W. B. Godbey - Enter His Rest

Then as I pass along,
I'll sing a Christian song;
I hope to live forever.”
We should never condemn people for a mere cognomen. God saves truly humble, penitent, believing souls, in
spite of the devil and doctrinal error.
The Mormons, like the Campbellites, preach baptism in order to the remission of sins, which is a, very
dangerous error. Yet we find some clear, bright witnesses to experimental salvation among those people, whose
testimony is not to be discounted for their doctrinal errors. God is so anxious to save people that He never
misses a chance. He is infinitely more merciful than we are. Certain sins if committed blacken the name of the
poor victim with eternal infamy, and people never do forgive them. Yet it is not so with God, who gladly
forgives the vilest sins, when He sees the real and genuine fruits of repentance. King Manasseh succeeded his
sanctified father Hezekiah, the great leader of the holiness movement in his day, and, closing his eyes to the
light of his father's example, not only led the Jews back into idolatry, but even polluted the temple with idols and
worshipped them there. Yet, when a captive in Babylon, amid awful tortures, he repented in sackcloth and ashes,
with a true and genuine repentance; God heard him, delivered him from the captivity and restored him to his
kingdom in Jerusalem, where he spent the remnant of his life, faithfully proving to the whole world the
genuineness of his repentance.
There is but one problem in the salvation of every soul, and that is the really genuine work of repentance,
wrought in the heart by the Holy Ghost, so changing the subject that if he had a thousand opportunities to
commit the same sins again, he would have his head cut off rather than yield. That is all God wants, I. e., the
real, radical change of heart, which means a change of life forever.
Without this real and genuine change of heart, the soul going to Heaven would commit sin there and have to be
cast out like Lucifer and his followers. (Revelation twelfth chapter.) In 1884, when Bishop McTieyre took the
bridle off and turned me loose to go to the ends of the earth and preach the unsearchable riches of Christ, I
immediately darted away to Texas, the great Lone Star state, and began in Texarkana on the Arkansas line, as the
name implies. When I began in the Methodist Church, I found but few people, as religion over the city was at a
very low ebb, and the churches deserted.
Looking round over the city, going from house to house and praying with people, I of course looked at the
different church edifices, as they were pointed out and designated by name. Near the Episcopal Church, on the
same lawn, I recognized a very large building, and upon inquiry was informed that it was the dancing and
skating hall, where the people thronged and participated in those recreations that it was the property of that
Church, and the frolickers paid their money for those amusements, which money was used for the support of the
Church. The Presbyterians had also been renting it, and conducting similar amusements in the financial interest
of their Church.
I found for the above reason that the Episcopal Church was the leader of the city, to which the young people en
masse rallied and there held their membership. I found that Satanic institution had actually built their Church,
till numerically it stood at the front, the leader in popularity and influence. God laid it on my heart to attack
Satan in his citadel without mercy. Therefore I waited till Sunday night, as I was satisfied that novelty and
curiosity would at that time give me a congregation; having antecedently preached to naked walls and empty
seats. Sure enough the house was packed on Sunday night to hear the new preacher. God blessedly saved me
from all modesty, so that I positively specified the very thing I was striking at and preached my sermon on
Satan's church, by which I designated that dancing and skating rink, which was owned by the Episcopal Church,
and used to popularize and support it financially. I literally dissected the matter before the crowded assembly,
and unhesitatingly consigned all the people identified with it to the devil, to whom they belonged, preachers,
officers and members, and showed them plainly by the Word of God that they were all on their way to Hell as
fast as they could go; thus showing up the appalling state of wickedness in their city; recognizing Satan's church
in the lead. No wonder the outside world was so desperately wicked, which was a notorious fact to all the
people. I availed myself of the opportunity to give them a horrific sermon on Hell, showing up those churches in
the awful responsibility of actually leading the people to the extent of their ability right down to Hell; thus
cunningly and audaciously attracting them to the devil's church, in which they were encouraged to dance and