W. B. Godbey - Enter His Rest
W. B. Godbey - Enter His Rest
W. B. Godbey - Enter His Rest
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A presiding elder, making a speech to raise a princely sum of money to build a church edifice, with a cost<br />
twenty times the amount necessary for comfort and convenience, nineteen-twentieths of the money actually<br />
being due to the poor heathens who have never heard the name of Jesus, eloquently referred the people to the<br />
Temple of King Solomon, which he ornamented with gold, expending uncounted millions. The queen of Sheba<br />
traveled five thousand miles on a camel to hear his wisdom, see his glory and bring him a million dollars worth<br />
of gold. Now what was the matter with that presiding elder? Sad to say he had actually gone into idolatry, I. e.,<br />
church worship.<br />
Ecclesiolatry is a specious form of idolatry which is fast capturing the great Protestant Church, which God gave<br />
to the world through <strong>His</strong> noble heroes, Luther, Bunyan, Fox, Knox and Wesley, the immortal leaders of the<br />
Holiness Movement in their day and generation. Oh, how fearful are the inroads of these alien gods this day!<br />
Eucharolatry has just about captured the Lutherans and is making awful inroads into the others.<br />
I am personally acquainted with a great holiness leader, once an evangelist, the flash of whose keen New<br />
Jerusalem blade electrified many warriors to redoubled heroism on the battlefield. He is now a pastor and<br />
building for himself an institutional church, having accommodations not only for all religious people, but an<br />
Atheneum well supplied with reading matter, not only religious but secular, and a billiard room and ten-pin alley<br />
for the entertainment of the worldly people. He says this is so they will not have to run after Satan, but so he can<br />
have them under his influence with a chance to lead them to God. The last time I heard from him, my informant<br />
told me that he saw him walking around bossing the work with a great big Havana cigar in his mouth. So you<br />
see he is worshipping at the shrine of two alien gods, ecclesiolatry, the Church god, and tobacco, the filthy god.<br />
Therefore, though he yet claims to be a loyal holiness man and sanctified, I need not tell you whither he has<br />
drifted, and the end is not yet.<br />
The downward trend in religion never means anything short of damnation, because Satan is manipulating it, and<br />
he is making his full calculations upon taking all who tinker with him to Hell.<br />
Now while we investigate the mode of baptism, remember I am feeling great concern for the dear holiness<br />
people who are the hope of the world. God has raised up this great latter-day Movement, with which He is this<br />
day girdling the globe, to preach the everlasting Gospel to all nations and to call out the bride from every<br />
kindred and tongue and people; to get her robed and ready for the speedy return of <strong>His</strong> glorified Son to this<br />
world, for Him to put the devil out and reign forever. I am now, in the providence of God, one of the living<br />
fathers of this Movement. I am so glad that this great revival of Holy Ghost religion represents all churches and<br />
denominations, with their diversified ecclesiastical views and ceremonies.<br />
While in India those memorable three months, in the providence of God, I traveled and preached night and day<br />
to multitudes of the dear Indians through interpreters, and to the missionaries and English-speaking people viva<br />
voce. I did not discriminate by hunting up the Methodists, who, in the good providence of God, have a hundred<br />
and fifty thousand members in that country. I went to all, not passing by the German-Lutherans, who are doing<br />
noble work. We fellowshipped with them as holiness brethren most cordially, and I never did receive a more<br />
fraternal welcome as they made me feel free as Gabriel. I also went and served our feetwashing holiness<br />
brethren with great delight. We had the blessed consolation that we enjoy the glorious freedom which forever<br />
saves us from a fault-finding spirit, for the fires of the Holy Ghost burned up the critic's cap, and if any of you<br />
are still wearing one, I hope the Lord will pour the fire on you and burn it up and that you may never buy<br />
another one. Satan has a variety on hand very fantastical and beautiful; he charges you neither silver nor gold if<br />
you should desire to purchase one. You can have your choice, as he has but one price and that is your soul.<br />
After God took Hezekiah to Heaven, his own son and successor led the people back into idolatry; after Josiah,<br />
the great holiness leader, had gone to Heaven, his son, Jehoiakim, burned the Word of the Lord. God in signal<br />
mercy took those loyal kings to Heaven before they saw the evil that was coming. God is still going to have a<br />
people on the earth, who will hold up the banner of holiness and give the Gospel trumpet no uncertain sound.<br />
After you and I have laid the armor down and gone to our account with God, people of whom we have never<br />
heard nor thought will still lead the embattled hosts to victory. The thing for us to do is to wash our own hands<br />
from the blood of souls, rising triumphantly above the wild clangor of Satan' s musicians celebrating the orgies<br />
of alien gods, whether hydrolatry, ecclesiolatry, pyrolatry, eucharolatry, or some other strange god, whose name