W. B. Godbey - Enter His Rest

So he did. What was the result? He paid his fine of forty-five dollars for cursing in the presence of my wife and
children.
Afterwards I lived in that house six years, directly on that man's way to and from the county seat, but he ever
afterward passed by like a gentleman.
While we should do our utmost to keep our children from hearing bad words and seeing sinful conduct of any
kind, let us remember that there is a magic in print, rendering it far more influential than words spoken, which
will evanesce much more quickly than seductive iniquities which we read in an elegantly bound book. There are
many books in Christian libraries, avowedly good and innocent, which ought to be burned, because they
indirectly encourage sin. This point is to be especially guarded in the biographies of the Lord's dear saints, many
of whom have been guilty of the darkest iniquities, blackest crimes, vilest debaucheries and grossest
sensualities, while they served Satan. Let me warn all such to never write them in their biographies for the youth
to read, lest Satan take advantage and the charm of the serpent shall prove too strong for the fluttering bird. The
awful whirlpool from which omnipotent grace delivered these souls may catch the reader in the whirl of its
suction power, and he may never receive the wonderful grace which delivered the subject of the biography.
Truth does not require us to give a catalogue of Satan's awful work in our lives. It is enough to confess it in the
aggregate, and drop the curtain over it forever; showing up the brilliant victories of redeeming grace, till they
drop it into total eclipse.
I never dreamed of writing my biography, neither had I any predilection in that direction. I am sure I never
would have written it had not the dear saints from the Atlantic to the Pacific constrained me to do so. As I, a few
years ago, received the call to go around the world in the interest of missions, doing what little I could to
conserve the kingdom of God during this fleeting life, I postponed the biography until after that tour,
apologizing to my clamorous friends that it would add an important interest to the biography. Therefore I had
utterly dismissed it from my mind and had no thought of writing it now, till, on my arrival, they raised the same
importunate clamor, insisting that I should postpone it no longer, lest receiving my discharge, I might pass away
and they never get it. Therefore I acquiesce, turning over the work to the blessed Holy Spirit that He may utilize
it to the glory of God when I am gone.
I am satisfied that the Spirit will make it exceedingly helpful to children and young people, fortifying them
against temptation and instructing them in the way of salvation, sanctification, edification, education, and
usefulness in their day and generation. My earnest prayer accompanies this biography that the reader may not
only do as well as the writer, but excel him in all of these lines of duty, privilege, erudition and achievement.
The important feature of biography consists in the preponderance it gives to virtue over vice; sin over ignorance;
industry over indolence; frugality over prodigality; holiness over depravity; and victory over defeat. The fact
that I have no blank period in my life, practically and effectively given over to Satan, and consequently no black
segment in my biography, is calculated to prove eminently inspiring to children and young people to avail
themselves of the same economy which fortified me from the cradle. I do not insinuate that I was not a sinner.
This I confess with shame. I was born in the City of Destruction like the whole family of father Adam and
mother Eve, whose children, like the sands of the sea, have populated the world in all ages.
Quite awhile ago, responsive to a campmeeting call, I went to North Carolina. At the opening I was introduced
to my comrade in labor, Sam Page, a former notorious infidel and drunken saloonkeeper, whose profligacy and
wickedness had been proverbial in all the land. Having been wonderfully converted and gloriously sanctified,
responsive to his heavenly calling he was then a flaming evangelist, shaking that country with the Pentecostal
power, which, in the mercy of God, characterized his ministry. The power descended on us and waves of
salvation began to roll over the audience, revealing Him who is mighty to save. Simultaneously with the rolling
billows, Sam would leap on a bench and shout aloud, “Look here, all ye drunkards, gamblers, blasphemers,
thieves, murderers, and adulterers, and see me. Do you not know that I am Sam Page, the saloonkeeper,
drunkard, blasphemer, gambler and infidel? See what God will do for you if you will repent of your sins and
seek Him with all your heart as I did. Oh, He will wonderfully save and gloriously sanctify you!” Then I would
leap up by his side, throw my arms around him and shout to the people: “Look at me, O ye good Methodists,
Baptists, Presbyterians and Campbellites, who keep the moral law and walk irreproachably before the world, but
have never been born from above, regenerated by the Holy Ghost, and know not what it is to receive a new