“The 6
Words
that
Sunk the
Titanic!”
Robert
Mandel
It was a
beautiful
spring
day when
the
“unsinkable”
new
ship,
the
H.M.S.
Titanic
set sail
for
America
in 1912.
Traveling
on this
“newest
wonder
of the
world”
was
quite a
status
symbol
for the
many
wealthy
passengers
who had
bought 1st
class
tickets
for this
maiden
voyage.
Naturally,
they
wanted
their
loved
ones to
celebrate
their
good
fortune
with
them. On
board
the
Titanic
was a
fairly
new
invention,
which
seemed
to offer
the
perfect
way to
do this.
“Wireless
Telegraphy”
was a
technology
developed
only a
few
short
years
before,
in 1909.
To send
a
message
by this
means
was the
equivalent
of the
cell-phone
calls we
all made
in 1995
to our
amazed
family &
friends.
The cost
of
wiring a
brief
message
from the
Titanic
would be
more
than $50
today,
but to
send
that
message
from the
deck of
the
greatest
ship on
earth
made it
irresistible
despite
the
expense!
Hundreds
of such
messages
were
composed
by happy
passengers
and
submitted
to the
“wireless
operator”
of the
Titanic,
a young
man
named
Jack
Phillips.
Jack was
eager to
participate
in this
money-making
venture.
Hour
after
hour on
the
night of
April 14th,
he
tapped
out
these
messages
from the
piles
stacked
before
him…but
he kept
getting
interrupted!
Some
other
nameless
radio
operator
out in
the
North
Atlantic
kept
sending
the same
urgent
message
to the
Titanic
causing
Jack to
have to
interrupt
his own
lucrative
efforts
in order
to
receive
each new
transmission.
At last,
in
frustration,
Jack
Phillips
acknowledged
the
radio
operator
of the
“Californian”
who had
been
repeatedly
warning
of
icebergs
spotted
in the
path of
the
Titanic.
These
are the
6 words
of
response
Jack
sent out
that
fateful
night:
“Shut
up! Shut
up! I’m
busy!”
When he
finally
went to
bed late
that
night,
Mr.
Phillips
actually
shut
down the
radio of
the
Titanic.
No
further
warnings
could be
received,
and
there is
some
doubt
that the
earlier
warnings
were
even
forwarded
to the
bridge!
A few
short
hours
later,
alarm
bells
sounded,
but Jack
Phillips
had not
only
doomed
his
passengers
but
himself
as well.
He had
put in
such
long
hours at
his job
that he
was too
exhausted
to
survive
in the
icy
waters,
and he
died
that
night,
25 years
old.
Although
these
events
took
place 99
years
ago,
there is
still a
life-saving
message
in this
story
that it
is
not too
late to
receive Like the
well-to-do
passengers
aboard
the
Titanic,
many of
us are
comfortably
steaming
through
life
oblivious
to the
danger
just up
ahead.
Some of
us even
resemble
eager
young
Jack
Phillips;
ambitious,
dedicated
and
hard-working,
but
choosing
to
ignore
the
warnings
sent to
us
repeatedly
by a
caring
God who
does not
want us
to
perish
in
eternity.
By
ignoring
the
warnings
that God
is
sending
us, we
are
essentially
responding
to the
Lord in
the same
way Jack
Phillips
did the
night
the
Titanic
sunk:
“Shut
up! Shut
up! I’m
busy!”
The
worst
part of
that
choice
is that
after
sending
that
message
a number
of
times,
we
usually
do what
Jack
Phillips
did, we
shut
down our
receiver,
and,
spiritually,
we go
to sleep.
God
continues
to
transmit
His
merciful
warnings,
but
we no
longer
perceive
them!
That is
why the
bible
says:
“ …Awake
O
sleeper,
and
arise
from the
dead,
and
Christ
shall
give
thee
light.”
(Eph.
5:14b)
My dear friend, I submit to you that if we continue
in this
neglect,
we will
suffer
the same
fate
Jack
Phillips
did. The
bible
says:
“For
how
shall we
escape
if we
neglect
so great
a
salvation?!”
(Heb
2:3).
And
again,
“Be
not
deceived,
God is
not
mocked,
whatever
a man
sows is
what he
shall
reap.”
(Gal.
6:7).
The
warning
that God
is
sending
us is
this:
“He who has the Son, has life;
he
who does
not have
the Son
of God
does
not
have
life.”
(1 John
5:11)
Do you “have” the Son of God?
It is
not
an
accident
that you
are
reading
this
little
tract
today.
I believe it is the mercy of God that is even now
inviting
you to
turn the
ship of
your
soul
around
and head
for safe
harbor
in the
mercy of
God.
Consider
how
joyfully
history
could
have
been
written
if the
Titanic
had sent
out 6
different
words
that
fateful
night…
“Message
received.
Course
changed.
Clear
sailing.”
What will you do now with the warning you have
received?
Dear
friend,
you are
loved by
God.
Acknowledge
His
message
sent to
you
today in
this
story.
Put
aside
your
“money-making
ventures”
long
enough
to
pursue
and
obtain
eternal
riches.
Flee
into the
safety
of
Christ
before
your
devotion
to your
career
leaves
you too
exhausted
to
survive
the
icebergs
of life.
Do you perceive the warning signs that our nation and
our
world
are
heading
into
great
danger
just
ahead?
There is
a way of
escape!
Find
your way
into the
lifeboat
of Jesus
Christ!
-
Ask
God
to
give
you
a
spiritual
heart
transplant…to
take
out
your
“heart
of
stone”,
and give
you a
clean
new
heart
filled
with
faith in
Him.
-
Ask
Jesus
Christ
to
come
and
take
up
residence
in
your
new
heart.
Prepare
a
place
for
Him
by
admitting
that
your
sins
can
only
be
cleansed
by
His
blood,
sacrificed
for
you
on the
cross.
3.
Begin
right
away to
attend a
church
that
believes
that the
Bible is
the
literal
and
error-free
Word of
the
Living
God,
and
follow
its
directions
as your
spiritual
compass.
May
our
loving
God
guide
you
safely
home!