Parallels from the Sinking of the Titanic for the Church Today
By Pastor Hal Mayer
Dear Friends,
Welcome to Keep the Faith Ministry. Today, we’re going to look at the history of the RMS Titanic and see what lessons we can draw from it for God’s church today. We are facing a major iceberg that involves an attempt to wreck God’s church. Satan has created a major assault on the truth. And we need to be mindful of the fact that we are up against principalities and powers as we consider how to defend ourselves and prepare for the crisis of the ages.
Let us pray. Our Father in heaven, we see that our world has suffered much in recent times. But that is nothing compared to what is coming. We also see that the church and Your people are not prepared for what is coming upon them either. I pray that we can learn what we need to know and do to prepare for the great titanic disaster that is soon to arrive. Please send Your Holy Spirit today as we study. In Jesus name, amen.
On June 18, 2023 the Titan submersible, owned by Oceangate, on a commercial dive to visit the Titanic wreck, imploded and killed all five passengers and crew on board in an ironic twist of destiny. Apparently, the Titan’s carbon fiber hull collapsed. Its captain, Stockton Rush, ignored repeated warnings and concerns raised by colleagues and friends, including loud popping noises on a previous dive near the Bahamas, which indicated that the carbon fiber was cracking. One friend literally drew a picture of his submersible wrecked on the bottom of the ocean. Stockton tried to defy the odds and in an incredible arrogance took a small clutch of wealthy billionaires down 12,000 feet to the bottom of the ocean and to their deaths. One friend said it was a “mousetrap for billionaires.”
Interest in the Titanic is perennial. Books, movies, documentaries, all featuring the famous disaster are still in demand more than 100 years after the ship went down. Now another disaster involving its mini namesake, with many of the same attitudes and problems as the original, has taken its toll on the lives of Titan’s occupants in the only submersible ever to implode.
Turn with me in your Bibles to 2 Timothy 3:1-5. I want you to notice certain key words. They are “boasters,” “proud,” “heady,” “highminded,” “lovers of pleasures.” These words describe to a large degree the designers, builders, crew, and even the passengers. But they also describe the world as it is today and even many in the church.
“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.”
In 1912 the Titanic began its maiden voyage from Southampton, England to New York. Little did anyone expect that it would not complete that voyage. In fact, many people thought that the Titanic was unsinkable. They were extra confident in the ship because of its alleged safety and its advertised reputation though it had never sailed before. The designers and builders were certainly heady and were proud boasters that loved pleasure and money more than anything. It was the wrong ship to be on based on the claims about it; a veritable warning to the passengers that went unheeded.
Today, many people have the same kind of confidence in the church. They think nothing can sink it. In fact, they think that it is unsinkable. So, you often hear “stay with the ship, it will go through.” I am not an advocate of leaving your church, but I am totally convinced that a blind loyalty to the leaders is a great mistake. The church will not carry you through. You cannot trust anyone with your salvation, especially in light of the prophecies of the last days. We must give a straight testimony that is more pointed than that of John the Baptist. And to point out the sins of the church is a duty that must be carried out by faithful messengers whether ministers or layman.
Listen to this statement from Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 1, page 321.
“In this fearful time, just before Christ is to come the second time, God’s faithful preachers will have to bear a still more pointed testimony than was borne by John the Baptist. A responsible, important work is before them; and those who speak smooth things, God will not acknowledge as His shepherds. A fearful woe is upon them.”
The Titanic is an example of what can happen under the bewitching influence of wealth and luxury, careless miscalculations, and the arrogance of leaders who sabotaged safety in order to gain economic advantage. What can we learn from the sinking of the Titanic that is relevant to the church today?
The counsel in the word of God is very relevant, and certainly God’s messenger to the remnant would have heard of the sinking of the Titanic. The comments in Selected Messages, Vol. 1, page 205 tell us of God’s church today and how to avoid the spiritual disaster symbolized by the physical disaster that happened to the Titanic.
“One night a scene was clearly presented before me. A vessel was upon the waters, in a heavy fog. Suddenly the lookout cried, “Iceberg just ahead!” There, towering high above the ship, was a gigantic iceberg. An authoritative voice cried out, “Meet it!” There was not a moment’s hesitation. It was a time for instant action. The engineer put on full steam, and the man at the wheel steered the ship straight into the iceberg. With a crash she struck the ice. There was a fearful shock, and the iceberg broke into many pieces, falling with a noise like thunder to the deck. The passengers were violently shaken by the force of the collisions, but no lives were lost. The vessel was injured, but not beyond repair. She rebounded from the contact, trembling from stem to stern, like a living creature. Then she moved forward on her way.”
We are to meet the danger head on. But we have not; instead we have compromised our faith with the ecumenical movement and placed the church in the hands of rebels and saboteurs. Satan has largely taken over many leaders. But God will still get the message out to the world even if the leaders and many members of the church are silent. The members who are faithful will be bashed and battered, but with God’s help, through His power, they will do the work.
There were other vessels that collided with icebergs and survived. The steamer SS Arizona was one of them. The collision was head on. The bow of the ship was badly damaged, but they survived. The bulkheads held and prevented water flooding throughout the rest of the ship. The vessel was badly shaken but endured. So, let us examine the circumstances of the Titanic that led to its sinking and 1,500 lives lost.
The crowds began gathering at Harland & Wolff, the Titanic’s builders, as early as 7:30 am, May 31, 1911, when the cross-channel steamer Duke of Argyll arrived from England, loaded with newspapermen and distinguished guests. It was a glorious day with not a cloud in the sky, which is unusual for Belfast. The men’s straw hats and the bright print dresses of the ladies made the occasion seem very festive.
By 11:00 o’clock special trams were rolling down corporation street toward the waterfront and the sprawling shipyard, where the Titanic had been built, packed with local spectators. At 11:15 the railway steamer Silver Bearnaugh left the Queens bridge jetty with another load of paying customers to join the spectator’s fleet already gathering at River Lagan.
Pride was in the air. “A Masterpiece of Irish Brains and Industry,” proclaimed the Irish newspapers the following day. All eyes were on the Titanic, towering above them with her massive hulk, her hull glistening with a fresh coat of black paint.
At 12:05 pm a red signal flag was hoisted on the Titanic’s stern post, warning the tugs and spectator fleet to stand clear. At 12:10 a rocket was fired, announcing 5 minutes to go. The buzz of conversation in the stands stopped and the great crowds fell silent as the final minutes ticked away.
At 12:14 another rocket was fired, but for long seconds the Titanic still seemed to stand motionless on the stocks. Her workers on the deck were the first to sense a trace of movement, and they began to cheer. Those on shore took it up, as they too could now see the ship coming to life. A bedlam of whistles added to the din, along with the crack of bracing timbers and the jangle of anchor chains, meant to slow the vessel down once she was afloat. Slowly gathering momentum, the Titanic slid smoothly down, lubricated with three tons of soft soap, 15 tons of tallow, and five tons of tallow mixed with train oil. At 12:15 the Titanic was proudly afloat, the largest manmade object to that time and finest steamer in the world, so the ads for the ship claimed. The Titanic still had to be fitted out, which would take almost a year, but already pride, and its corresponding arrogance, had created a ship that had so many inadequate safety precautions, that it was doomed on its very first voyage.
The scriptures say in Proverbs 16:18, “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.”
Pride and haughtiness were certainly features of the Titanic’s crowd that day. And it led to the feeling that nothing could disturb the peace and the safety of passengers on the Titanic. Pride and haughtiness are dangerously leading God’s people away from truth and righteousness. They feel that there is peace, when in reality there is no peace.
Here is a statement from the Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, Vol 4, page 1149. “The Lord has a message for His people. This message will be borne, whether men will accept or reject it. As in the days of Christ, there will be the deep plottings of the powers of darkness, but the message must not be muffled with smooth words or fair speeches, crying peace, peace, when there is no peace, to those who are turning away from God.”
But destruction can and will happen to those who are unfaithful. God says in Isaiah 48:22, “There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.”
And Job 21:17 says, “How oft is the candle of the wicked put out! and how oft cometh their destruction upon them! God distributeth sorrows in his anger.”
Following her launching, there were parties and dinners to celebrate the Titanic’s successful launching. Nobody gave so much as a milli-second of thought to her fate. It just wasn’t possible that anything could happen to her, so the thought of catastrophe was not appropriate. There was no chance for her to sink. After all, wasn’t she “unsinkable?” This was the considered opinion of the experts at the time, and it worked its greatest mischief neither before nor after the event, but during the hours of agonizing uncertainty while the tragedy was still unfolding. Friends, if an expert tells you something, especially in these days of deception, I would suspicion it as potentially not true.
“We place absolute confidence in the Titanic. We believe that the boat is unsinkable,” declared Philip A. S. Franklin, vice-president of the White Star Line (the owners of the Titanic) in New York, as the first alarming reports began drifting in on April 15. And around noon he elaborated on the point. The Titanic could certainly float for two or three days.
Other experts seemed to agree. Captain Johnson of the American Liner St. Paul declared that it was practically impossible for the Titanic to sink, because her 15 bulkheads could keep her afloat indefinitely. Actually, when he said this, the Titanic was already at the bottom of the sea a good 12 hours. In fact, he testified at the U.S. Senate investigation “during the entire day we considered the ship unsinkable, and it never entered our minds that there had been anything like a serious loss of life.”
For all her boasted features, including her unsinkability, she was far from being a triumph of safe construction. The Titanic was actually a study in what could be sacrificed in safety to provide speed and luxury amenities. But there was another reason why the owners were lulled into complacency. This was because the Titanic looked so safe. Her huge bulk, her tiers of decks rising one atop the other, her 29 boilers, her luxurious fittings, all seemed to spell “permanence.” The appearance of safety was mistaken for safety itself.
Does that sound like anything you are familiar with today? For instance, very few people can conceive of America becoming a wreck on the economic and political world stage. They are overconfident and complacent. And what about God’s church? It looks so safe and as if it will survive another 100 years. Both society and the church are being rotted from within. And the consequences will be the loss of many souls.
The apostle John says in Revelation 3:17, 18, “Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked, I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.”
And the Bible says in first Thessalonians 5:3, “For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.”
Dinner on board the Titanic was a fashion show and a featured highlight of the day. Men, dressed in white with a white tie, except for a few tuxedos here and there, and ladies shining in pale satin and clinging gauze, their jewelry glistening in the light, ministered to the sense of pride and luxury that pervaded the ship. Any inkling or foreboding of the overwhelming surprise of approaching terror was dismissed by the calm and easy social environment. The famous band playing the music of the day would have also helped to allay any fears that might be felt in the breast of any of the passengers.
And that’s the way most of God’s people are today. They are absorbed in the allure of fashion, luxury and sophistication that puts to rest any foreboding that their eternal destiny is in jeopardy. They lay aside concerns about the coming crisis as if it’s impossible in their lifetime, and they leave preparation for tomorrow. They have no idea they are steaming at breakneck speed toward the great terror that will come upon the world and upon the ones that love the world as an overwhelming surprise.
Listen to it from Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 8, page 28, “Transgression has almost reached its limit. Confusion fills the world, and a great terror is soon to come upon human beings. The end is very near. We who know the truth should be preparing for what is soon to break upon the world as an overwhelming surprise.”
Satan is an enemy that works subtly to blind the eye to the spiritual destitution of the soul. He works to distract multitudes from the spiritual preparation that has to be made. And many of God’s people have an imaginary religion; a religion of magical thinking, as my wife likes to say. And their spiritual life is at a very low ebb.
Listen to this from Prophets and Kings, page 626, “Christians should be preparing for what is soon to break upon the world as an overwhelming surprise, and this preparation they should make by diligently studying the word of God and striving to conform their lives to its precepts. The tremendous issues of eternity demand of us something besides an imaginary religion, a religion of words and forms, where truth is kept in the outer court. God calls for a revival and a reformation. The words of the Bible and the Bible alone, should be heard from the pulpit. But the Bible has been robbed of its power, and the result is seen in a lowering of the tone of spiritual life. In many sermons of today there is not that divine manifestation which awakens the conscience and brings life to the soul. The hearers cannot say, “Did not our heart burn within us, while He talked with us by the way, and while He opened to us the Scriptures?” Luke 24:32.”
God has a solution of course, if we will take advantage of it. This is from the same page in Prophets and Kings. “There are many who are crying out for the living God, longing for the divine presence. Let the word of God speak to the heart. Let those who have heard only tradition and human theories and maxims, hear the voice of Him who can renew the soul unto eternal life.”
The Olympia, Titanic’s sister ship had been in service for more than a year and was just about as big as the Titanic, but nowhere near as luxurious. The Titanic had a set of 28 splendid staterooms installed on B deck, more lavish than any on the Olympia and complete with large windows (not portholes) that looked directly out on the sea. Most of these rooms were interconnecting and could be turned into suites of any size. Each was painstakingly decorated in a different period style; Early Dutch, Regency, Louis XVI and so on. Two of them even had private promenade decks done in half-timbered Tudor. There was even a dazzling first class attraction on this deck: A genuine French “sidewalk” cafe, complete with genuine French waiters.
Other luxury features actually helped to make the Titanic vulnerable. After all, passengers demanded attention; stewards could serve them more easily if doors were cut in the watertight bulkheads. And also, a grand staircase required a spacious opening at every level, making a watertight deck impossible. Plus, the sweep of a magnificent dining saloon left no room for bulkheads that might spoil the effect. Stokers of the boilers could work more efficiently if longitudinal bulkheads were omitted and the bunkers carried clear across the ship. A double hull would take up valuable passenger and cargo space; a double bottom would be enough. One by one the safety precautions that were built into other ships were chipped away in the interest of a more competitive and luxurious ship.
Also, the flat calm conditions on the night of April 14, 1912 created an unwarranted sense of peace and safety. Everything was going along so smoothly. There was no hint that a catastrophe was not far away and that the end was near. Likewise, today, the ease of life, the feeling that things won’t change, and the lack of persecution have lulled God’s people to sleep very deeply. They can’t conceive that a tragedy is not far away and that the end is near.
The ice in the North Atlantic had flowed farther to the South than usual that year. Captain Smith had changed the Titanic’s direction toward the South to avoid the ice. But instead he had steered it directly into the path of an enormous iceberg of more than half a million tons. So, today, the church has changed direction and has become ecumenical, spiritually weak and theologically inconsistent. It is heading for a giant iceberg crisis that looms ahead of them.
The steamer Californian stopped for the night because of the ice. It had been sending ice messages to the Titanic and other ships, but the wireless operator Jack Phillips on the Titanic was too busy with passenger messages (that’s how he got paid) and didn’t deliver some of them, including one of the most crucial, to the captain. He laid it aside and ignored it. Eventually, he was frustrated with all the messages that he told the Californian to stop sending them. He did not want to hear them anymore. The Californian operator turned off its wireless and went to bed. The Titanic now had lost its only communication that would help them through the iceberg field.
Do we treat the warnings God has sent us that way? How rarely do God’s people hear the end-time three angels’ messages from the pulpit? How often do they hear the admonitions and reproofs that God has graciously sent them to help them navigate the final crisis? How often have we as individuals as well as the corporate church told the heaven-sent messengers to stop sending messages? We’re busy with other things. We’re annoyed with all the doom and gloom. Thus, we lose the only communication we have to guide us through the end-time icebergs.
A last-minute change in crew left the Titanic vulnerable in another way. The man who was in charge of the binoculars for the crow’s nest was replaced. When he emptied his locker and went ashore, he left the binoculars in the locker, but accidentally took the only key to the locker with him. Now the men in the crow’s nest would have to rely only on their own eyesight to see the icebergs. On that still moonless night, it was impossible to see icebergs without binoculars. For some unknown reason the binoculars on the bridge were not substituted in the crow’s nest. Binoculars represent the Spirit of Prophecy. This is guidance that we need to navigate the special conditions of the darkest night. It is disastrous to the church to leave the Spirit of Prophecy locked in silence and unavailable for navigation. To avoid using the Spirit of Prophecy in the pulpits is essentially sabotage.
Murdock, the first officer was second in command, was in charge at the time of the collision. The captain was asleep in his quarters. Murdoch’s reactive instinct was to steer away from the iceberg, rather than to hit it head on. Hitting the iceberg head on would have damaged the ship’s bow but it probably would have been saved. In the unique circumstances of our times, following our natural or developed instincts can lead to ruin. The word of God can change a natural man into a spiritual man. We need to develop spiritual instincts based on the word of God. Though it may seem strange and unnatural to many, it will save us in the end.
The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 2:14, “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”
Just 20 minutes short of midnight, April 14, 1912, the brand-new White Star Liner Titanic, making her maiden voyage from Southampton, England to New York sideswiped an iceberg in the calm, dark waters of the North Atlantic. She brushed it so gently that many on board didn’t notice it at all.
Why did such a glancing blow do as much damage as it did? It was because the rivets that were used in the curved part of the ship were made of wrought iron and were more malleable than the steel rivets used in the flat part of the ship. These were installed by hand because the bulky rivet machines of that time could not install them on a curved surface. Wrought iron is 30% weaker than steel. But in addition the rivets were not the purest quality iron. There was a lot of slag mixed in them. They were inferior quality. Under pressure of the collision, these wrought iron rivets snapped off one at a time and the Titanic hull opened like a zipper.
Inferior materials cannot be used in constructing the character of God’s church and His people to withstand the coming massive collision with the world. Only the best and purest materials will provide the protection they need. Only inspired counsel can provide the quality of character needed for the crisis ahead.
Passengers and crew thought the Titanic was damaged minimally. They didn’t realize she was taking on 400 tons of water a minute. The bulkheads made of steel were three feet lower than originally designed in order to provide room for various luxury amenities. The only bulkhead that was the normal height was the front bulkhead. It was designed to stop water from flowing in from the bow of the ship. But since the Titanic had sideswiped the iceberg the bulkheads quickly flooded and then poured over into the next bulkhead flooding the ship and sinking it in just two hours.
Second officer Lightoller misinterpreted Captain Smith’s instructions to put women and children in the lifeboats first. He thought it meant women and children only. This caused unnecessary deaths among the passengers. It is very important to get the right message. One of the signs of the last days is that every wind of doctrine will be blowing. Today we’re seeing that. We have theologians and seminary professors, pastors and members teaching false doctrine and misinterpreting God’s truth.
Listen to this from Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 5, page 80, “The days are fast approaching when there will be great perplexity and confusion. Satan, clothed in angel robes, will deceive, if possible, the very elect. There will be gods many and lords many. Every wind of doctrine will be blowing. Those who have rendered supreme homage to “science falsely so called” will not be the leaders then. Those who have trusted to intellect, genius, or talent will not then stand at the head of rank and file. They did not keep pace with the light. Those who have proved themselves unfaithful will not then be entrusted with the flock. In the last solemn work few great men will be engaged. They are self-sufficient, independent of God, and He cannot use them. The Lord has faithful servants, who in the shaking, testing time will be disclosed to view. There are precious ones now hidden who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”
The shocking inadequacy of lifeboats on board the Titanic was the result of the owner’s desire to provide expansive views for their precious first-class passengers. A document was discovered 10 years after the tragedy that revealed the safety inspectors’ pleas for 10 more lifeboats. But the owners rejected his pleas because they did not want to sacrifice the first-class passengers’ views of the ocean. In other words, they were more concerned about money and luxury amenities that would attract first-class passengers, than safety. After all, the ship was “unsinkable.”
The arrogance of the owners who justified the sacrifice of lifeboats for first class money was partially responsible for the sacrifice of over 1500 lives. Could our spiritual arrogance, thinking we are saved and don’t need to humble ourselves before God and repent of our sins in dust and ashes, be just as devastating and lose many lives?
Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 1, page 425 says, “In this solemn time let us all search our own hearts, repent of our sins, and humble ourselves before God. The work is between God and our own souls.”
There was no set policy on preparing and filling the lifeboats. The lifeboat drill was cancelled, leaving the sailors to their own devices to get them filled. The passengers had no boat assignments and they simply milled around the decks waiting for someone to tell them what to do. There were no clear lines of authority. There were no firm procedures to follow. The result was chaos and confusion. The efforts of the seamen where haphazard and disorganized and could not, it seems, fill the lifeboats properly. Incident piled upon incident, all combining to make an impossible situation worse. Maybe more lives could have been saved if the lifeboat drill had not been cancelled.
We need practice in letting the Holy Spirit fill our souls. We need practice in trusting God for our basic necessities both physical and spiritual. We need practice in providing spiritual meat to nurture the church without the usual trappings, formalities and rituals. We need to experience church without the support of an organization. Let the Holy Spirit do the organizing.
In the Atlantic luxury trade, “boats for all” meant less room on the upper decks for luxury suites, games and sports, the verandas and palm courts, and the glass enclosed observation lounges; all the amenities that lured the wealthy travelers from the competition. On the Titanic for instance it would not sacrifice that vast play area amidships and instead clutter the boat deck with (of all things) boats. In steerage, the other place where there was big money to be made, “boats for all” would require space that would be even more costly. In calculating the number of lifeboats needed the board of trade used a simple rule of thumb: each person took up 10 cubic feet of space hence 1,134 steerage passengers—the number that Titanic was certified to carry—would require 11,340 cubic feet of space. This translated into 19 lifeboats required for steerage alone … or nearly 60 boats, counting everybody. Almost any owner would have preferred to use most of this space in some revenue-producing way—if he could persuade himself that the boats weren’t really necessary. And with the prevailing sentiment that the Titanic was unsinkable this was easy to do, and it didn’t take long for the owners to convince themselves that the “boats for all” concept was positively “dangerous.”
After all, the new superliners could easily ride out the storms in heavy seas that sometimes engulfed the smaller steamers of the past. Increased compartmentalization seemed safer. The development of wireless should end the days when ships simply disappeared. In the future, lifeboats would only be used to ferry passengers and crew to the gathering fleet of rescue ships, and nobody needed “boats for all” to do that.
And there was the weather. The stormy Atlantic was no place to float the 50 or 60 lifeboats required for a ship the size of the Titanic, if “boats for all” was the rule. 19 times out of 20, estimated the White Star’s general manager Harold Sanderson, the boats could not be lowered safely. Once afloat, passengers would be subject to additional dangers as they bobbed around waiting for rescue. “They could avoid all this by drowning at once,” dryly observed the magazine Fair Play, when Sanderson persisted in his views even after the disaster.
These were some of the excuses that were made for not providing enough lifeboats. The utter speciousness of the owner’s arguments became clear within days of the sinking. All the obstacles to “boats for all” suddenly vanished.
The conventional wisdom today is that “we’re all going to heaven; the Lord will see to that.” “There is no need to worry,” “The Lord understands our weaknesses and sins, and He is so loving and forgiving that He will overlook them.”
Here is a statement from Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 5, page 214, “Not one of us will ever receive the seal of God while our characters have one spot or stain upon them. It is left with us to remedy the defects in our characters, to cleanse the soul temple of every defilement. Then the latter rain will fall upon us as the early rain fell upon the disciples on the Day of Pentecost.”
The davits that held and lowered the lifeboats were designed for 48 lifeboats. But there was only 16 on board because the owners didn’t want the first class passengers to have to look at lifeboats. The one man who recommended more lifeboats, Alexander M. Carlisle, was the managing director of the company that built the ships Titanic and Olympic. He made a rather curious comment to the investigators. “If any ships had been fitted with the full number of boats I had proposed, it would no doubt have set up an invidious situation with respect to the steamers of all lines now trading in the North Atlantic. It would have drawn attention.” In other words, enough lifeboats on one or two liners might start people worrying about the lack of boats on all the others. This ostrich like approach was one of the factors that played into the disaster.
You can’t afford to leave your salvation at risk. All necessary preparations should be made no matter what other people think or do.
The captain of the Californian did nothing to help the Titanic. It was the one ship in range of the Titanic that could rescue the passengers before it sunk. The lookouts saw the rockets. Yet they debated for 20 minutes; they talked, puzzled, pondered, and sometimes differed over what they were watching. One of them even made a remarkable observation; “she looks to have a big side out of the water.” The Titanic was listing to starboard. “And that glare of lights on her after deck looked higher than before,” he told his companion. They watched the Titanic sink, all the while thinking it was sailing away. The crew on the Californian, never thought that the rockets were distress signals. They eventually told the captain. “All right,” said the captain, “are you sure there were no colors in them?” “No,” the sailor answered, “they were all white.” The captain didn’t investigate further. He brushed them off as company signals. Later, the captain wrote in a letter that there was “a certain amount of ‘slackness’ aboard the Californian the night in question.”
In times of emergency quick action is needed. Today, we are in an emergency. The end is near. The signs of the times are prominent. Yet leaders and layman sit on their hands and do nothing.
Listen to this statement from Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 2, page 498,
“The influence of some ministers is not good. They have not carefully guarded their moments, thus giving the people an example of industry. They spend in indolence moments and hours which, once passed into eternity with their record of results, can never be recalled. Some are naturally indolent, which makes it difficult for them to make a success of any enterprise they undertake. This deficiency has been seen and felt all through their religious experience. Those at fault are not alone the losers; others are made to suffer by their deficiencies. At this late period, many have lessons to learn which should have been learned at a much earlier date.”
But there was a deeper problem with communication. There seems to have been no specific procedures or standard operating practice. This led to little coordination between the radio room and the bridge on the Titanic. The messages were just delivered haphazardly. According to third officer Pittman, every captain had his own system, but it was hard to explain the system on the Titanic. Of the three messages addressed to Captain Smith personally, the Coronia’s was posted, the Noordam’s can’t be traced, and the Baltic’s spent the day in passenger Bruce Ismay’s pocket. Of the rest, there is no record that they were ever seen by any officer on the bridge. As a result, some important information was missed altogether. For instance, the Titanic’s surviving officers all thought the ice lay to the north of their course, but the Amerika and Mesaba warnings clearly place it to the South.
Nor did the officers appear to understand the nature of the danger. Third officer Pittman thought there was only an iceberg or two; Second officer Lightoller also worried about “small ice and growlers.” Nobody on the bridge visualized the great iceberg studded flow drifting slowly across the ship’s path. The missed messages told a lot. Above all, the cumulative effect of the messages–warning after warning, the whole day long–was lost completely. The result was complacency, and almost arrogant casualness, that permeated the bridge.
That complacency was the most exasperating feature of the whole affair. Fourth officer Boxhall did not even read one message he saw. Third officer Pittman saw the chit marked “ice” above the chart room table, but it failed to stir his interest–“I only looked at it casually,” but once he saw the ship wouldn’t reach the position during his watch, he put it out of his mind. Second officer Lightoller never even saw the chit when he came on duty that last Sunday night, “because I did not look.”
The conversation on the bridge turned to unimportant incidentals. There was not one word about slowing down. Why was this most obvious of all precautions not even mentioned? Actually, Captain Smith didn’t slow down because he was sure that on this brilliantly clear night any iceberg could be spotted in time to avoid it. In reaching that decision, Captain Smith did not feel he was doing anything rash. He was following the practice of most captains on the Atlantic run. They felt the competitive pressure of keeping on schedule. So, most captains, including Captain Smith, continued to run at full speed and ignored the warnings.
Complacency in these last days is deadly like it was on the Titanic. It will disorganize the communication between God and His church.
Listen to this statement from Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 6, page 426,
“Today a large part of those who compose our congregations are dead in trespasses and sins. They come and go like the door upon its hinges. For years they have complacently listened to the most solemn, soul-stirring truths, but they have not put them in practice. Therefore they are less and less sensible of the preciousness of truth. The stirring testimonies of reproof and warning do not arouse them to repentance… Though the heavenly Merchantman displays before them the richest jewels of faith and love, though He invites them to buy of Him ‘gold tried in the fire, and white raiment’ that they may be clothed, and ‘eyesalve’ that they may see, they steel their hearts against Him, and fail to exchange their lukewarmness for love and zeal. While making a profession, they deny the power of godliness. If they continue in this state, God will reject them. They are unfitting themselves to be members of His family.”
Whatever the nature of the damage, there was no doubt that it was fatal. It completely flooded the first five compartments, pulling the bow down so far that the water in the 5th compartment eventually slopped over the top of the after bulkhead into the 6th, which in turn overflowed into the 7th, and so on until the ship sank. The low bulkheads that were supposed to prevent water from going from one compartment to the next, were not constructed well in order to accommodate luxury and extravagance.
The Carpathia was the only ship that actually came to the rescue. When the ship received the SOS call Captain Rostron was sound asleep. When the radio operator burst into his quarters to report that the Titanic had struck an iceberg and urgently needed help, his reaction was what it should have been. He shook himself awake and immediately ordered the Carpathia to turn around and then asked if the radio operator was sure that the Titanic had struck an iceberg. Nine out of ten captains would have done it the other way around.
Calling his department heads to the bridge, Captain Rostron rattled off a stream of orders giving a remarkable picture of his quick mind at work. Everything was made ready in preparation to receive rescued passengers as well as make them as comfortable as possible. Several doctors on board were given assignments and supplies. The purser and his assistant(s) were stationed at the gangways to assist the incoming passengers. The steerage passengers were to be grouped together to make extra room. Captain Rostron gave up his quarters and instructed his officers to make theirs available to the incoming passengers. Coffee, tea and soup as well as blankets were distributed to key locations to warm up the rescued passengers. He also put extra men on the lookout in the crow’s nest, on the bow and on the bridge to watch for icebergs, because he was going full steam into the iceberg field. Not only did he put extra men on watch, but he chose men who were known for their keen eyesight. He was a religious man and when he had given all these orders and more, he lifted his cap and his lips were seen moving in prayer.
Dependence on God would be the only way, when he had done all he could humanly do, to be successful in rescuing as many Titanic passengers as possible. He then steered around an iceberg and in the next hour and a quarter he dodged five more icebergs. He arrived at the Titanic location in just 3.5 hours, 30 minutes better than his original estimate.
Dependence on God is the only way for his people to avoid the tragedy of a disaster in these last days. We must do all we can to warn and prepare. But trusting God’s power and wisdom to navigate the unique circumstances of our times is the essential element. Without it, all the human preparations will come to nothing. In fact, they will actually work against God’s people if they’re not combined with devotion to God and dependence on Him.
The Titanic was a tragedy of epic proportions. The tragedy of God’s church hitting a spiritual iceberg will be even more devastating and disastrous. Please stay alert and prepare for what is coming. It will not be comfortable. It will not be easy. It will not be for the faint hearted unfortified by divine grace.
Let us pray. Our Father in heaven, we see the parallels to the disaster of the Titanic that face God’s church. We pray that we will not be complacent or arrogant and think that just because we are members we will be saved. Help us to be pure in character. Help us to live like there is danger at every turn because there is. Please save us in the kingdom of heaven. In Jesus name, amen.