W. B. Godbey - Enter His Rest

eceived no faith. When I was about bidding him good-bye, be said to me, “Brother Godbey, tell the
Campmeeting people to pray for my soul, but not for my body; for my good wife died this year, and, if God
will, I prefer not to be healed, but to go on and join her in the bright upper world where I will never suffer
again.”
I hastened back to the parsonage, as my faith for Brother Lively's healing was actually booming.
On arrival I looked on the vacated bed. He had been healed and jumped off with a shout and ran out to the
Campground, where, as usual, he stood in the front of the battle during the ensuing campaign.
Of course Father Scott went to Heaven and I never saw him afterward. You cannot be too diligent and
indefatigable in your visitation of the sick. That is God's auspicious time to make you a blessing both to their
souls and their bodies. It is better to obey the Word in the use of the olive oil, anointing them, although the oil
has nothing to do with healing them; it says “the prayer of faith shall save the sick.” The utility of the oil is to
symbolize the Holy Ghost, who imparts the gift of faith for healing.
The oil in bodily healing is precisely what the water is in salvation. Both oil and water are symbols of the Holy
Ghost, the former in bodily healing and the latter in the salvation of the soul. Thus you should invariably visit
the sick and obey the Scriptures, putting hands on them, anointing them, and praying for their healing, assured
that God will answer your prayer and give them either health or Heaven. Therefore do not think your prayer is in
vain if they are not healed, for Heaven is infinitely more desirable than health. Of course when you do not
happen to have the oil, never make it an excuse for not helping the sick, as it has no more to do with the healing
than water baptism has to do with salvation.
As Christian workers, you not only need the gift of healing for the sick, but all of the nine gifts, recorded in I
Cor. 12:8-11, as the other eight all appertain to spiritual salvation. How can I procure these gifts? Get in position
to receive them and then, in utter abandonment to God, all the time receive by faith the very one you need at that
moment. Radical repentance and perfect consecration put you in position to receive all of these gifts, pursuant to
the sovereign discriminating wisdom of the Holy Ghost. These nine gifts constitute the Christian soldier's
panoply. The Holy Ghost is our omnipotent Armor-bearer. He goes with us to the battlefield every time and
carries all of our arms, leaving us perfectly unencumbered and light as birds of paradise, just ready for Him to
use us freely in the terrible battle with the world, the flesh and the devil. He imparts each gift the very moment
you need it. V. 11, “All these work in you one and the same Spirit, dispensing unto each one severally as He
willeth.”
When you have performed the ministry of healing, by simple faith receive from Him the gift of bodily healing.
At one moment you specially need the gift of the kingdom you may know how to proceed in the emergency. At
another moment you especially need the gift of knowledge, which is insight into divine truth. While faith is the
hand by which we receive everything from God, in that sense it is the grace of faith. You see it is also laid down
in the catalogue of the gifts. In that sense it means the power to believe God's promises and to perfectly confide
in Him. The fifth gift is the workings of dynamite. The Gospel is all dynamite. Rom. 1:16, “The Gospel is the
dynamite of God unto salvation to every one that believeth.” The Sinai Gospel is the dynamite of conviction,
Calvary that of conversion, Pentecost that of sanctification, and the Transfiguration that of translation. The gift
of prophecy is preaching in all its forms and phases, to an individual or a multitude. Discernment of spirits
enables you to tell what Gospel to preach wherever you are, whether Sinai for conviction, Calvary for
conversion, Pentecost for sanctification, the coming of the Lord to get the people ready for translation, or Divine
Healing for the benefit of the sick.
The gift of tongues, I. e., language, is simply the utterance of the Holy Spirit, keeping you always supplied with
words so you do not run out. The gift of interpretation is the illumination of the Holy Ghost on the words you
hear and read, giving you the understanding you need. Of course in the missionary fields where you have to
learn a language and serve as interpreter, these gifts, I. e., language and interpretation, have a broader and deeper
signification and become very precious and exceedingly valuable. It is a common thing for the missionaries, to
their own surprise, to find themselves preaching in the native tongue before they have given it much attention,
thus magnifying the gift of the Holy Ghost. You should be perfectly familiar with my books “Spiritual Gifts and
Graces,” “Works of the Holy Spirit” and “Incarnation of the Holy Ghost.” These three directly devoted to the