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