In 1912, they called her the “Millionaire’s Special.”

The Titanic was truly a ship like no other: four-city-blocks long, eleven stories high, powered by triple propellers, protected by the latest, most ingenious devices…luxurious and beautiful beyond words.

The Titanic had caught the fancy of the world.

Besides its beauty, the Titanic had been called unsinkable.

On April 10, 1912, the Titanic slipped out of Southampton on her way to New York carrying 2,200 passengers.

On the evening of April 15th, just five days into her maiden voyage, tragedy struck.

What was once called an unsinkable seagoing vessel struck an iceberg and began to go down.

The tragedy happened about 1,600 miles northeast of New York City in the heart of the Atlantic Ocean.

The iceberg tore a 300-foot gash in the ship’s hull.

That horrible night, there were men who scrambled and sought to save themselves, caring nothing of others.

But there were also those who willingly stepped aside to let others be saved, knowing they would die.

Fathers kissed their wives and children good-bye.

Friends embraced for the last time and separated, knowing they would not see each other again on this earth.

Many willingly paid the ultimate sacrifice for their friends: death.

Jesus said in John 15:13, “Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”

Most of the survivors were women and children.

Two-and-a-half hours after the impact, nearly 1,500 people needlessly went to a watery grave in 12,000 feet of icy water.

The real tragedy of this story is not that we lost such a luxurious ship, but that there were lifeboats for less than half of the passengers!

The Titanic’s builders were so confident in their design and the fact it wouldn’t sink that they took out the lifeboats, so more passengers could get on board.

You see, the Titanic was more than a ship.

She was a symbol of man’s power.

Majestic!

Colossal!

Unsinkable!

But when the “unsinkable” sank, something went down with it.

No one would ever again feel the same confidence in man’s strength.

What a perfect illustration of all human society.

Proud, modern civilization, heedless of the claims of Christ — is rushing headlong toward destruction.

And the only thing standing between humanity and destruction is Jesus.

There’s an old song we used to sing in church when I was a boy and its words still ring true today: “Soon will the season of rescue be o’er, soon will they drift to eternity’s shore; haste then, my brother, no time for delay, but throw out the lifeline and save them today.

Throw out the lifeline!

Throw out the lifeline!

Someone is drifting away; Throw out the lifeline! Throw out the lifeline!

Someone is sinking today.”

You may be reading this article and feel that you’re sinking like the Titanic because of addictions.

You may be drowning in depression and discouragement.

Your future is uncertain, and you think there’s no hope.

But there is a lifeline and His name is Jesus.

Don’t trust in your own strength, reach up and grasp the Lifeline.

He’s as close as the mention of His name!

 

Rev. Doug Johnson is the senior pastor at Raven Assembly of God in Raven, Virginia.