If a person has delayed turning to the Lord, till some hindrance comes,
so that he can not take the steps, or do what the Lord has commanded,
to become a christian, he has simply delayed till he can not become a
christian. If he defers on any account, he simply defers becoming a
christian. At some point, a man passes the possibility of becoming a
christian. That point, or period, is generally thought to be at death.
Some still sing, “While the lamp holds out to burn, the vilest sinner
may return,” but this is not true. It is true that after death none can
turn to God, but it is not true that before death all can turn to God.
The apostle speaks of some men who were living in the literal sense,
but whom he compares to “trees twice dead and plucked up by the roots.
Such a tree as that never grows again.” He speaks of other men “past
feeling,” and others, still living, for whom nothing remains “but a
fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall
devour the adversaries,” and still others for whom nothing remains but
“the blackness of darkness forever.” Some are given over to believe the
lie and be condemned.
Our opinions are worth nothing in reference to those who can not do
what the Lord commands. We do not know a thing about the salvation of
any person only as the Lord has promised. He has promised that “He who
believes and is immersed, _shall be saved_,” and commanded, “Repent,
and be immersed every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the
remission of sins.” He who obeys the command has the promise. Outside
of this we know nothing about it. Not only so, but if we give some
_charitable opinions_ for those who can not obey, or in reference to
deferring, on account of hindrances, these cases will become more
frequent, and these opinions will be applied not simply to cases where
persons _can not_ obey, but where they can not _conveniently_, and in
a short time we have a system of salvation for those who _never obey_,
and the gospel is set aside by our _opinions_.
There are but few sick persons that can not be immersed. We have
immersed some half-dozen in the most critical situations, and some
of them in less than two days of their death, without any physical
injury, and with great relief to the mind. But we only allude to this
to show that there are not many cases where it is not possible to obey
the gospel, and not because this is the _time to obey_. It is not the
proper time to be baptized, or to make a profession. The proper time is
when persons first hear and believe the gospel; when their health, and
strength, and reason, are unimpaired, and they can voluntarily _yield
themselves_ to the service of God. When we come to die, one promise of
God is worth more than all the opinions of uninspired men put together.