In this enlightening episode, Adrian Rogers delves into the historical tale of the Titanic, contrasting its ill-fated journey with the story of Noah’s Ark. Highlighting the overconfidence and carefreeness that doomed the Titanic, Rogers draws a spiritual parallel to today’s world, cautioning listeners about the importance of faith and foresight. Through a detailed exploration of Noah’s unwavering faith, fear of God, and the foresight that led him to build an ark, Rogers articulates a powerful message on preparing one’s family for spiritual salvation.
Adrian Rogers was a motivator, an encourager, and a leader of the faith. He was also passionate about presenting scriptural application to everyday life circumstances, and you’ll hear that in today’s message. Now, let’s join Adrian Rogers.
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There’s a ship that we’re all familiar with, the Titanic. It was called an unsinkable ship, and that’s about the only thing it ever did. It was a monstrous floating palace. It set sail on April the 10th, 1912. It was unequaled in lavish splendor. It had ballrooms, it had beauty salons, it had tennis courts, it had sauna baths. And it has become a great object lesson that preachers have used and will continue to use, I guess, down through the ages until Jesus comes. Several things as I studied about the Titanic that interested me. Number one was the confidence that those who sailed her had in that great ship. Quotation, everybody knew that the ship was unsinkable. That was one of the keynotes for luring passengers aboard this ship that it was an unsinkable boat. And so they boarded this luxurious White Star liner. Every sailor aboard confidently said that it could not sink. And Bruce Ismay, the White Star chairman, stated, and I quote, I cannot imagine any condition that would cause the ship to founder. I cannot imagine any disaster happening to this vessel. Modern shipbuilding has come beyond that. He said it just can’t happen. And it’s no wonder that one of the crewmen flippantly said even God himself could not sink this ship. Here was a ship. that sailed with great confidence, every assurance of safety, every available luxury. And so this Titanic set sail. But not only was there this confidence, there was a carefree spirit. Those on board were having a party. Mrs. Harris, who was one of those rescued, said, quote, we were out on a lark. revelry was the keynote. The weather was superb. The comfort and luxury aboard were all that had been promised. The days passed too quickly. I felt as if I could go on till the end of time. So here they are sailing an unsinkable ship, having a wonderful, wonderful time. And those who were in charge repeatedly called out on watch, all’s well. And the lights are burning brightly. Soon, however, the lights were about to go out on the Titanic. On the night of April the 14th, this swiftly gliding ship was the only movement on an ebony sea. And the stars were the only light in a cloudless sky. And the sea was very calm. Sailing along, having a party. Yes, confidence, carefreeness, and then suddenly calamity. They struck an iceberg. They were not expecting, of course, to strike an iceberg. The crew had kept the Titanic at its regulated speed of 22 knots. But at 11.40 p.m., there was that fateful collision with that iceberg. No alarms were sounded, but gradually the news spread. Few, however, on board the ship, even after they’d struck the iceberg, seemed to be concerned. And for those that were concerned, they were soothed with assurance that all that was needed was being taken care of. All that was needed to be done was being done. That assuaged their fear. They were told that danger was a fantasy. And so the amusements resumed. However, all was not well. 12.45 a.m., a rocket was fired. It was to be the first of eight futile calls for assistance. Finally, they realized that the ship had to be abandoned. Women and children first was the call that went down through the corridors of the mighty sinking palace. By 1.30 a.m. in the morning, the dream cruise had turned into a nightmare. But for many, it was too late. There were over 2,000 aboard the Titanic and lifeboats for only about half that number. Some of the men even disguised themselves as women that they might get aboard a lifeboat. And those who were in the lifeboats circled the Titanic As loved ones might stand around a dying friend and as a family would stand and watch a loved one go over into eternity, they circled this mighty floating palace as she slithered into a watery grave. And those who were in the lifeboats heard the calls of the survivors who were left struggling in that freezing sea. Agonizing wails. pleading for assistance. Those calls went unheeded because there was no more room in the lifeboats. The unthinkable had happened. The Titanic was sunk. Nothing left but some desperate survivors. 1,500 souls went to a watery grave. There were many classes on board. those who were traveling luxury, first class, those who were traveling in other classes, and of course there were those who were below in the steerage. But after this calamity, all of those classes did not matter. There were only two classes, saved and lost. Now you know in society we have all kinds of classes, don’t we? But don’t you have the idea that we’re kind of on board the Titanic? Amen. And don’t you have the idea that we’re on a collision course with destiny? And don’t you have an idea that after it’s all over, there are only going to be two classes, and that will be the saved and the lost? I thought about that as I prepared this message on the good ship, Grace, Captain Noah and his ship. The ark. What a difference there was between the sinking of the Titanic and Noah and the ark. I chose this story of Noah and the ark, which is a true story, because I wanted to say one more time of the importance of getting our children off the Titanic and onto the ark. Getting our families off into the ark of safety so that we might do as Noah did and prepare an ark for the saving of our house. Having said that, do you notice several things about Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 7? The very first thing I want you to notice is Noah’s faith. Notice how it begins, by faith Noah By faith, Noah being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear and prepared an ark to the saving of his house. How are you going to raise a family in these days in which we live? There’s only one way, by faith. And it is a faith that is a working faith. By faith, Noah prepared an ark. Faith is not sitting around doing nothing, saying what will be, will be. I’m trusting God. Faith is belief with legs on it. Noah, because he had faith, he prepared an ark. It was a working faith and it was a waiting faith. For 120 years, he was building that ark. With the wrath of God in the foreground and the ring of hammers in the background. The Bible says that he did this because he had been warned of God. That is, his faith, therefore, was based on the word of God. The Bible says faith comes by hearing. And hearing by the word of God. It was a divine commandment. Revelation that caused Noah to do what he did. That means that you will not have faith for your family until you hear from God. It was faith that was willing to stand alone. Noah was looked on as being strange, weird, eccentric, out of step with everybody else. And precious friend, so will you. Now don’t try to fit in. Noah was different. You must be different. You must stand alone. It was faith that did not depend upon appearances. There was no reason to believe there would be a flood from appearances. So far as we can tell, it had never even rained upon the earth. There was a mist that went up and watered the earth. There had never been a universal calamity. There was nothing to suggest a flood. Nothing but clear skies. Nothing but people, according to Jesus, who were buying and selling and marrying and giving in marriage. Everything was splendid just as it was on the Titanic. But the Bible says Noah was different. Noah had faith. Now here’s the second thing I want you to notice. Not only the faith of Noah, but I want you to notice the fear of Noah. Because the Bible says Noah was warned of God. Do you see that? And he was moved with fear. Two kinds of fear. There’s the fear of the world and there’s the fear of God. Amram and Jochebed had no fear of this world. And do you know why? They had the fear of God. That’s the fear of God that we’re talking about now. Noah was warned of God. And when we say the fear of God, that’s the beginning of wisdom. Now listen to me, precious friend. The fear of God does not mean that we are shocked, dismayed, overwhelmed by the thought of God. The fear of God is love on its knees. It understands that our God is an awesome God. Our God is a holy God. Now, I hear people say that they don’t believe in religion based on fear. Well, I do. I do. Those people, by the way, are hypocrites. We live our lives based on fear every day. We fear starvation, so we eat. We fear catching a cold, so we wear overcoats. We fear those who will break and enter our homes, so we lock our doors. We fear being hit by a car, so we look both ways when we cross the street. We exercise self-preservation every day in a hundred different ways. But the greatest danger that men can face is the wrath of God against our sin and unbelief And therefore, any man is wise to be moved with fear to get right with God. Let me give you a scripture. Jesus said, fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul. That is, don’t you fear the Pharaohs of this world, but rather fear him. which is able to destroy both body and soul in hell. Don’t fear the people of this world. Fear Almighty God. The supreme danger is to stand before God unpardoned, unforgiven, and uncleansed. I had rather frighten people into heaven than lull them into hell. Had you not? There is something to be warned about. Now, here’s the third thing I want you to notice. Not only Noah, his faith and Noah and his fear, but I want you to notice Noah and his foresight. The Bible says he was moved with fear and therefore he prepared an ark. Noah did not wait until it began to rain before he prepared an ark. He did not wait until it began to rain in order to get ready. He had some foresight. He made preparation. I may have told you about a time I was driving my automobile, going down a main street, and a car shot out of the side street. It was a stop street. The man never even slowed down. I saw him coming. I hit the brakes on my automobile. Finally, he saw me, he hit his brakes, and we both began to spin just like that. And it so happened that when our automobiles stopped, I’m looking into his face and he is looking into mine. And he said to me, where in the blankety blank blank did you come from? I started to say West Palm Beach. That’s where I was born. Where in the blankety blank blank did you come from? I said, well, I was just coming down the street, sir. I said, you ran a stop sign. But I said, thank God neither of us was hurt. But I said, you know, mister, You were seconds away from eternity. So was I. But I said, I would hate to meet God with that kind of language in my heart. I would hate to meet God with that kind of blasphemy in my heart. You know what he said? He said, well, I’ll take care of that when I get there. Friend, he will not. He won’t take care of it when he gets there. I mean, you can’t prepare when you get there. You can’t prepare. When it begins to rain, you can’t build the ark. The Bible says that Noah prepared this ark to the saving of his household. Now, we have a generation today, however, that makes no preparation. What did Jesus say would be the marks of the last days? He said in Matthew chapter 24, as it was in the days of Noah, so would it be in the day of the coming of the Son of Man. They were marrying. giving in marriage, eating and drinking, and they knew not until the flood came and took them all away. What were the three marks of Noah’s day? The same three marks of our day. Number one, indifference. Eating, drinking, marrying, giving in marriage. Life is just going on. Then the second mark was immorality. The way that they were living was a stench in the nostrils of God. Genesis chapter 6 tells us that. And the third mark was ignorance. They knew not until the flood came and took them all away. Those are the classic three marks of our generation today. Indifference. immorality, and ignorance. However, Noah went against the tide. He prepared an ark to the saving of his house. Now here’s the next thing I want you to notice. Not only Noah and his foresight, but I want you to notice Noah and his family. Noah prepared an ark for the saving of his house. Now, the Bible teaches household faith. Let me give you some verses. Just open, if you will, please, to these verses that I’ve jotted down. Acts chapter 11, beginning in verse 13. Peter here is talking about his vision and he says, and he showed us how he, that is Cornelius, had seen an angel in his house, which stood and said unto him, send men to Joppa and call for Simon, whose surname is Peter, who shall tell thee words whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved. Just underscore that. You, Cornelius, and all your house. Cornelius, we don’t want you to go to heaven and leave your family behind. And then look, if you will, in Acts chapter 16. Just fast forward there just a little bit. And look, if you will, in verse 15. It talks about a certain woman whose name was Lydia. And the Bible says, and when she was baptized and her household, she besought us saying, if you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and abide there. And she constrained us as an important thing. When Lydia got saved, the very first thing she did was to share her faith with those who were in her household. Now turn to Acts chapter 16 and look in verse 31 at the Philippian jailer, if you would. And he had asked Paul and Silas, what must I do to be saved? And they said, verse 31, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved and thy house. And they spake unto him the word of the Lord and to all that were in his house. Look in verse 34. And when he had brought them into his house, he said, meet before them and rejoiced, believing in God with all of his house. With all of his house. Now, Noah prepared an ark to the saving of his house. Not his domicile, not the place where he lived, but his family. Now, we want everybody saved. Folks, I want all my family going to heaven. The Bible teaches a household faith. That doesn’t mean that you can believe for your children. But it certainly means that you need to have some foresight. You need to make some preparation. You need to say, I want all my family to be aboard the ark of safety. I cannot even imagine the thought of being in heaven without my children. Without my grandchildren. I want them to know the Lord. That’s the reason I’ve questioned each of them so carefully and dealt with them so prayerfully that they might come to know the Lord Jesus and would sit down and talk with each of my grandchildren face to face, heart to heart as their parents have done about faith in the Lord Jesus. I can remember one time many years ago I was praying and I said, Lord, if any of my children who have made a profession of faith are not saved, oh God, Please, if they just are members of the church, but they’re not truly saved, oh God, speak to their heart. I told nobody about the prayer. But the next Sunday, my precious daughter, Gail, came down the aisle and said, Daddy, I’m not sure I’ve really been saved. I want to be saved. I want to be saved. I thank God for that. We need to be concerned about our children, that they’re all upon that ark. Parents, can you imagine a little boy in Noah’s time who would come home to his dad and say, Daddy, there’s a man over here. His name is Noah. He’s building a great big ship because he said God’s going to send a flood and destroy the world. Can you imagine that man saying, Son? Don’t worry about that. Old Noah’s just a religious fanatic. He’s an old fool. He’d been building that boat now for more than a hundred years. No flood has come. As a matter of fact, son, it’s almost humorous. When I was a little boy, I went out and saw Old Noah building that boat and I came to my dad and asked my dad about it. And son, you won’t believe this, but my dad said the same thing had happened to him. He talked to his dad about it. Son, from generation to generation, they’ve always been religious fanatics. We live in one of the finest neighborhoods here. You go to one of the finest schools here. Son, your daddy loves you. Don’t you worry about being aboard any so-called ark. Don’t you worry about those things. fundamentalist believers. Just don’t worry about that. Everything is going to be all right, son. Mister, it’d be bad enough for you to go to hell, but for you to take your children with you. How sad that would be. The Bible says that Noah prepared an ark to the saving of his house. And so think with me just a little bit about Noah and his family. He got his family into the ark. The last thing I would have you to think about is not only Noah and his family, but Noah and his fortune. Look at it here now again in verse 7. Go back to Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 7. And the Bible speaks of the fortune that this man had because he obeyed the Lord. The Bible says he prepared an ark to the saving of his house by the which he condemned the world and became the heir. of righteousness, which is by faith. That’s his fortune. That’s his fortune. Now he had more than that fortune. Actually, he had a great fortune in other ways. You see, while other people were buying and selling, marrying and giving in marriage and going on about taking care of feathering their own nest, Noah was building the ark. Perhaps Noah put everything that he had in the building of that ark because evidently it was a costly project. Maybe when the last nail was driven into that ark, Noah was bankrupt. God said, Noah, come thou and your family into the ark. And Noah and his family went into that ark and he put everything into the ark. And went into the ark, according to this world, a pauper. But friend, when he came out of the ark, he owned the world. Amen. The Bible says the meek shall inherit the earth. When he went into the ark, he was a minority. When he came out, he was a majority. I just love to think about this. But the great thing is not necessarily the real estate that he had. The main thing is this, that he was an heir of righteousness. The things that really mattered to Noah, he gained by faith. And so, what is the message here? I have an idea that there are a lot of people Who are on board the Titanic right now. And they’re saying all is well. And the lights are burning brightly. But I have an idea there’s some other people. Who are on board the good ship Grace. And have put their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And truly. All is well. Are you on board? Is your family on board? The gangplank is faith. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you’ll be saved. Let me help you for a moment. You might say, Pastor, I’m not certain that I’m saved, but I want to be. If a man can be saved, if a man can know it, if a woman can be saved, and if they can know it, I want to know it. I don’t want to face the floodwaters of God’s wrath without an ark of safety. I want to be saved. If you feel that way, let me just guide you in a prayer. Would you pray this way? Lord Jesus, I know that you’re the son of God. I know that you died for my sins. You paid for my sins with your blood on the cross. I know that God raised you from the dead. You promised to save me if I would trust you. Right now, I trust you to save me. Right now, with all of my heart. I don’t look for a feeling. I don’t ask for a sign. I stand upon your word. You promised to save me if I would receive you and trust you. And I do it. By an act of my will, as you have enabled me to do it, I choose you as my Lord and Savior. I trust you to save me. I now belong to you. And Lord Jesus, I’ll not be ashamed of you. I’ll not try to hide the fact that I’ve given my heart to you. But I will make it public if you’ll only help me. In your name I pray. Amen.
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