");document.writeln("

t was just before midnight on April 14th, 1912 when the HMS Titanic, on her maiden voyage from England to the United States, struck an iceberg in the icy waters off the Atlantic. Within two-and-a-half hours the then largest ship afloat—a ship claimed to be unsinkable—had plunged to the bottom of the ocean. All but 705 of the nearly 2200 passengers and crew aboard perished.

"); document.writeln("

The builders of this luxury liner were so confident of her sea-worthiness that they only provided sufficient lifeboats to accommodate half of the passengers and crew. And these were mostly as window dressing. There had been no lifeboat drill or any kind of emergency exercises; consequently, when disaster struck, there was total chaos. The following is how one reporter pieced together the story of that tragic night.

"); document.writeln("

\"In the panic and confusion that reigned in the early hours of April 15, orders were misunderstood, mistakes were made, fights broke out; some boats were launched with no one aboard but a handful of the ship\'s crew, and a few were even launched empty. Most, however, were jammed with women and children, and had just enough crew to handle the boat safely.

"); document.writeln("

Like the dying breath of some
immense wounded beast, the gigantic
ship slid beneath the surface.

"); document.writeln("

\"The boat crews rowed hard to put as much distance as possible between themselves and the area of the vortex that would be formed when the liner went down. While those in the boats watched, appalled, the ship tilted steadily toward the vertical. At 2:20 AM, with a great moaning sigh as the remaining airspace was displaced by water, a sigh which survivors would later describe as sounding like the dying breath of some immense wounded beast, the gigantic ship slid beneath the surface. In the eerie silence that followed, all that could be heard were muffled sobs of grief from the boats, and the faint cries for help uttered by the few who had had strength enough to jump off and swim away from the ship.

"); document.writeln("

\"On one such boat, those aboard could hear the pleas for help from a man quite near in the water. The crewmen warned him off, saying that the boat was in danger of swamping as it was, and that they would not put everyone at further risk by trying to pull him in. As his voice became weaker, his strength ebbing away in the icy water, one woman near the bow decided she could not sit silently listening as he perished. \'Oh, please,\' she cried, \'can we who have been spared by the merciful hand of God turn our backs on one who needs rescue as much as we? For God\'s sake, let us take him in!\'

"); document.writeln("

\"Reluctantly, the crewmen gave in, and ever so carefully pulled the man into the boat, where he lay, exhausted and shivering, at their feet.\"¹

"); document.writeln("

As the morning light shattered the darkness of the tragic night before, the people in the lifeboats were greatly relieved and overjoyed to see the Carpathia which had sped to their rescue when they heard the distress signal from the sinking Titanic. However, none were as grateful and overcome with emotion as those in the lifeboat who had reluctantly rescued the swimmer who cried for help. To their utter amazement they discovered that the man they had saved—the man for whom the woman in the bow plead—was none other than her own husband!

"); document.writeln("

Page 2

It is difficult to comprehend how the owners of the Titanic were under such a delusion that nothing could go wrong. Little did they or the crew and passengers know when they boarded the ship with such excitement and confidence as they set sail for North America that they were headed for such a disaster.

"); document.writeln("

What could be more tragic in life to live under the delusion that we are on a joy ride and all the while be headed for a disastrous end?

"); document.writeln("

The fact is many of us are. This is especially so when it comes to the most important issue in life: preparation for death. Many live as if death ended all, or they live with the unsubstantiated hope that if there is life beyond death that somehow they will deserve to go to God\'s heaven. However, like the owners of the Titanic, they make no preparation for what lies ahead.

"); document.writeln("

Jesus said that people who lived only for this life without preparation for the after life were extremely foolish. In one of his poignant parables he called one such man a fool warning him that that night his soul would be required of him,² after which he would stand before the judgment of God.³

"); document.writeln("

It can be difficult to believe this because we haven\'t seen or experienced it for ourselves. We can have misgivings about God, too, because we haven\'t seen or experienced him or his angels. One reason we can\'t see them is because they exist outside our four dimensional world. Interestingly, scientists now tell us that there are at least seven other dimensions in the universe. What dimensions God and angels live in we don\'t know. All we know is that they aren\'t limited to the world in which you and I live.

"); document.writeln("

One reason we can\'t see them
[God or angels] is because they exist
outside our four dimensional world.

"); document.writeln("

God and angels have appeared in our world in some form to people at various times. But when the Son of God, Jesus Christ, came to earth 2,000 years ago, he wasn\'t an apparition. He came in the flesh being born as a babe. He came because he knew we were headed for a horrific disaster—a lost eternity headed for the place prepared for the devil and his demons, hell, or what John the Baptist called \"the wrath to come!\"⁴ The Bible calls this wrath eternal death which is not the end of all, but the end of life as we know it. It is eternal separation or disconnection from God, the author of all love and life. In other words, hell is \"living\" death!

"); document.writeln("

The fact that we are all sinners is what disconnects us from God. But because God so loved us, Jesus came to die on the cross in our place to pay the ransom price for our sinfulness—death! He did this on that first Easter season Good Friday so we could receive the gift of forgiveness and be saved from the wrath or hell that lies ahead for all who haven\'t put their life right with God.

"); document.writeln("

The late Vance Havner said, \"God isn\'t out to save the world. The world\'s a gonner. It\'s a sinking ship. God is in the business of saving people out of the world—from the sinking ship.\"

"); document.writeln("

Like the man who was rescued by his wife after the sinking of the Titanic, God wants to save you too. All you need to do is admit to him that you are a sinner, that you believe Jesus died on the cross for your sins, ask him to forgive you, and invite him (Jesus) into your heart and life as your personal Lord and Savior. That\'s all it takes. As the Apostle Paul said to his jailer, \"Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved!\"⁵ To assist you in doing this click on the \"Know God\" button below.

"); document.writeln("

1. Quoted from a letter by Michael Rowland of The People Place, Claremont, California.
2. See Luke 12:20.
3. See Hebrews 9:27.
4. Luke 3:7. 5. Acts 16:31.

"); document.writeln("