Two wonderful articles by E. J. Waggoner that ran 1 week apart in the Signs of the Times, 1889. The second article is a continuation of the first and so they are combined into one downloadable document.
He went up to the temple a sinner; he went down to his house a righteous man; not having his own righteousness, but “that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.” --E. J. Waggoner
God "knows what we need, so that, as the child to the parent, we come to Him, not to let Him know that we are in need, but to take what He has before prepared for us. Our asking is not to make Him willing to give, but to show our willingness to receive."
"These men cannot be renewed again to repentance, not because they have crucified the Lord, but because they persist in doing it." --E. J. Waggoner
“You shall not murder” (Ex. 20:13).
A very important lesson is conveyed by our Lord’s illustration in Luke 17:5-10.
"Although connection with the church is proper and a source of great benefit to the individual when the church is not in a fallen state, his relation to God and to the Gospel is the same as though he were living alone upon an island in the midst of the sea."
AS God inhabits eternity, so that all time is present with Him, so all His promises and blessings for men are in the present tense. There can be no future or past time to Him. This makes Him “a very present help in trouble,” for we can live only in the present.
Ever since the fall, men could enter the gates of righteousness at any time they chose. Thus it will be until probation ends.
"The law came from the Son as well as from the Father, for they are one. But grace, as well as truth, came by Jesus Christ. (John 1:17). By His divine, creative power all things are given to us that pertain to life and godliness." Ellet J. Waggoner