JRM Sison Chapter - Teachings - One-Hundred Percent

Percentage
     We all know what percentage means; we see it mostly in advertisements; 100% no sugar; 100% pure cow’s milk; 100% pure leather. We also see it in most products that guarantee their effectivity upon usage; 70% alcohol. That’s just what percentage talks about; their effectivity and reliability.

     Let’s see one example of percentage; rat poison. You can’t give a rat pure poison to kill it; that rat will only avoid it. You can’t even give good food to kill it; you will only make it fatter and healthier. So what ingredients do rat poison have; 99.95 % good food and 0.05% poison. Notice that there is only a minimal amount of poison to finish the job. A big amount was used to lure the rat and a very, very small amount to kill it.

     Let’s discuss the percentage of faith that a Christian must have. What do you think must a Christian have? 50, 60, 99.95 or 100%? Let us cite biblical persons who has a 99.95% faith on God; their names are Adam and Eve. When God created Adam and Eve, He wanted their 100% faith on Him. But something happened, a serpent (Satan) saw that their faith was not 100%. It was only 99.95%. If you think that it is enough, think again. What happened next was the serpent inserted poison in the minds of Adam and Eve to doubt the words of God. He gave them faith poison; its ingredients are 99.95% word of God and 0.05% lies. To cut the story short, they bought it. They took the poison and became sinful and it destroyed their lives. If only they had 100% faith on God, they would have known that they were offered only 99.95% good food and detected the minimal 0.05% poison. If only… if only… if only.

Noah and His Faith
     But there is one character in the Bible that had 100% faith on God. His name is Noah. During his time, the people were corrupt and perverted that God wanted to destroy what He created. And Noah was the only one righteous in the eyes of God. Then, God commanded Noah to build an ark that is large enough to fit 20 standard college basketball courts or 36 lawn tennis courts (Side trip: there was a steamship, named the Great Britain built by a British civil and mechanical engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel, made that was similar to the proportions of the ark but smaller and it was the first large vessel to be propelled by a screw propeller.)

     If you were Noah, what will you do? Noah had 100% faith on God. Why? Consider the following:
          a.     What was the nature of Noah’s skills? Was he a shipbuilder?
          b.     Was there a ship that was ever built during his time or before that?
          c.     Did God send help to Noah to build the ark?
          d.     Can he summon the quota of animals needed to be preserved?

     Noah can’t make the ark! But what pushed him to build it? Was it out of fear? Note that there were no great storms during his time (the forty days and forty nights was the worst storm ever!) People around him ridiculed and insulted him for making such a big ship in the middle of dry land, far from the shore! What pushed him to build the ark? Was it because of his skills? If he was a skillful carpenter, the first thing he should have done after the flood was to make ships to use for fishing rather than being a gardener, tending a vineyard. He was obviously a farmer. He couldn’t boast his talent by building the ark. SO, what pushed him to build the ark? It was his 100% faith on God. Consider what happened when he used his faith:
          a.     God gave him the skills to make the largest vessel in his time without any errors or defects. Noah made a perfect ark the first time unlike most engineers that made ships that have sunk many before perfecting them. God made him the best shipbuilder the world had ever known. He used primitive tools to meet the standards of God’s ark. He used what he has in his disposal to meet the deadline of God.
          b.     It was the largest vessel ever made until 1884 when the Italian liner Eturia was built.
          c.     Noah finished the ark on time and on schedule.
          d.     The animals, knowing the impending doom/catastrophe that was to come, sought the safest haven. And God’s hand was evident; He guided the animals where to go. Noah never went to other places to gather the animals. The animals went on their own accord. All Noah had to do was to choose the pair of animals that will enter the ark.

     What else did the faith of Noah do? He answered quickly the invitation of God (Gen. 7:1) when God said, “Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.” The invitation was an invitation of protection. The Lord wanted to protect Noah and his family from the storm and the flood.

Rock the Boat
     Question: did Noah experience the storm? Yes; he felt the rain dropping unto the ark; he heard the angry thunders; he heard the violent wind slamming the sides of the ark; he felt the waters lifting the ark; he felt sea-sick (it was their first time to ride a ship and battling the deadliest storm in the history of mankind). He experienced the storm but it never touched him, his family and everything under the care of the ark of God. They were shielded from the horrors of the storm. They heard the storm, they felt its anger rocking the ark but it never hurt them. God’s invitation of protection doesn’t mean an invitation of numbness. As Noah had felt the storm, so do we, Christians, feel the problems of life. As the storm never hurt Noah, so do the problems will never hurt us. As long as we had answered the invitation of God positively, no evil shall befall us (Psalms 91:10).

The LEAD of a Christian
     Going back to our last preaching “The Christian’s Kryptonite”; Superman’s weakness is kryptonite. But if the kryptonite is inside a chest made out of lead, the radiation of the kryptonite is shielded making the kryptonite useless in the presence of Superman. The ark of God is the shield of Noah. God is also inviting us to enter this shielded life. And all we have to do is to be inside the LEAD that shields us from sin.
          ·     Living the Word of God
          ·     Enduring the temptation of life
          ·     Asylum of Peace
          ·     Devotion

The Command of God
     After the flood, God had commanded Noah to GO out of the ark. It was a command of blessing. The time of protection has passed and the time of blessing has come. Note that God protected not only Noah and his family but also his assets; the animals (Gen. 9:3). Not only did God protected Noah’s assets but also given new assets; the green herb (Gen. 9:3). The time of protection has passed and the time of overflowing blessing has come.

     Brethren, are you 100% faithful to the Lord? Embrace the word of God and acknowledge Jesus Christ as your God and Saviour and be saved. Abide in Him and abide in His words and you will be blessed (John 15:7). Hearken unto His voice and receive the overflowing blessing of God (Deut. 28:2, 8, 13).