Godbey's Commentary - Acts - Romans - Enter His Rest

While the sanctified soul sings, —
“Oh, drive these dark clouds from my sky,
Thy soul-cheering presence restore
Or take me to Thee up on high,
Where winter and clouds are no more.”
“I’ve reached the land of corn and wine,
And all its riches freely mine;
There shines undimmed one blissful day,
For all my night has passed away.”
John Bunyan describes the sun and moon both shining night and day in Beulah Land. Inbred sin is
a dismal old bog, always generating fogs and clouds; which, though frequently for a time driven
away by the sun, ever and anon linger in dismal gloom for days and even weeks together. This filthy
old morass is taken out by the roots in entire sanctification, its bed thoroughly drained and
transformed into fruitful fields, smiling gardens and blooming landscapes, never again to be
enveloped in fogs and storms.
GLORIFICATION.
17. “But if children, indeed heirs, truly heirs of God, and fellow heirs of Christ; if we suffer along
with him in order that we may also be glorified along with him.” None but disciples go to heaven.
The disciple is a follower. Therefore we must follow Christ in all the grand, salient points of His
Messiahship. We must follow Him to the manger, and be born in utter obscurity; to the Jordan, and
receive the Holy Ghost; through Gethsemane, and die to our own will, sinking eternally into the will
of God; to Pilate’s bar, and have the whole world sign our death warrant; and, finally, up rugged
Calvary, there, nailed to the cross, our sinful humanity must be crucified, after the similitude of His
sinless humanity. These grand, salient, experimental foci include providential intervening periods,
replete with worldly contempt, hardships, privation and persecution, which we must gladly endure
for Christ’s sake. After all of His suffering, walking out of the tomb, and glorified on Mount Olivet,
He ascended up to heaven to reign forever. We have the blessed assurance that if we follow Him in
His humiliation, we shall also follow Him in His glorification. This Epistle is transcendently
climacteric, devoting Chapter 1 to Chapter 3:18 to the Sinai gospel on conviction; Chapter 3:19 to
Chapter 5 to justification; Chapter 6 to sanctification; Chapter 7, the battle with inbred sin,
culminating in the entire sanctification of Paul in Arabia (verse 25); Chapter 8:1-16, Paul’s
triumphant shout ringing on after he got sanctified (Chapter 7:25). Now the wonderful climax
continues, the next pile in the heavenly monument being glorification. The silly idea prevails that
sanctification is the end of the new creation. Justification is primary salvation; sanctification, full
salvation; and glorification, final salvation. Of this grand and stupendous work the popular pulpit
has nothing but the first, thus keeping the people back in rudimentary Christianity, homogeneous
with Judaism. This glorification is to reach the body, mind, and spirit, thus qualifying humanity in
its triple departments to go up and live with God forever. Many ignorantly oppose sanctification on
the ground of its unattainability till death, thus making a fatal mistake, and identifying it with
glorification, which must follow sanctification. This is a trick of Satan to keep people from