"God’s Great Object Lesson"
[Pastor R. A. Deem, Jr.]
Ezek 33:1-6 Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 2 Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman: 3 If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people; 4 Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. 5 He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul. 6 But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand.
Mat 24:37-41 "The world will be at ease--banquets and parties and weddings-- 38 just as it was in Noah’s time before the sudden coming of the flood; 39 people wouldn’t believe what was going to happen until the flood actually arrived and took them all away. So shall my coming be. 40 "Two men will be working together in the fields, and one will be taken, the other left. 41 Two women will be going about their household tasks; one will be taken, the other left.
Introduction: In December, 1990 my family traveled to West Virginia for Christmas. As we left North Alabama, the rain was coming down in buckets. I remember going through some standing water on the roadway and thinking, "Boy, someone is going to be in trouble if this rain doesn’t stop." The evening before setting out on our trip we had been watching the news, and the region was under a flash flood watch. "Someone" was sure going to be in trouble.
You can imagine our surprise when we received a phone call the next morning from our Youth Minister. "Pastor", he said "We’re in a flood down here in Owens Cross Roads. As a matter of fact, the water has come within one inch of coming into the parsonage." We were SHOCKED --- but we shouldn’t have been. You see I had listened to the reports. I knew SOMEONE was going to be in trouble. Little did we know, it would be US!
You see, we had heard all the warnings, yet didn’t imagine they applied to us. You see, these things never happen to US, they always happen to someone else, right?
On my way back from West Virginia, the Lord began to speak to me using this flood as an illustration. It seemed I could hear Him say “Son, this is exactly how it will be when I come again. The world will be oblivious to my coming --- and even much of My church will be caught unawares.
May I tell you this morning that I believe in the second coming of Christ. I must! You see, if I believe He came the FIRST time, I MUST believe that He will come the SECOND TIME. The same Bible tells of both events.
May I tell you this morning that not only do I believe He is coming again, I believe He is coming again SOON. I believe I will see with my own eyes the Second Coming of Christ. In 1 Thess 4 we read these words:
1 Th 4:16-17 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
In Acts 1:11 we read: Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.
Jesus gave these words of comfort to His disciples prior to His departure: John 14:1-3 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
The certainty of the Second Coming of Christ cannot be disputed. The question is, WILL THIS WORLD BE READY FOR THIS EVENT?
The title of this message is GOD’S GREAT OBJECT LESSON. You see, I believe God communicates with His people in many ways.
Some of you are familiar with the movie sensation of the year called TITANIC. This movie cost over 200 million dollars to produce and tells the story of that great ocean liner that sunk in the North Atlantic 89 years ago.
• Fascinated with since a child.
• Greatest ocean-liner ever to sail 7 seas.
• weighed 46,328 tons [92.6 million pounds]
• length 882.5’ [3 football fields]
• width 92.5’ wide
• over 11 stories high and 4 city blocks long
• constructed to be unsinkable.
• Left South Hampton, England on April 12, 1912 enroute to NYC
• 2,207 passengers and crew
• J. Bruce Ismy – President of White Star Line
• Rothchild, Guggenheim, Unsinkable Molly Brown, John Jacob Aster [Wealthy passengers]
• Irish lad: Daniel Buckley [Poor passenger]
• State rooms of first class. Others barely enough money for 3rd class passage.
• Prevailing thought: Titanic will never sink
• Constructed by the British in a way that 5 of the 16 compartments could be filled with water and it would still stay afloat.
• Symbol of the British arrogance. Constructed when the great British Empire was intact. “Sun never sets on British Empire.” Built to stand head and shoulders above its rivals – the Germans.
• Cpt Edward J. Smith: “I cannot imagine any condition which would cause this ship to flounder. I cannot conceive of any disaster happening to this vessel. Modern shipbuilding has gone beyond that.”
• Night of April 14, 1912 a deckhand was overheard to say: “Even God Himself couldn’t sink this ship.”
• 11:40 PM, 4/14/12, this theory of indestructibility was put to test.
• On that Sunday, it was reported that the ocean was like a lake. Peaceful. No signs of danger.
• Frederick Fleet and Reginald Lee were in crow’s nest watching for icebergs.[Mr. Andrews –ship’s builder forgot to have binoculars placed in crow’s nest.] They felt frigid air on face, and saw something in distance.
• Frederick Fleet sees pale blue/white structure. Iceberg. Fleet jerks warning bell.
• Fleet called to wheelhouse and said: Iceberg straight ahead.
• First mate, Mr. William Murdoch thanked Mr. Fleet and went about turning that great ship.
• It took 37 seconds for the great Titanic to come about.
• Before it did, it hit a iceberg 100’ above water, and 800’ beneath water.
• Ripped 300’ gash in the bow of the Titanic below the water line.
• 2 hours and 40 minutes later after sending the first S.O.S. in history, the unsinkable Titanic was moving through the cold, dark waters of the North Atlantic, to its final resting place more than 14,000 feet below the ocean’s surface, taking with it 1,502 dear souls to a watery grave.
Here are some interesting facts:
• At 9:00 AM on 1/14/12 the steam ship Coronea communicated w/ the Titanic that it had seen icebergs in the region.
• At 1:42 PM the passenger liner “Baltic”: Icebergs in the area.
• At 1:45 PM the passenger ship “America”: Icebergs in region
• At 7:30 PM the steam ship “California”: Icebergs …
• At 9:40 PM the ship “Masaba”: Icebergs…
• At 11:00 PM the “California”: Icebergs…
• Titanic was steaming its way through this “minefield” at the unheard of speed of 22 knots. Were so caught up with impressing the world with a new speed record that they didn’t take warnings seriously.
• At 11:40 PM hit iceberg!
• NOTICE: The California was no more than 10 miles away, and they did not know Titanic was sinking.
• Cyril F. Evans was wireless operator on California. At 11:30 PM he took his headset off, placed it down and closed down his station.
• Smith to Mr. Andrews: “Are we doomed?” Andrews: Yes. How long: 1 ½ hour.
• Even while the ship was going down, people were still partying. At first the descent was almost undetectable.
• Many 1st class passengers actually made snow balls of the ice that fell upon the ship and had fun with it. They were playing with the very thing that was destroying them.
• See also Matt 24:37-41 [See TLB]
Mat 24:37-41 "The world will be at ease--banquets and parties and weddings-- 38 just as it was in Noah’s time before the sudden coming of the flood; 39 people wouldn’t believe what was going to happen until the flood actually arrived and took them all away. So shall my coming be. 40 "Two men will be working together in the fields, and one will be taken, the other left. 41 Two women will be going about their household tasks; one will be taken, the other left.
• Titanic was not ready, it went down.
• Titanic had lifeboats for only a little over 1,100. Didn’t need them – UNSINKABLE
• 12 people got into first boat. 28 got in 7th boat. Lifeboats were constructed to hold 70 passengers each.
• California – had been receiving some blinking signals from Titanic. All of a sudden the lights went out. They couldn’t understand. That’s when the ship had swerved.
• Titanic sent up rocket flares. California thought it was only deck lights.
• Only 10 miles --- most people would have been saved.
Could this have been God’s prophetic word to England? Could it be that He is speaking to us today? WWI started shortly after Titanic sunk. England never the same. Speak of how things USED to be. All England has now is memories.
Is America sailing throughout a dark night, at break neck speed oblivious to the warnings of God? Is the renewed interest in the Titanic God’s Object Lesson to America?
Fleet & Lee: As preachers [we need binoculars]
Icebergs: Sin and degradation.
Cyril Evans: Imagine how he felt, having taken off his headset only 10 minutes before the Titanic hit the iceberg. If he would have kept the headset on, perhaps all the passengers of Titanic would have been saved. Compare with church: Have we taken off our “spiritual headsets” off too soon. We need to “hear the cry of despair” of those dying around us.
Lifeboats: Gospel of Christ
Conclusion.
Richard Deem, Founder and President of Higher Ground Ministries has traveled extensively preaching in camp meetings, seminars, revivals and other special meetings. Having served as a pastor for over 20 years, he brings a rich perspective to ministry.
Richard is available to minister in special meetings. Please contact him at:
Higher Ground Ministries
PO Box 640605
Pike Road, Alabama 36064
(334) 649-0011
E-Mail: higherground@netscape.com
Website: www.truth4today.com
