Several years ago I began to read the stories and accounts of the sinking of the Titanic. I was so fascinated with the story, that the more I read, the more I became convinced that there was something deeper in this event than merely met the eye.
As I began to study the accounts of the sinking of this unsinkable ship, I came to the conclusion that it was almost as if man were saying to God, "We now have become the masters of our own destiny, we are the captains of our own fate. No longer will we be afraid of the elements; no longer will we be frightened of the oceans and the dark and deep sea; but through our intelligence wisdom and understanding we are now able to conquer our own universe."
POINT: I don't mean to imply that if you picked up a newspaper in that day that the articles would say that in so many, words, but you can feel this kind of spirit coming-through. After all the owners, the builders, the designers, the captain, the crew, the news media, had all announced to the
entire world that this ship was unsinkable. It was as if man were saying, "God we don't need you anymore. We've built an unsinkable ship. So, we don't need Your protection. We don't need Your help."
POINT: However a strange thing happened: That ship sank on its maiden voyage and was held up as a spectacle to the entire world that maybe we still need God after all.
This message is based on the sinking of this ship and the events surrounding it.
READ: In the book of Psalms, chapter 60 and verse 11, "Vain is the help of man.."
On the night of April 14 1912, at 11:40 p.m., the greatest maritime disaster in history took place The great Titanic, pride of the White Star Fleet and of the United States, ran into an iceberg approximately 800 miles from the coast of New-Found land. There were 2,340 people all-told on board. 705 people were saved and 1,635 perished with the ship.
It was her maiden voyage and had world-wide publicity, not only as the world's largest and most luxurious, but also as the safest of all ocean-going craft. Never before had a crew and passengers been so secure on a seagoing vessel.
The passengers on this ship were world-famous. Those were strange times in the early 1900's. We hear of our jet set today. There was a jet set then, except they didn't ride jets. That was an age of new discoveries. At any point on earth some new and fascinating event could take place, and it was nothing for these unbelievably wealthy men (remember that was before the income tax) with their ladies to show up at almost any place on earth that their heart might taste of a new-found pleasure and be the first to try some new invention, or be the first to see the process of a new discovery or the launching of a new idea.
POINT: So, it was not strange that when the news was released that the Titanic would sail on its maiden voyage being an unsinkable ship, the most expensive transatlantic-accommodation that the world had ever known, for those people to spare no expense to be there that they might tell their children and their grandchildren that they were the first to sail on such a craft.
ILL: These men had amassed incredible fortunes. There was-John Jacob Astor, one of the world's most wealthy men, whose fortune was estimated at $150,000,000, returning from a trip to Egypt with his 19-year-old bride. There was Major Archibald Butt, the military aid to President Taft. There was Benjamin Guggenheim of the American Smelting and Refining Company. He was only worth $95,000,000. There was Isadora Strauss, the famous clothier and merchant worth $50,000,000. There was slay Bruce Ismay, International Mercantile Marine Company, who was worth $40,000,000. They said that one string of his wife's pearls was worth $250,000. This string of pearls was among the world's finest collection.
POINT: These men, as they walked calmly and coolly on that ship, maybe having fantasies of more millions to make, had no idea that they were taking their last voyage.
No ship was the picture of luxury as was the Titanic. Tennis courts, gymnasium, ball rooms and even elevators. That was something in 1912. All of that accommodations, but not enough lifeboats! The best suites were reserved for $4,300. Without a private promenade a measly $2,300. That was big money then. It would be pretty big money today. Yet, not enough lifeboats! These were the most expensive transatlantic accommodations ever offered and with all of these opportunities and privileges, but not enough lifeboats!
It was based on the preposition that it was unsinkable ship. After all, it was the largest vessel sailing in the world at that time. It was 882 feet long; three or four city blocks. The anchors weighed 15 ½ tons, with one chain link weighing 175 pounds 80 kg. It had a double bottom 5-6 feet thick to assure additional safety. There were 15 water-tight compartments! No wonder they didn't take enough lifeboats. Who would have ever dreamed that they would have needed them.
KEY: Who cou1d possibly imagine an accident that would cause her to flounder let alone sink? It would only be possible for that ship to sink if both keel plates and her double bottom were torn away for more than half her length, and this was so improbable that it didn't even enter the field of conjecture.
There was no ship that ever sailed the seas that gave her passengers more confidence, more cool security. There was that fateful night as the Titanic sailed through the blue waters of the North Atlantic.
They would have called the person a lunatic who would have said by morning two-thirds of the ship's occupants would be lost at sea.
POINT: I saw a cartoon in an old book copyrighted in 1912 of a huge iceberg. Across the iceberg in huge letters was the word FACT. Then, there was a ship wrecked against this iceberg almost as if it were the Empire State Building hovering over that little craft. On the side of the ship it said THEORY. The sinking of the Titanic, you might say, was the time when the entire world was made to realize that fact defeats theory.
THEORY said that the ship was unsinkable. The Fact was it could sink if it hit a submerged object in such a manner as to tear away the double bottom for more than half her length! Then, all the water would have to do was come into one compartment and over another and keep going until it had finished them all off.
Theory said there were no icebergs in that immediate area. The Fact was they were sailing through mushy waters already.
Theory said that the lookouts on the crow's nest would give ample warning, but the Fact was they did give warning but to no avail!
Theory said 66,000 tons of Titanic travelling at 18 knots could cut through anything. The Fact was, when the Titanic hit that iceberg at 18 knots, it was like a gigantic hammer blow equalling 947,000 foot tons!
POINT: My friends, many a man is placing his hope of eternity on theory rather than fact.
But the fact is, Be sure your sins will find you out" (Num. 32:23b).
Fact says, as stated in Titus 3:5, "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saves."
Ephesians.2:8-9 "For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of ourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast."
But the Fact is as sated in Luke 16:23, "In hell he lifts up his eyes, being in torment."
But the Fact is as stated in Rev. 14:11, "The smoke of their torment ascends up forever and ever."
This Voyage Showed the Folly of Unbelief:
There was the folly of ignorance. Little did those passengers know as they drank at the bar, as they danced in the palm room, as they rode up and down the elevators trying them out, many of them for the first time, laughing, joking, haying a merry good me. That the ship was on fire from the time it left the harbour.
POINT: There was a fire in No.6 bunker from the time that it embarked.
ILL: My friends, Psalm 51:5 David said, "in sin did my mother conceive me."
There are men today ushering in churches, there are people who sing in choirs, there are others who are deacons in churches, even preachers standing in pulpits, who think everything is all right. But there is a fire in their bosom that one day if not quenched by the eternal water of life, will consume them.
READ: The bible says in John 3:18, "He that believes on him is not condemned: but he that believes not, is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."
READ: John 3:36 "He that believes on the Son has everlasting life: and he that believes not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abides on him."
5. There Was the Folly of Unbelief
There were 20 lifeboats altogether, each with a capacity of 58. That meant, out of the entire 2,340 people on that ship, only 1,160 of them could possibly be save if all boats were filled to capacity.
There had been no details of Seamen assigned to each boat. The boats had no provisions. Some were without sails or compass and some boats had the plugs in the bottom pulled out.
POINT: 1,635 died. It could have been 1,160 saved. But it was only 705. Another 455 could have been in the boats.
That reminds me of man's religion without Christ. Someone asked John Jacob Astor, "Man, where is your life jacket?" He replied I didn't think I would need it.
I tell you, one day at the Great White Throne judgment of God, men will stand in the presence ofthe eternal Christ and the question will be asked, "What did you do with Jesus which is called the Christ?" They will say I didn't think I needed Him.
My friends, you will need Him. You may not think that you will need Him, but I tell you on the authority of the eternal Word of God, you will need Him. The stewards had to literally break into the state rooms to get people to arouse from their sleep to realize their peril. They couldn't believe that the unsinkable ship could actually sink.
Many of the people would have been saved had they gotten into the lifeboats. Lifeboat after lifeboat pulled away from the ship with only 10, 12, or 15 when they had a capacity of nearly 58. Many of those boats pulled away with only a few, not because they didn't have room for more, but because they wouldn't believe that the ship was going to sink. They wouldn't get into the lifeboats.
POINT: My friends, there is many a man today who would take Christ as Saviour if he really believed that there was a Hell to shunned and a Heaven to gain.
Because of a series of explosions, the race to the remaining lifeboats became a stampede. Can you imagine that men of wealth didn't have enough money to buy a seat in the lifeboats! Can you picture those men and women standing on the decks, some of them draped in the finest furs that money could buy, some of them with rings on their fingers, pearls around their necks.
Eye witnesses say that the parting was absolutely horrible: Women being torn from their husbands, children being literally snatched from their parents' arms and in many instances, thrown into the lifeboats. Husbands and wives standing clutching each other as the ship went down.
ILL: One eyewitness said that a man was holding onto his 12 year-old son. He said he didn't know how many people came and begged the man to let him enter into the lifeboat. Every time that man tried to push his son away, the little boy with his arms around the waist held on so tightly that no one him could take him away. That boy went down beneath the murky waters together with his father.
When read that eyewitness account, I thought to myself, "Can you imagine the love that that father had for that son, to hold him like that and to go down beneath the waters together!" Then all of a sudden, I realized that he didn't love that son as he should have. If he really loved him, he would have literally thrown him into the lifeboat.
MEGA: Q: ARE YOU IN THE LIFE BOAT? God sent one called Jesus Christ to rescue you from death and hell.
POINT: There might not be one single thing that he would refuse to do for his son. But, if that man fails to teach him about Jesus Christ tell him, how to be saved and go to Heaven, how to live in this life where is the real love. Many a man tonight is going to the pits of Hell with a 12 year old boy hanging on to his waist.
POINT: As the lifeboats moved away from the Titanic, the people huddled, shivering together. Just a few minutes before the band had been playing the ragtime of the day, Nearer, my God, to Thee.
A strange thing took place at the sinking of the Titanic. Do you realize that there was another ship only ten miles away from this ill fated-event? Later at a senatorial investigation the captain of this ship was asked why he didn't come to the rescue of a ship in distress. He said he didn't realize the ship was sinking. He was then asked why he didn't hear their cries for help. He said that at midnight he had turned off the ships radio and went to sleep. Then he was asked if he saw the Titanic sinking only ten miles away. He replied, "We didn't know it was sinking because you see; as deck-by deck went below the waters and the lights went out one by one, we thought the ship, being faster than we, sailed off into the night."
POINT: My friend, many a man is sinking into Hell with a Christian only a few meters away. But, they're asleep!
READ: Ephesians 5:14-16, "Oh Church, awaken! Lost men all around us are dying and going to an eternal Hell. "Awake you that sleep, and arise from the dead and Christ shall give you light. See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil."
ILL: Dr. Peter Conolly, who has gone on to be with the Lord now, was a great preacher from Ireland. He was living when the Titanic sank. He told the story about a minister who was on board the ship and was thrown out into the cold waters of the Atlantic. (Remember, those waters were freezing, mushy waters of ice.)
When the Rev John Harper the minister realized that he couldn't save his own life, he literally swam from lifeboat to lifeboat, raft to raft, piece of debris to piece of debris, piece of ship to piece of ship crying out to the people, "Trust Christ. Take Him as Saviour. Call upon the name of the Lord. When the minister started to sink, when he started to sink he cried out, "I'm going down!" Then, all of a sudden, with a last great effort he said No! I'm going up!" With that, he breathed his last.
POINT: There was a Congressional hearing after the sinking of the Titanic. They had made up their minds that they didn't want such a disaster as that to ever take place again. Witness after witness came before that senatorial group meeting in Washington, D.C . The third officer on the Titanic, a man by the name of Herbert John Pittman, testified. I do not know why one of the senators asked him this question but he said, "Mr. Pittman, can you describe the screams as the ship went down?" When he heard that question, Mr. Pittman buried his head in his hands and began to sob almost uncontrollably. A hush went over that august body. After a while, one of the senators broke the silence and said that they did not mean to bring back bad memories; they were just trying to get all of the information so they could make sure that such a disaster as this would never take place again.
Mr. Pittman began to speak main in broken words.
POINT: "Sir you ask about the screams and the best answer to your question is this. Sir, it was just one long, continuous moan!"
POINT: When I read that, I thought to myself, "If there were a place on this earth where you could go and listen into the corridors of Hell and then if you were to be questioned by a senatorial investigating committee and one of the men would say, "What were the sounds of Hell like?" I believe your answer would be the same: "Sir, just one long, continuous moan." Tomorrow, he promised his conscience. Tomorrow I mean to believe. Tomorrow I'll think as I ought to. Tomorrow my Saviour receive. Tomorrow I'll conquer the habits that hold me from Heaven away. But even his conscience repeated.
One word and only one today.
Tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow.
Thus day after day it went on.
Tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow.
Till youth like a vision was gone.
Till age in his passions had written
The message of fate on his brow,
And forth from the shadows came death,
With a pitiless syllable, now.
What will you do with Jesus?
The call comes loud and clear.
The solemn words are sounding now in your listening ear.
Immortal life is the question and joy through eternity,
Then what will you do with Jesus?
What will your answer be?