to him the hotel is the amazing Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York City.
In their race to cross the Atlantic in record time, the Titanic passed several ships.
One of them was the California.
The radioman for the California radioed the Titanic that they were moving too fast, and that a line of icebergs was up ahead.
But the Titanic's radioman didn't even acknowledge the warning because he was so busy sending messages for the millionaires to their stock brokers, their banks, their families.
He had stacks and stacks of messages, and he was pounding away at the Morse code keys, and the message that would have proved to be the most important one of all was ignored.
How like many in the world today.
They are worried more about their possessions and '' their things that they are too busy to listen to the warnings of the gospel that there is disaster ahead unless they obey the gospel, AND TURN FROM
THEIR SINS AND ACCEPT BY FAITH THE ATONEMENT!
Five times that day the operator of the California radioed the operator of the Titanic warning about the icebergs they were running into.
The operator of the Titanic was so frantic that he radioed back to the California "I heard you, would you please shut up."
Now the radio operator of the California was not supposed to turn off his radio until midnight. It was 11:20 when he received the nasty response from the Titanic.
He was so disgusted that he shut off his radio.
How sad, because just a few minutes later the Titanic hit the iceberg!
And when they called for help. No one was listening!
Through out our lives God sends us a variety of signals to get our attention.
He says, "Hey, you better slow down. You better watch what you're doing, and saying, and believing, and where you're going.
Sometimes people by their attitude in effect say to the Holy Spirit, "Would you please shut up!" "Leave me alone."
Sometimes God speaks to us about things in our life that need changing, and we develop a spiritual blister on our heart like when do on our hands when we rake too many leaves.
But if people won't let God lance the blister and heal it, they will eventually develop a callus, and they will no longer hear God!
In 1 Timothy, chapter 4, and verse 2, Paul spoke of those who had seared their conscience as a hot iron, and they could no longer be convicted of sin!
This is what the unpardonable sin is all about!
The Titanic had been built with 16 different watertight compartments, which were independent from one another.
The ship was eleven stories tall, and it was longer than two football fields.
It was an enormous vessel.
The night they struck the iceberg, there was someone up in what they call the "crow's nest" on the ship.
The tear in the ship happened so fast, that many of the men below deck where the ship was pierced drowned, they never knew what hit them.
A few men ran up the stairs to the deck which was several stories above and reported that the ship was taking in water at a rapid pace.
Captain Smith didn't know what to do. Most of the people who were sleeping didn't even feel the impact being so far above it.
Those on deck said they felt a slight ripple, but most didn’t even know they were in danger of losing their lives.
The man who designed the Titanic was on the maiden voyage.
The captain had him brought to the bridge from his suite, and told him that they had struck an iceberg, and that the ship was taking water in compartments one through eight.
He turned to the captain and said, "The ship is going to sink."
The captain said, "It can't sink. This ship is unsinkable."
He said, "I know how its been advertised, but I built the ship, and you don't have long."
Things aren't always as they are advertised, are they?
The devil advertises sin as if it's something grand, but he doesn't tell you that his ship is going to sink, and that the fun won't last!
Now because they were so sure that the Titanic wasn’t going to sink, they felt that putting lifeboats on the luxury liner would just be cluttering the deck.
There were not enough lifeboats for even a quarter of the passengers aboard!
The captain told the first class passengers first about the situation, and then he went to the band that was playing the rock and roll of that day - Alexander's ragtime band type music and told them to keep on playing so that the people wouldn't panic.
The butlers (each suite had one) went around knocking on all the doors to the suites saying, "I'm sorry to disturb you, but the captain wants everyone to go on deck, There's been a slight problem."
They didn't really tell them what the problem was.
They didn't want to upset anyone.
That's like some in the church, Many present salvation is such a polite soft sell way, people say, "Who needs it!"
We need to say, "Hey, without Jesus Christ, you're going to sink! Living in sin will cause death!"
Jesus said, "Unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins!"
Jesus taught the parable about the man who was planning on building bigger barns, and bever had the time because his life was required!
Let's be more urgent about the gospel, and about witnessing!
If your neighbor's house was on fire we wouldn't be so timid about warning that family of the danger!
We are far too timid when it comes to witnessing for Jesus!!
Timidity is not so much a sign of holiness or sanctification. Often it's a sign of plain old fear!
People will place the same importance on the life and death message we have as we express by our urgency, and by our zeal!
That's what happened on the Titanic, the band was playing, and the warning given was so timid and polite, that there was no urgency, and precious time was lost!
Not only did they not have enough lifeboats; they didn't have enough life jackets.
Back then the life jackets were big, bulky vests that had balsa wood inside them.
There were just enough boats to save the women, and even they had to practically be forced into the boats.
In fact, the first boats were lowered half filled!
The people thought that the warm and comfortable ship, all lit up was better than a small lifeboat being lowered into the cold, dark Atlantic.
You see sometimes to get saved involves a little sacrifice. It involves doing something different from the rest!
One of the big causes of loss of life on the Titanic was that everyone wanted to stay together. They wanted to stay with the crowd!
Too many people today want to follow the crowd - do what everyone else is doing!
But the gospel calls us to be peculiar people - people who do right because they love the Lord!
Exodus 23:2 says "Follow not a multitude to do evil."
There was one teenager on the Titanic who heard the captain talk to the crew about the ship sinking and getting the women and children on the boats.
He went back and told his mother and sister, and then he dressed himself as a woman and got into one of the first lifeboats with his mother and sister and they loved!
Soon the ship began to tilt, and the radio operator was pounding away with distress calls, but no one was listening.
They shot a flare up in the air, and another boat, the Carpeetia saw the flare. It had shut down its radios for the night.
The ship members told the captain of the Carpeetia that they saw a warning flare in the direction of where the Titanic was headed.
The captain said they probably were just having a party and shooting off their flares.
They did not heed the call for help.
Eventually the bow began to tilt further and further down, and people began to say, "Hey, maybe the boat is going to sink!"
And then they began fighting to get into the lifeboats.
By the way, when the boat was sinking, and the captain said, "Women and children first,"
Captain Smith stayed and went down with the ship as well as most of the officers.
Survivors said that many of the wealthy rushed back to the vaults to get their money and jewelry, and they missed getting on the boats!
There are people in this world who are so concerned with what they have and are afraid to lose, that they will lose the Pearl of Great Price - Jesus Christ!
One woman said, "forget that," and got three oranges instead.
It's amazing what really proves to be important when faced with the ultimate reality!
The Bibles speaks about people casting their gold to the bats, and the moles because it will prove worthless!
There are people in the church who know the truth about God’s word and His law.
They know about the Sabbath commandment, but they are working on God’s holy day because they think that if they obey the Lord, they will suffer want!
Witnesses said that on the Titanic they heard John Jacob Astor, who had a very distinctive voice, offering his millions for a place on the lifeboat!
Jesus said, “What doth it profit a man if he gain the whole world but lose his soul. Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
When the Titanic hit the iceberg, some chunks of ice flew up to the first two stories of the ship, and people reported seeing children playing with the ice – sliding it across the wooden deck, and they wondered where it came from.
Young people today are to be careful that they very things they are playing with may prove to be spiritually dangerous and could cause you to make shipwreck of faith!
When the Titanic sank, the water was so cold that many froze to death.
It is true that the band did play "Nearer My God to Thee" as the boat was sinking.
Some people have the religion that the band had.
They want to have all the jazz of sin, and then they want to play the part of a Christian when they think they might die!
That's not how it works! If you believe the gospel, and are in Christ, you love the Lord, and you live for the Lord, not out of fear, or hope of reward alone, but out of love because He first loved you, and gave Himself for you!
Serve Jesus now! Today! If you're young, give Him your life in the vigor of youth!
If you're middle age, decide to grow old walking with Jesus always!
If you’re old, then decide to walk into the sunset holding Jesus’ hand with nothing to fear!
One of the men on the Titanic was a young preacher named John Harper.
He was traveling to Chicago responding to a call from the Moody Bible Institute to be a youth pastor in Chicago.
He was traveling from Scotland.
A Scotsman who survived the Titanic brought back the Story of how this young man led him to Jesus Christ.
The man related how each time the preacher's head rose above the water; he would ask him if he knew Jesus Christ as his personal Lord and Savior.
The Scotsman said that the preacher finally went down and never came up, but he gave his life to Jesus Christ right there and then
Praise God! Wouldn’t you like to be found by the Master leading someone to Jesus as long as you have breath!
The lights on the Titanic never went out even as the boat sank. It was an eerie thing to see!
Witnesses related how the people in the water called out to their children, and to their parents.
It was a sad thing! If only they had made preparation!
If only they had enough lifeboats, enough life jackets!
In Matthew 24:24, Jesus said, ‘Be ye ready, for the Son of Man is come at an hour when ye think not.”
Be prepared for the lean years. Be prepared for the delay! Be prepared for times to get worse before they get eternally better!
The Titanic was not unsinkable.
The Bible however does talk about an unsinkable ship!
Open your Bibles to Mark 4, verses 35-38.
And the same day when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side. 36 And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships. 37And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. 38 And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake Him, and say to Him, ‘Master, carest not that we perish?’”
The disciples asked Jesus some strange questions.
He came into the world that they might not perish, and
they say to Hirn, "Don't you care?”
No one else who ever lived cared more that we not perish!
He, the second Person of the Godhead took upon Himself the likeness of sinful flesh, and became a man, and as the second Adam succeeded for the human race where Adam failed!
He lived a perfect life, and by faith we lived that life in Christ!
2 Corinthians 5:14 says, "For the love of Christ constraineth us because we thus judge, that if one died for all (Jesus), then all died."
Don't you care that we perish? The disciples asked.
Jesus cares!
Verse 39: And he arose, and rebuked the wind and said unto the sea, ‘Peace! Be still.’ And the wind ceased and there was a great calm.
You see, the Titanic advertised as the unsinkable ship sank, but the ship in which Jesus was on was the real unsinkable ship!
And you will never perish while He is captain of your heart!
1500 hundred people perished aboard the Titanic.
But the little boat that Jesus was in survived the storm - in fact, Jesus talked to the sea and the wind, and they obeyed the voice of their Creator!
If we put our faith in Jesus, we need never fear!
40 And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith?
41 And they, feared exceedingly, and said one to another, 'What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?'
There's a storm ahead, and it is relentless in its fury!
There are icebergs ahead, and there will be trouble.
But your ship will arrive at safe harbor if Jesus is at the wheel!
There are two instances in the Bible that record Jesus being on a boat that was in danger of sinking from man’s perspective.
One was when He was sleeping and the other was when He came waking on the water, and when He came on the boat, calm came, and immediately they were in safe waters!
The disciples were rowing with all their might, and they couldn't get anywhere!
If you're trying to reach the safe harbor of heaven on your own, without Jesus, if you're trying to row good enough to beat the storm, you won't make it!
You see we can’t do anything to earn salvation, but we can do the works of the will by staying in the boat with Jesus!
We must abide in Him! We must believe – confess – accept – come to him, be zealous and repent, we must let not sin reign in our mortal bodies, we must reckon ourselves dead to sin and alive to righteousness!
We must cast off the works of darkness and put on the Lord Jesus Christ!
If your faith is working by love and your striving is to be close to Jesus, He will certainly and most definitely save all who come to Him - who enter in His ship by faith!
Like he gave Peter power to walk on the water as he looked at Jesus -so will He give you power to do what you never thought you could do if you keep your eyes on Him and trust Him!
The only way to survive the storm of life is to have Jesus in your heart!
He will pilot you home!