W. B. Godbey - Enter His Rest
W. B. Godbey - Enter His Rest
W. B. Godbey - Enter His Rest
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you have never heard. We have but one God, the great Jehovah, who, accommodatory to the glorious plan of<br />
salvation, has revealed Himself to us in the three persons of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost – trinity in<br />
unity – and we have this blessed and glorious Trinity all in our wonderful Jesus, “who is the head of all<br />
government and authority,” Col. 2:10, and “you are complete in Him.” Therefore when you get your attention on<br />
anything else, rest assured it is going to prove a snare.<br />
When God had so wonderfully used Gideon to break the yoke of the Midianites and liberate all Israel from their<br />
hard bondage, they elected him to the kingdom by voluntary acclamation. He said to them, “Neither I nor my<br />
son shall ever be your king, but the Lord God of Israel shall be your king forever. But one thing you can do for<br />
me, just give me the gold which you took as a prey from your conquered enemies.” This they did with jubilant<br />
enthusiasm. Then Gideon made a golden image out of it, of course, not dreaming of idolatry, from which God<br />
had used him to liberate his country. He only aimed at it as a souvenir of the great and glorious victory which<br />
they could never forget. But do you not know it proved a snare to Israel and conduced to alienate them from<br />
God, as they had not the stamina to withhold from it that intense admiration which ultimated in the reverence<br />
which is due to God alone? We cannot keep our experience beyond the day of our simplicity, and perfect<br />
humility at the feet of Jesus.<br />
When we entered upon the Campbellite war, their champion invariably affirmed, “Christian baptism is<br />
immersion.” Campbell always affirmed it and claimed it was his prerogative to wield the laboring oar, as he had<br />
the truth. In debate it devolves on the affirmative to prove his proposition; the negative has nothing to do but to<br />
refute the arguments of the affirmative. They had always in their debate affirmed immersion; therefore when<br />
they led off, with me in the negative, my only normal work was to refute their arguments, if I could; if not, of<br />
course they gained the day. In all of these discussions we obligated ourselves in writing to recognize the Bible as<br />
the authority. Of course I had nothing to do but just read the precious, infallible Word and refute all of their<br />
arguments from it. The result was that they so weakened on the mode, that after awhile they refused to take the<br />
affirmative and wield the laboring oar, but said if I would take the affirmative, they would still debate the<br />
subject with me in the negative. To this I acquiesced at once and accepted the situation, granting my opponent<br />
the privilege of stating the proposition to suit himself. Then they stated it, “Christian baptism is effusion,”<br />
saying that if I would lead off in that affirmation they would follow in the negative. Of course in their negative<br />
arguments, disproving effusion, they would prove immersion. As the years rolled on, the battle still raging, they<br />
continued to weaken till they refused to debate at all.<br />
You see from this ten years' war how they fought and lost. As “Immersion for remission” is really their god, they<br />
staked everything on it. They had so long had their own way that they were perfectly confident that their<br />
doctrines were irrefutable. As the years rolled on and the war waxed hot, the whole country got stirred up with<br />
these debates, which we thoroughly advertised long beforehand in the papers of both Church and state, and vast<br />
multitudes came from a distance thronging like great campmeetings. The Campbellites eventually found out that<br />
it was not a one-sided affair, as they supposed, but a game at which two could play, and the people far and wide<br />
were finding out to their surprise the weakness of their course, and seeing that they had been mistaken. The<br />
result was that they got weaker and weaker, till the time came when the tables were all turned around and we<br />
became the challenging party; they operating on the negative.<br />
From the days of Campbell they had affirmed immersion. The time came when they refused to affirm it, and<br />
said they would be willing to debate if I would affirm effusion. This I did with great delight, knowing that my<br />
foundation was sure, the eternal Word of God. The time came when they actually broke down on the negative,<br />
as they had on the affirmative, and refused to debate any more.<br />
They saw that the weakness of their cause had become a matter of surprise and notoriety. While I, having been<br />
brought up under the regime of the good old-style Holy Ghost religion, never had any leaning toward their<br />
heresies, yet I supposed that they had stronger arguments than I found when I crossed swords with them. I was<br />
overwhelmed with astonishment at the very weakness of their cause. So it was like the controversy of Saul and<br />
David, the latter waxed stronger and the former weaker to the end. Consequently, twenty years ago, with our<br />
New Jerusalem blades keener and brighter than ever, behold we found the enemies' camp deserted.<br />
Twenty years of conquered peace have rolled away; the beautiful bluegrass is growing tall and green on the