W. B. Godbey - Enter His Rest

sterling value, they had it published in one of the city papers, which was banded to me. My people became
interested about it and asked me publicly to answer it, to which I readily consented, at the same time
respectfully inviting its author to be present and see that I did not misrepresent him. As it was pre-announced,
they gave me a tremendous crowd that night, eager to hear me answer the powerful argument which they had
read in the paper. Brother Jacobs sat in a chair directly in front of me, as, holding the paper in my hand, and
touching the salient points, I proceeded to answer his arguments.
So I began, “The Bible tells us about a debate which God had with the devil in reference to Job.
In this debate, if you will read the book of Job, you will see that God told the devil that Job was a perfect man,
and asked if he had considered him, how there was none like him in the land. History repeats itself, over and
over, as the ages roll on and disembogue into eternity, so, in the providence of God, we have this same debate
now about Job. It was not my pleasure to meet him as I did not live on the earth in his day. Therefore I
personally know nothing about him, but simply give you what God tells me, and assure you that I verily believe
it. I see in the Bible, and so do you, that God says Job was a perfect man, and told the devil so. Consequently I
believe it without a doubt. If Job was perfect, since grace is free and God is no respecter of persons, others can
be perfect, too. And I read in the Bible that Hezekiah, Asa, and others, were perfect in their generation.
“While God said Job was a perfect man, Satan denied it, and charged him with much imperfection. We have this
same debate now going on between Brother Jacobs and myself in reference to Job. He takes the position that Job
was not a perfect man, but very imperfect, and in that he precisely agrees with Satan. I tell you, Job was a
perfect man, for the simple reason that God said he was, and I believe everything God says, because I know He
cannot be mistaken. I am glad that in this debate with my brother, your pastor, I am on God's side, and am sorry
that he has made the awful mistake of taking the devil's side, and advise him now to recognize that mistake and
change his attitude, bidding adieu to Satan and coming over on God's side.” At that time, Brother Jacobs, taking
his hat, walked out of the door, and I never saw him afterward. Every preacher who undertakes to argue against
perfection, or sanctification, which is the same thing, will get into the same trouble and find himself pulling the
devil's end of the rope, and actually helping the prince of the bottomless pit to propagate his falsehood.
Perfection is from the Latin, facio, to make, and per, complete; therefore, it means to make complete.
Sanctification is from the same Latin word facio to make, and sanctus, holy; therefore it simply means the work
by which we are made holy. Here you see sanctification and perfection are precisely synonymous.
As the meeting moved on, we had some of that knock down power, which you saw expounded in an earlier part
of this chapter. Among those thus smitten down was a stalwart man in his vigor and prime. I stayed with the
seekers till eleven P. M., then went away to take my needed rest, leaving some of the saints to watch with those
who could not get away. About two o'clock in the morning, some of his friends procured a wagon and carried
him home and sent for the doctor, who on arrival diagnosed him thoroughly and decided that he was in perfect
health and nothing at all wrong with his body. Then they asked him why he could not walk. The doctor
responded, “I cannot tell you; I only know that he has no disease, and is all right physically. As to why he cannot
walk, you will have to ask somebody else.” So he left him, but when the Great Physician came to his relief, he
had more life and activity than his comforters.
When I went to the campmeeting in the country, the following summer, I found quite a gifted layman, full of
faith and the Holy Ghost, leading the embattled host. Upon investigation, I found he was the leading steward
who tried so hard to close the doors against our holiness meeting, and still held out, after the sanctification of the
presiding elder kept them wide open. The air was full of conviction, therefore God's lightning reached him and
gloriously sanctified him, so that when I arrived I found him the leader in the fight against sin. Fortunately for
him he was an honest man, like Saul of Tarsus, and open to conviction. All such are very apt to get into the light
sooner or later.
Though I had many calls to the West Texas Conference, bordering on the Gulf and Old Mexico, about two years
elapsed after I began my work in that great dominion of the Southwest, before I was able to reach that distant
land. With ample calls to keep me all winter, I ran through the state, passing multitudes of pressing calls, in
order to serve the brethren in the West Conference. My first appointment was at Blanco, a county seat, forty
miles north of San Marcus, where we disembarked from the Sunset Railroad. Having with my junior co-laborer