Rearranging Deck Chairs on the Titanic
2 Peter 2:4, “For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; 5 And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly; 6 And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly; 7 And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked: 8 (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;) 9 The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:”
2 Peter 3: 3, “Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, 4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. 5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: 6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: 7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.”
A little more than a century ago, a great ship called the Titanic began its maiden voyage. It was an incredible ship for its time, at the zenith of the technology of that day. It was a beautiful ship, catering to the wealthy, the upper crust of society. It was luxurious, refined, lovely to behold. But more than that, it was touted as being nearly indestructible. I am sure the chance of the Titanic sinking on its maiden voyage entered the minds of very few of the people upon boarding it. One newspaper Article boldly and foolishly declared that even God could not sink the Titanic.
But friend, today, more than a century later, the name Titanic lives in infamy. You won’t find any cruise liner naming their ships Titanic in honor of that ship. No, sir. We all know now that the Titanic was a doomed ship. We know now that the majority of the souls on it would drown in the frigid ocean waters. But, you see, the men and women who were on the Titanic did not know that. Had anyone told them such a thing was getting ready to happen, they would not have believed it. You see, they believed the Science of their day. They believed the Titanic was all but indestructible.
The crew of the Titanic had been warned that the waters were full of ice. But they did not listen to the warning. Wireless operator Jack Phillips had been receiving ice warnings from other ships throughout the day. Later in the evening he was busy, receiving messages for the passengers. Nearby the ship California had stopped for the night because of the ice. Just before going to bed at around 11:15 PM, Californian's radio operator attempted time after time to warn Titanic that there was ice in the area, but the “line was busy” with all the passenger messages. He finally tried to cut in on the line with a “blast” that hurt Phillips ears. On the Titanic, Philips responded, "Shut up, shut up! I am busy." Rebuffed, the radio man on board the Californian turned off his radio and went to sleep. I believe that if the radio operator on the California knew what was about to happen to the Titanic, he would have stopped at nothing to get the message across. But, angry at being rebuffed, he stopped warning the crew of the Titanic.
Even after the Titanic hit the iceberg that would cause it to sink two hours and forty minutes later, people on board the ship maintained a false sense of security. Many scoffed! Scoffed when they hit the iceberg (took pieces and put them in their drinks), scoffed about the life vests (put them on and danced around, made fun of those who appeared worried or got on early lifeboats), scoffed that the Titanic could sink (“God himself couldn’t sink this ship”). But the Titanic was doomed. The only hope anyone had was in the life boats that were being lowered into the water. But, tragically, people did not see the need. They did not realize the grave danger they were in. Most of the life boats left the Titanic only half filled with people.
We are studying Noah in our Tuesday night Bible study. In our text, the Apostle Peter tells us that God is sending a day of judgment upon this world, just like He judged the world with a flood in the time of Noah, and just like he judged Sodom and Gomorrah by fire. Peter said there would be scoffers in the last days. They will not want to hear the message. They will not want to hear the warnings. As we taught in our study of Noah, Jesus said as in the days of Noah, so shall it be at the coming of the Son of Man. People were marrying and giving in marriage, living busy lives up to the very moment the floods came. They could not believe the world that had always been there for them was about to be destroyed. Noah had warned them. Enoch had warned them, but they did not want to hear. I wonder how many told him in so many words, “shut up! Shut up! I am busy.” They were rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. That’s what they were doing. Only one thing mattered in Noah’s day, and that was the life boat Noah was building for them.
That paints a picture of our world today, doesn’t it? You see, terrible judgment is coming upon this world. God has messengers warning of the danger. But most do not want to hear the warnings. They want to be left alone. They want to live their lives in blissful ignorance. They are giving in marriage, taking in marriage, building businesses, going to work, watching football, or the latest television show. They are doing everything but the important thing. They should be getting on the life boat God prepared for them. They are rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. The judgment is coming, regardless of what the scoffers say.
Peter tells us the people who perished in the flood, and the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah are an example to us.
Sodom was a beautiful city. It was a jewel of that day. Abraham’s nephew, Lot, lived there with his wife and two daughters. A tour of Sodom in that day would have really been something, I am sure. You see, Lot had been living with Abraham in tents, but now he had moved to the city. But, more than that, he was deeply involved with the city. He sat in the gates of Sodom. In that time, that meant he was a judge. He was part of the judicial system, a prominent member of the society. Oh, yes. He was doing well in Sodom. And I am sure Lot’s wife was living it up. As a judge’s wife, she was part of the in-crowd. She was invited to all the parties. She rubbed shoulders with the finest Sodomites of that great city. They were living their lives, unaware that God was about to judge that city. I mean, how bad was Sodom, really? Sure, most of them lived an “alternative lifestyle,” or approved of those who did. Sure, they even celebrated their “alternative lifestyle” by parading it down the boulevard. But, really, what did that hurt? Mrs. Lot did not take much notice of that. She loved the city of Sodom. Lot was doing just great. Why he was heavily invested in the local real estate. Mrs. Lot was a member of the country club.
Now, if I know anything about God, He sent messengers to Sodom and Gomorrah. He sent warnings to them to repent, or judgment would fall upon them. God is just and good. He always warns before He judges. But Sodom did not want to hear the warnings. Paul tells us in Romans 1:26,
“For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet. 28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient.”
No. Sodom and Gomorrah did not want to hear the warnings. I’m sure they scoffed at God’s messengers. But the judgment came. God sent two angels to Sodom to destroy it. They told Lot to get his family out of there. I’m telling you, Lot’s wife did not like it at all. She loved Sodom. Her heart was in Sodom. Lot warned his sons in law, but they laughed at him. They scoffed at him. The angels had to drag Lot’s family out of that city. But Lot’s wife looked back. To her, losing the city of Sodom was losing everything she loved. She was turned to a pillar of salt.
Jesus warns us to remember Lot’s wife. John warns us to love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. If you love this world, you are rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.
There were 2,223 souls on the Titanic. Only 706 survived, 1,517 died. One man, John Harper, a 39 year old widower, and the father of 6-year-old Nina Harper, saw the peril. He understood just how bad things truly were. I wonder how many other passengers mocked him that night, as he did all he could to save as many souls as possible. As a widower and father of a six year old little girl, Harper probably could have boarded a lifeboat. Instead he secured his daughter in a lifeboat, kissed her, told her he’d see her again, then turned and immediately started to shout, “Women, children and the unsaved into the lifeboats.”
When the boat went under, Harper was seen swimming frantically to people in the water, telling them about Jesus, asking if they knew Him. Mr. Harper swam up to one young man who had climbed up on a piece of debris. Harper asked him between breaths, "Are you saved?" The young man replied that he was not. Harper then tried to tell him about Jesus, only to have the young man who was near shock, refuse to hear him. John Harper took off his own life jacket and gave it to the young man, saying, "Here then, you need this more than I do,” before swimming off to try to help others.
A few minutes later Harper swam back to the young man to again tell him about Jesus. This time the young man heard him, and right there, in 28 degree water, he called out to The Lord. Of the more than 1,500 people that went into the water that night, six were rescued by the lifeboats. One of them was this young man on the debris.
Four years later, at a survivors meeting, this young man stood up and in tears recounted how John Harper had told him about Jesus. Mr. Harper had tried to swim back to help other people, yet because of the intense cold, had grown too weak to swim. The survivor said "Alone in the night with two miles of water under me I believed on Jesus. I am John Harpers’ last convert." John Harper’s focus wasn’t on himself, his own needs or his own future. Even in his dying moments, all he thought about was the people around him and their spiritual condition.
You see, even good people, entire churches, need to become aware of the danger. They need a sense of urgency, an understanding that the people of this world are doomed. Churches need to stop the organizational politics. Church is more than about a building. Preaching is not about a paycheck, or prestige. Church is not a social club. That is just more rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. Woe to them that are at ease in Zion! I don’t want to be like the radio operator on the California. I don’t want to stop warning people because some might get upset, or even tell me to shut up. No. I want to proclaim the warning. I want to get people on the life boat.
This world is lost. It is sinking down. All who are part of this world will sink along with it. There is a Hell. There is a coming judgment. Who is in danger? Your family members are in danger. They are on the Titanic without a life boat. The people you work with are perishing. The souls we pass on the street. They are perishing. Judgment is coming. What the world needs are more people like John Harper. Let me tell you about Jesus; telling people about Jesus even to his last breath. The only thing that really matters is what we do for Jesus. The only thing that really matters is getting our families, our friends, our neighbors to the life boat. Everything else is rearranging chairs on the Titanic.
