W. B. Godbey - Enter His Rest

among the tribes assembled at Shiloh. While Moses represented the law, and had to die in the wilderness, lest
somebody conclude that sanctification is by good works, I. e., keeping the law, Aaron, the high priest, had also
to die in the wilderness, lest people should believe that they could be sanctified by baptism, sacrament and
church rites. Miriam, the fire-baptized evangelist, must die in the wilderness, too, lest people should look to the
sanctified preachers for the blessing. But Joshua is a Hebrew word which means Jesus, whom he gloriously
symbolized. Therefore he alone could lead them through the Jordan into the land flowing with milk and honey
and abounding in corn and wine. N. B. All I have here imputed to Joshua simply means that Jesus does it.
Sanctification, by the grace of God, is infinitely more to me than I can possibly tell you. When I received the
Holy Ghost, He gave me His wonderful freedom. 2 Chr. 5:17, “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is
freedom.” Sanctified people enjoy the very freedom of God Himself, who is free to do everything good and
nothing bad. The sweetness and blessedness of this freedom is heaven on earth. Well do we sing, “Prisons would
palaces prove, if Jesus would dwell with me there.” I can neither by speech nor pen approximate the absolute,
ineffable felicity of this freedom. It puts all transitory things into final and total eclipse. Before I got sanctified I
carried, oh, so many crushing burdens. Since that notable hour, I have been light as a bird of Paradise, not
encumbered with a solitary burden. Not that I have none, for I have a lost world on my heart, with all the grand
and absorbing interest of God's kingdom, but Jesus carries all of my burdens and me, too. He gives me sweet
blessedness and perfect rest in His arms, and a glorious balloon ride, soaring above every cloud, through the
bright impereon where is the Sun of righteousness, who knows no eclipse; where no storm clouds ever rise to
hide my Savior from my eyes.
I am so sorry for my dear brethren in the ministry, crushed with burdens and worn with toils till they are
prematurely gray and go into superannuation at the very time they ought to be doing the best preaching of their
lives. I just know not what to do for them. If they had any idea what Jesus has for them, they would cut off right
hands and pluck out right eyes, gladly and unhesitatingly, to get it.
The Lord, in His great mercy, gave me this experience in 1868, fifteen years before the Holiness Movement
crossed the Ohio River. During that time I had very little sympathy appertaining to the experience in my own
Conference. The preachers much appreciated the revivals which everywhere attended my ministry, but many of
them pronounced me crazy on sanctification.
On one occasion when they opened the love feast on Sunday morning, I was the first to tell my experience, not
only of conversion, but of entire sanctification. Our excellent brother, Richard Deering, of Louisville, who, like
myself, had the blessed testimony, faithfully witnessed to what God had done for his soul. He was followed by
Brother Grinstead, of the Kentucky Conference, who meekly bore witness to this same blessed experience. Then
followed Dr. H____, who antagonized our testimony, and suggested that we have no more on that line. He was
quickly followed by Dr.
K____, who fully corroborated him in his speech, quite condemnatory of our testimony, and said we could have
no more of them, as we were drawing a division line among the preachers, as they were not all in possession of
that second experience. Then the brethren who did not claim sanctification followed, freely antagonizing the two
doctors who had spoken against us, frankly observing that if we had an experience which they had not reached,
they wanted us to tell it, so that they might have the benefit of our testimony to help them get the same. So at
that time a debate sprang up among the unsanctified brethren, two of them attempting to have the brakes put on
the sanctified testimonies, and others urging that we take all we can get, by way of encouragement to those who
had not received the experience. Then the leader of the meeting pronounced the controversy out of order,
discontinued it and ordered them to begin de novo, humbly and freely to tell what God had done for their souls.
Then they broke out and sang a good old Methodist song. Meanwhile I went and sat down on the lap of Dr.
H____, who was large and stout, and, putting my arms around him said: “Brother Jim, I love you better than
ever. Then the tender-hearted man said, “Godbey, I have acted the fool, and I ask your pardon; whenever you
can, I want you to come and preach in my church.” On that occasion we had a beautiful illustration of the Spirit
that characterizes this experience. In the controversy, not one of us said a word nor had any inclination to do so.
We all kept perfectly sweet, rejoicing in the Lord and overflowing with love for the brethren who antagonized
us. While they were killing our Savior, He was praying for His murderers. Sanctification takes old Adam out of
you, and leaves Jesus to reign without a rival in the heart and life. In that case we do as He would do under