Dear friends, how many times has God saved His people just in the nick of time. Let’s go to the Bible for some examples of time gone by:-
Acts 12:1-19 Herod imprisons Peter, but the angel of the Lord releases Peter on the night before his execution.
Mark 4:35-39 Jesus calms the storm on the sea of Galilee.
Daniel 6:1-28 Daniel is saved from the lion’s den.
These Bible verses are perfect examples of Jesus’ power to save and His ability to save ‘in the nick of time’ and while these examples are perfect for physical/life saving what about salvation? can one be saved from sin ‘in the nick of time’ also. Let’s turn to our Bible’s again:-
Luke 23:42,43 “And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.”
I believe this to be the pinnacle of all examples, the most precious example of one being saved ‘in the nick of time’. Jesus, in His dying hour forgives the thief on the cross and promises him salvation. What love.
So while we have these perfect examples of being ‘saved in the nick of time’ how does that work for us today? Friends, it’s the same today as it was in times gone by, the Jesus that saved in the past is the same Jesus that saves today. If we put our trust in Jesus friends He will save us. How many times in our daily life has Jesus and His ministering team intervened to save, a near miss whilst driving is our guardian angels intervening, impressions gently warning you not to go in a particular direction is the Holy Spirit guiding us, but the ultimate example was Jesus dying on the cross for our sins, so heaven can be our home. Friends, I’m not saying to leave your salvation to the last minute, I don’t believe it’s right to say or do “I’m going to that party on Sabbath and I’ll ask forgiveness later”, friends, it doesn’t work that way, we can’t go our own way and ‘expect’ heaven to forgive us after we have had our fun. Salvation doesn’t work like that. But if you have deviated down the paths of the devil please remember friends it is never too late, Jesus will save always even if it is ‘in the nick of time’.
Two fish were swimming side by side in the deepest section of the ocean. Although they were vastly different they were in fact best of friends. They were travelling together to ‘better’ feeding grounds. As they swam they talked about times gone by. The elder and larger of the two fish was the leader, he had sworn at the beginning of their friendship that he would always look out for and protect his friend. He felt responsible for his friend, after all he was larger, older and wiser in the ways of the ocean. As they swam they reminisced, enjoying each other’s company. Time went by and the fish ventured further and further towards their destination. Eventually they paused, they had come to the most dangerous part of their journey. They had to pass through enemy territory, the larger of the two fish wasn’t particularly bothered as the area wasn’t a danger to him. His smaller companion on the other hand was terrified, after all he was a clown fish and highly prized in the world of humans. Hadn’t a few of his family ended up in aquariums. He had no desire to lose his freedom and paused at the beginning of the ‘fishing zone’. His friend however had no fear, after all he wasn’t a fisherman’s prized catch. Assuring his friend (the clown fish) he would protect him, he encouraged his friend to venture forward. Together, side by side, they ventured forward, keeping to the shadows and hiding behind anything available. They were making progress when suddenly, out of the blue shot a fisherman’s net, entrapping both of them. Violently thrashing about the larger of the two fish tried desperately to free them both but in vain. They were hauled onboard the fishing vessel, and tossed roughly onto the sorting table. Fish were tossed here and there into separate buckets of water, with the unwanted fish tipped back into the ocean. The larger of the two friends found himself unceremoniously dumped back into the ocean, frantically he searched for his friend but to no avail. His friend (the clown fish) was in a separate bowl of water, the fisherman wanted to keep him and take him home to his son for a pet. The fish left in the ocean was devastated, hadn’t he promised to protect his friend? hadn’t they started this journey at his biding? now his friend was lost and it was all his fault. In despair and discouragement he slipped under a rock and tried to hide. But hiding wasn’t easy for a fish of his size and pretty soon other fish were gathering around asking questions. After learning his predicament one of the larger, older and wiser fish pointed out that the particular boat that captured his friend was heading north and into a violent storm. If he hurried he might just be able to catch up with the boat and rescue his friend during the wild weather of the storm. Now while the boat wasn’t necessarily equipped to manage the storm, he (the larger of the two friends) was. Thanking his benefactor the larger fish asked if he would come with him to guide him on his journey, the larger fish counselling him declined saying he had other fish he needed to help but he would always be with him. The clown fish’s friend thanked him then turned into the storm in a attempt to rescue his friend. Night came on and the waters grew dark, the storm hit with fury, waves crashed over the boat and the little vessel rocked dangerously. The captain and crew were in fear of their lives and started to lighten the boat by throwing overboard their ‘catch’ of the day. The clown fish’s friend circling under the boat watched intently, expecting to see his friend dropped overboard at any moment. Nothing, no clown fish, becoming frantic he started to thump the front of the boat with his body. Looking up he suddenly glimpsed his friend in a bowl, balanced precariously on the side of the boat, he thumped the boat harder but to no avail. In desperation he backed up, then surged forward and thumped the boat with all he had, darkness closed in around him as he lost consciousness. Then faintly through blurry vision, he watched stunned as his counsellor friend from before surged past and gave the boat a really hard shove, just in the nick of time. The bowl holding his friend (clown fish) tumbled from the side of the boat and the two friends were reunited once more. The storm waves were violently rough but the larger fish (counsellor) sheltered the clown fish and his friend and guided them to safety.
How many times friend have we been saved ‘in the nick of time’? How many times friend have we been caught in Satan’s net and trapped in his vessel? Time and time again friends have tried to break us free, braving the storm and desperately trying to release us, but to no avail, Satan’s grasp is tight but friends, we do have a beautiful Saviour, Jesus will come and Jesus will save us. Just in the nick of time friends, Jesus will thump Satan’s boat and set us free. Please friend, if you are caught in Satan’s net, please, listen to your friends (Jesus will send people to help) and please don’t forget to call upon Jesus, He will ‘thump’ the boat for you. Amen