W. B. Godbey - Enter His Rest

who are utterly inaccessible to the ordinary means of grace. While the fire baptized people were running all over
the house during the altar service, one of these flaming Jesus, led by the Spirit, ran on a hard infidel and
appealed to him about his soul. He repelled him abruptly, notifying him that he was an infidel and did not
believe anything that those people were preaching and professing, and had not been to meeting in fifteen years;
but having heard so many strange things about this meeting, he had come through sheer curiosity which he had
already satisfied and therefore would come no money. The young man continued his burning appeal, saying the
Bible is just as true if you don't believe it as you do, and you are going to be eternally damned because you don't
believe it.” Then he poured on him a fresh volley of red-hot Bible shot. The infidel responded, “Go on and find
somebody that believes what you say, for I am an infidel and don't believe any of it, and you are losing your
time on me. But the young man gave him another tremendous volley, letting loose on him a regular gattling gun.
Again he tried to repulse him, saying, “I am an infidel and don't believe anything you are telling me.” Then he
said, 'I have nothing to do with your infidelity; my business is to tell you what God says in this Bible, which is
just as true if you don't believe it as if you do. You are going to be eternally damned in hell because you don't
believe it, for the Word says, he that believeth not shall be damned.' “ Then conviction struck the infidel like
lightning, and breaking down he came to the altar and had an awful hard struggle praying to God an hour and a
half, when, arising with shouts, he said, “You must excuse me to run home and bring my wife, for she has
wanted to get religion a long time and I would not let her.” So he went after her and in due time she found the
Lord and shouted with him in the kingdom of God. I mention this confirmatory of the conclusion that we are not
to be discouraged, but to preach the flaming truth of God whether people hear; or forbear, trusting the blessed
Holy Spirit to work in them to will and to do of His own good pleasure.
Owensboro is a beautiful city of fifteen thousand (and now, doubtless, doubled, as our meeting was twenty-five
years ago). This meeting was in the Methodist Church, seating eight hundred and with a membership of five
hundred. The pastor who called me was a noble spiritual man and is now in Heaven. His predecessor, who had
been there four years, though a Methodist D. D., was a Unitarian skeptic, ignoring and ridiculing the deep things
of God and the mighty works of the Holy Ghost. This city is the greatest whiskey emporium in Kentucky. This
pastor had manipulated during his quadrennium to get nearly all of the offices on his board filled by wholesale
whiskey merchants.
Of course the church was in a deplorable condition; had run away into worldliness, unspirituality and
wickedness of all kinds.
During the days of my physical vigor, I always worked by the job and not by the day nor the week, making it a
rule to stay till the walls of Jericho fell down flat, let the time be long or short. When I began in this church, of
course Satan was terrifically and impregnably fortified in it. The very citadels of damnation confronted me
within and without. Of course I had to meet the situation as God, by His Word and Spirit, revealed it to me,
night and day having before me the terrible ordeals of the Judgment Day. The contract was heavy and the
conflict terrible. I preached night and day and during vacation hours ran. Everywhere praying for them in their
houses and preaching the living Word face to face.
We were moving along in the third week of the meeting; some had been converted and a few sanctified. Among
the latter was a prominent church officer who prayed through and received the baptism of the Holy Ghost and
fire about two or three o'clock A. M., then put out in those dead hours of the night running over the city
shouting, and hunting up his friends and telling them the wonderful news. Really the knock-down power had
begun to fall on the people. The rich, worldly members, and especially those whiskey officers, concluded that
they could stand it no longer and ordered the pastor to send me away. For some time the pastor had been
yielding to their pressure and holding his hand heavy on me, doing his best to moderate me. The crisis arrived,
and he notified me that, while he knew I was right and doing what was needed there, he would have to request
me to discontinue my work, thus yielding to the heavy pressure of those rich people. Of course, as he had called
me, I was subject to his bidding, therefore I acquiesced without a word and proceeded to get ready to go to the
next county-seat up the river, where they were calling me urgently. While I was packing my trunk and preparing
to leave, this officer who had been so wonderfully sanctified, accompanied by others whose souls had also been
blessed with salvation came to me leading the pastor with them and told me to quit all of my preparations to
leave; that they had gotten into the fight and it had to go through, and I could not go until victory for those five