W. B. Godbey - Enter His Rest

earing the image of Caesar. When they handed it to Him and He looked at it, He said, “Whose is this image and
superscription?” and they responded “Caesar's.” Then handing it back He merely observed, “Render unto Caesar
the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's.” To this neither party could possibly take
any exception, but both were utterly dumbfounded; and without another word they went away. For three years
all the great, scholarly men of the Sanhedrin put their heads together to lasso and down him, but utterly failed.
When the holiness people constrained me to translate the New Testament, they did not ask me to give them the
harmony of the Gospels, but I knew not one of them in a thousand had any harmony, and that all the harmonies
that had been made so abounded in error that it was a pity for people to use them. Therefore I felt it my duty to
give them the harmony of the Gospels in a correct translation, so they could all intelligently and successfully
study the Lord's ministry with all the possible facilities to master the situation.
Even since they discovered the Sinaitic manuscript, I have made it a rule to carry with me the inspired Greek
everywhere I go. As I traveled around the world last year, did I actually, by snatching up the fugitive moments
now and then as I might happen to have a little leisure, read it through five times. The whole Bible is too heavy
to carry constantly, under all circumstances of manual labor and business peregrinations, but not so with the
New Testament. It is small enough to carry in your pocket everywhere you go and riding on the car or waiting
for the train, you can read so much of it and treasure it up in your memory, besides constantly using it as your
sword both of defense and offense. Let me insist that you now adopt the rule of constantly carrying a New
Testament. You will soon get so used to it that you will feel lost without it. Rest assured that the longer you
pursue that habit the more you will be delighted with the precious Word of the Lord and the sweeter an richer it
will become. It will d envelope in you the habit of studying the Word each revolving day. It will also be a
constant inspiration to you to minister this blessed saving truth to the people with whom, in the providence of
God, you come in contact. So my lifelong habit has become the carrying of the Greek Testament, feasting on it
night and day. I'll advise you to carry the translation of your humble servant, as in it you have the Word of the
Lord faithfully translated out of the pure original, without addition or subtraction, so that you can rest assured
that everything you read is just what the Lord has revealed. Besides, it is the only one that harmonizes the
Gospels so that at a single look you can see everything the Lord said and did and study His ministry in its
regular historic order. You can find other harmonies, but they do not contain anything but the Gospels, and
besides, they are much encumbered with errors. You want the entire New Testament in a single volume,
convenient for you to stick in your pocket and carry everywhere you go, and that volume ought to contain the
Gospel harmony, to prepare you for the clear, topical study of the Lord's ministry in consecutive order. All of
this you have nowhere in the world, except in the above translation. In the other current translations, whereas
the most of the errors are corrected, some of the large interpolations are retained to the detriment of the student
who does not want to encumber his memory with anything but the real and literal Word which the Holy Ghost
has revealed. Besides, these translations do not give you the harmony of the Gospels.
“Footprints of Jesus”
My “Footprints of Jesus” has been wonderfully blessed in its circulation among the people, and also very
extensive. The most intellectual and cultured people in this commonwealth, whose names I could give you, have
told me that it was the most interesting book they had ever read. In a mysterious way it is exceedingly magnetic
to people. A sanctified woman in a New England city, who was in the habit of reading all of my writings, said to
me, “Brother Godbey, I do wish you had a book which my infidel husband would read. He is a scientist and a
great reader, but never reads the Bible nor any religious book.” I said, I have a book here that he will read if he
gets his hand on it. She bought it unhesitatingly, carried it home and handed it to him. He read it night and day
and in forty-eight hours was in the meetings and asking everybody to pray for him. He is now the best reader I
have, reading everything I write with the greatest appreciation, and always making me stay with him when I go
thither to preach. He is a very humble, beautiful Christian character. This book has an especial charm for
children, who read it over and over with delightful edification. Sinners read it like a novel and get their souls
blessed. It should certainly be in every home.