Almost Persuaded

By Ronnie Bray

The lovely old Country Gospel Song ‘Almost Persuaded’ warns us that there is a mark that when
attained makes us Christ’s, but that if we fail to reach that mark we fail to become Sons and
daughters of God and heirs of the divine promises.

Almost persuaded now to believe,

Almost persuaded Christ to receive.

Almost doth not avail,

Almost is but to fail.
Some more convenient day
On thee I’ll call.

To be in the position of an ‘almost’ Christian is to prepare to receive the self-condemnation of a

future time when it will be too late to return to the point of decision and choose more wisely.
The poet sums up this awful moment.

I do not see them here,

But after death
God knows I’ll know the images I see.
Each one a murdered self,
With low last breath,

“I am thyself
What hast thou done to me?

“I am thyself
What hast thou done to me?”

The prophet Alma, perhaps knowing of such moments advised his son, Helaman, “O, remember,
my son, and learn wisdom in thy youth; yea, learn in thy youth to keep the commandments of
God.”1

Concerned father, Alma, echoed the sentiments of the preacher, who advised the young in his
own day,

“Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years
draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;

1
Alma 37:35
While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not darkened, nor the clouds return after
the rain:

In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves,
and the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look out of the windows be
darkened, And the doors shall be shut in the streets, when the sound of the grinding is low, and
he shall rise up at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of musick shall be brought low;

Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be in the way, and the
almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail: because
man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets:

Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the
fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern. Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and
the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.”2

There was a constant concern among the patriarchs and prophets of ancient Israel that was
matched by the concern of early Christian ministers that sought to assemble the members of the
flock of Israel to worship the true God as their father had.

Neither Old nor New Testament ministers were simply concerned with the numbers of faithful
they could squeeze inside their tabernacles, temples, and synagogues. Their concern was what
has been called the cure of souls; the eternal salvation of the children of God; the temporal safety
of God’s children and the securement for them of their inheritance in the kingdom of God in the
hereafter.

This concern did not arise in them simply because they were caring and godly people. It was
instilled into the shepherds of the Lord’s flock as a principal and primary duty that could not be
laid aside, for those that laid it aside were sternly reminded by the Father of all souls that they
were derelict in their duty and would have to answer for their neglect.

The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and
blossom as the rose.

It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall
be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the LORD, and
the excellency of our God.

Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees.

Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with
vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you.

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.

2
Ecclesiastes 12:1-7
Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness
shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.

And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the
habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes.

And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the
unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall
not err therein.

No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there;
but the redeemed shall walk there:

And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy
upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. 3

The picture painted by Isaiah is one of peace, beauty, harmony, and blessing. It is a prospect that
cannot be attained unless the people of Israel unite in their common purposes to worship God
and serve Him and each other as He has set forth so that not only will they receive blessings
from His hands, but also from each others’ hands, and by these inspired means move steadily
towards the best society that can be achieved in mortality.

Similar advice to the saints to strengthen each other is given in Hebrews:

Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; And make straight paths for
your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed. Follow
peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: Looking diligently
lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and
thereby many be defiled; Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one
morsel of meat sold his birthright. For ye know how that afterward, when he would have
inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it
carefully with tears. […] But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God,
the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, To the general assembly and
church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the
spirits of just men made perfect, And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood
of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel. 4

There is an important element of purification in the gathering together of the saints of God, and
in their seeking out those that stand in need of comfort, guidance, and strengthening.

Our Father-Creator understand what complex beings He has made us, and it is not His will that
only our path to his kingdom is set out with blessings. He promises that we will prosper in our
mortal pursuits when we follow them with our minds and hearts filled with devotion for Him and
for His children, our brothers and sisters.

3
Isaiah 35:1-10
4
Hebrews 12:12-17; 22-24
That is not to say that He promises earthly riches, position, or power, but that He will cause that
our baskets shall never be empty if we live with our eyes single to His glory and love our
neighbours as ourselves. In this, He asks nothing of us that we cannot fulfil, for He is, above all,
wise, just, and loving. He knows our strengths and our weaknesses and does not command
anything that we are unable to give.

Almighty God is a tender parent whose purpose it is to save and exalt each of His children.