On the night of April 14, 1912, twenty minutes before midnight, a ship carrying approximately 2200 passengers struck an iceberg on peaceful and quiet waters in the North Atlantic Ocean. This ship, the Titanic, was thought to be unsinkable. In 1911, the prominent shipping company that developed the Titanic stated in an advertising brochure that the ship was “designed to be unsinkable.” Despite the proposed unsinkability of the Titanic, the largest vessel of the time was below the surface of the ocean two and a half hours after contact with the iceberg. Little did anyone know that the maiden voyage would be the final voyage without reaching the destination. Instead of reaching the intended destination, hundreds of souls on board reached their final one - eternity. While the available lifeboats were able to hold almost 500 additional passengers, some could not fathom departing the “unsinkable,” and taking refuge in a small lifeboat was unthinkable.
Lawrence Beesley, a Titanic Survivor, describes some of the circumstances that transpired on the deck of the ship. In his book, The Loss of the S.S. Titanic, Beesley describes some “inconceivable” occurrences such as women refusing to leave the ship and others returning to their cabins to go to sleep. The imminent danger seemed quite implausible to those standing on the ship as Beesley describes the conditions as
“a brilliantly beautiful starlight night, but no moon, and so with little light that was of any use; a ship that had come quietly to rest without any indication of disaster—no iceberg visible, no hole in the ship's side through which water was pouring in, nothing broken or out of place, no sound of alarm, no panic, no movement of any one except at a walking pace; the absence of any knowledge of the nature of the accident, of the extent of damage, of the danger of the ship sinking in a few hours, of the numbers of boats, rafts, and other lifesaving appliances available, their capacity, what other ships were near or coming to help—in fact, an almost complete absence of any positive knowledge on any point.”
Beesley illustrates why many could not see the necessity of forsaking the perceived security of the massive vessel to step out into a cold and dark night and onto a comparatively pathetic lifeboat that would save their lives. Seemingly, there was no immediate danger - nothing seemed to be wrong; and, since nobody seemed relatively alarmed, many unknowingly opted to go down with the ship. Unfortunately, many needlessly lost their lives believing there was peace when there was no peace.
A few years ago at a meeting, a minister preached a message entitled “Don’t Go Down With the Ship.” In the message he made reference to the Titanic and how many will opt to stay with something fatal because it does not seem detrimental. Sadly, there is a striking parallel between the tragedy in 1912 and the religious conditions existing among those who claim to be the Church of God. Far too many are unwilling to forsake their sinking ships for the dinky lifeboat that can preserve their soul. Despite the calmness of that April night, the still atmosphere, the untroubled ocean, and the lack of apparent alarm, the water continued to rush in, and a few hours later, the ship was completely submerged and en route to the bottom of the sea.
Church of God fellowships are the Titanic, and many find them to be safe, secure, and unsinkable. Sadly, many souls cannot see the imminent danger of staying on board a sinking ship because it does not seem like it is truly sinking. Similar to those standing on the Titanic’s deck, many could not forsake their families, abandon their perceptions of the Titanic’s indestructibility, and look beyond the actions of everyone else on the ship and get to a safe place. There is only one viable option when the knowledge comes that the ship is sinking - get off the ship!
The fellowships of the Church of God ran their course, but they all hit the iceberg. As the ship was sinking into the Atlantic Ocean, the officers were not informing the passengers of the imminent danger. Today, the leadership will not be straightforward with the people and tell them what is truly transpiring. Too many are trying to compartmentalize the problem and say it is only isolated to one location or group. It should be noted that the Titanic did not have water rushing in all at once and it was not even evident that ship was taking on water for a while, but it started coming in one compartment at a time, and eventually, the whole ship went under. Unfortunately, many will not make the necessary moves to save their souls.
Many feel they can maintain a “wait and see” attitude, and if they should conclude that the ship is truly sinking then they will jump in the lifeboat. By then, it will be too late. God has revealed the corruption and dangers of Babylon. When Babylonian spirits creep into the so-called Church of God, it is time to flee. Those who claim to hold the governorship of Christianity should feel completely uncomfortable in your midst. Those who cannot preach under the anointing and inspiration of the Holy Ghost should not be in your pulpits. Those who will not address problems and continually sweep them under the rug would not make for productive janitors, let alone Church of God ministers. Those who will allow carnal (perhaps even backslidden) individuals to perform in the sanctuary do not care for souls. You cannot remain in Babylon and stay unsullied by her corruption. Truthfully, the Bible reveals that you will be a partaker of her sin.
I believe some of the ministers of old foresaw this day, and imposters are claiming to carry on the legacy when they cannot hold a candle to their production. They claim that the ship is going to stay afloat, and that if you should stay with them, you will be saved. Listen, dear soul, it is not simply about maintaining the same teachings and doctrines - that is surely required. However, ministers can doctrinally not change a single aspect, hold the same positions of the days of old, and not budge an inch on any fundamental standard and still drown in the ocean. Ultimately, God has a message and work for this time, and it is not to just maintain what was done four decades ago. God is requiring us to “prophesy again” not “go again.” We must preach the come-out message to those who are living a holy life down in Babylon. We must not “go” and try to fellowship the burned over systems of men and try to raise them up to an apostolic level. Any who endorses such has no vision of the end-time message and will go down with the ship.
Other ministers are on the move for ecumenicalism. Their message is to lay down our differences and come together for the sake of “unity.” No such message in the bible exists. First, the doctrine can never be laid aside for the sake of unity because it is the doctrine of Christ that teaches the child of God how to live. Where there is a lack of declaring clear and fundamental doctrine, there is confusion, compromise, and man-rule. Second, the message of unity is not only a message of coming together, but it is also a message of separation. By definition, unity is “undivided itself, but separate from every other thing.” The message will never be for those of all different theological and doctrinal persuasions to lay aside their positions for the sake of coming together. Real unity is only produced by the Holy Ghost and is not negotiated and manufactured in the back-room councils of men. Any coming together that is not prompted by the Holy Ghost is a move motivated by men for political purposes and is evidence of a sunken ship.
While some are imposters and others poisoned by ecumenicalism, others are simply contending for the status quo. The fact that the preacher delivers a good sermon on Sundays, the children have a place to attend Sunday School, there is a good dress standard, and they are associated with people who are morally upright citizens is satisfactory to the majority. Consequently, many never see the necessity of contending for anything more than what is deemed acceptable by the leaders of their movement. It has become too easy to be deemed a “good” brother because a code of conduct is followed instead of truly challenging souls to measure to every detail of God’s Word. A message that disturbs the perceived peace and safety of the system is deemed divisive, wrong-spirited, and not following protocol. A multitude of ministers today would side with the Pharisees when Jesus healed a man with a withered hand. Since the Pharisees could not produce healing themselves, they decided that Jesus was in the wrong because he violated protocol - he healed on the Sabbath. Sadly, more ministers today are upset about what they cannot produce and preach “protocol” and “order” instead of preaching and producing the gospel. They are more upset about the way something was done or said than the “why” and the “what” that was behind the action. The message of the Church of God will only shake the earthen systems of men when it is preached under the anointing of the Holy Ghost. Anyone who is contending for ease in Zion is going down with the ship.
Dear soul, we will stand in the Judgment for each of our choices. On that cold, spring night on the Atlantic Ocean, five hundred souls needlessly lost their lives by staying on the deck of the Titanic. Whatever their reasons were for not boarding a lifeboat did not matter when their body was also submerged in the chilly waters that buried the ship. If God in his mercy should send a lifeboat, do not needlessly perish. If God has shown you the evils of sectism, the wicked political posturing of men who claim to be his servants, the inconsistencies in executing judgment and discerning spirits, and the cruelty of the shepherds who care not for the sheep, then it is time to get off the ship before your soul should perish. God is only obligated to reveal the truth to you one time, and if you take your eyes off of the truth when you look at it again, it will look different to you. The night may seem ever so calm, the wind may not seem to be blowing, the big and beautiful vessel may seem to be resting ever so peacefully on the tranquil ocean, but do not go back to sleep, do not just stand there on the deck, do not continue to delay what you know is inevitable - that the ship has hit the iceberg, the water is continuing to pour in through the compartments below, and soon that beautiful vessel will be rotting at the bottom of the ocean. The leak will not be repaired, the damage cannot be undone, and the consequences will not be reversed. For now, there is only one remedy, and that is to get off the sinking ship.