# Tolle Lege Take up and read - Site: https://tollelege.net/ ## “Ascribe blessedness to our God” by Hugh Martin - Link: https://tollelege.net/2026/11/07/ascribe-blessedness-to-our-god-by-hugh-martin/ - Published: 2026-11-07T10:30:00-06:00 - Author: tollelege ‘_Blessed are You, O Lord; teach me Your statutes!_‘ (**Psalm 119:12**) “I appeal to you to ascribe blessedness to our God. My text is not a cold, didactic assertion of the proposition that God is a blessed being. It is the warm, adoring, direct ascription of blessedness to Him by a soul in communion with Him, rejoicing in His blessedness: Blessed art Thou, O Lord? Therefore, brethren, join with me in thus ascribing blessedness unto our God. Bless ye God in the congregations, even the Lord from the fountain of Israel. Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Yea, blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for He hath visited and redeemed His people, and hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David. And blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, according to His abundant mercy, hath begotten us again to a lively hope by the resurrection of Christ from the dead. And blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who keepeth not His blessedness unto Himself, but hath blessed us with all spirtual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. His name shall endure forever; His name shall be continued as long as the sun; and men shall be blessed in Him — all nations shall call Him blessed. Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things; and blessed be His glorious name forever. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting. And let all the people say, Amen. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom He hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy. From every voice upon the crowded battlements of Zion let the joyful shout ascend, and let it be echoed back from all that are around the throne. Bless the Lord, ye His angels that excel in strength, and do His commandments, hearkening unto the voice of His word. Bless ye the Lord, all ye His hosts, ye ministers of His that do His pleasure. Bless the Lord, all His works, in all places of His dominions. Bless the Lord, O my soul. Amen and amen.” –Hugh Martin, “**[God’s Blessedness and His Statutes](https://ccrbooks.org/products/union-with-christ-sermons-of-hugh-martin?_pos=1&_sid=13bfe1fb7&_ss=r)**,”**_ [Union with Christ: Sermons of Hugh Martin](https://ccrbooks.org/products/union-with-christ-sermons-of-hugh-martin?_pos=1&_sid=13bfe1fb7&_ss=r)_**, eds. Matthew J. Hyde and Catherine E. Hyde (Glasgow, Scotland: Free Presbyterian Publications, 2024), 272-273. Martin is preaching on **Psalm 119:12**. [⌊Union with Christ by Hugh Martin⌉⌊Union with Christ by Hugh Martin⌉[ ## “Communion with Christ in the Spirit” by Sinclair Ferguson - Link: https://tollelege.net/2026/11/06/communion-with-christ-in-the-spirit-by-sinclair-ferguson/ - Published: 2026-11-06T06:00:00-06:00 - Author: tollelege “The union with Christ into which the Spirit brings us is the foundation for and prelude to communion with Christ in the Spirit. The believer who is baptized into Christ is baptized into His resurrection as well as into His death, into newness of life as well as into His death to sin. In putting off the ways of the old man, the ways of the new man are put on and life in the Spirit begins. The whole of the Christian life then, with its deep roots in the love of the Father and its foundation in the grace of Christ, is characterized by what Paul calls the koinōnia of the Holy Spirit (**2 Cor. 13:14; cf. Phil. 2:1**). Paul’s genitive here (tou hagiou pneumatos) poses for us the happy problem of deciding whether the communion is that which the Spirit creates or that in which the Spirit is partner. Strong arguments can be advanced for both, and it is possible that the expression may itself be intended to cover both. It is in communion with the Spirit that we experience the communion which the Spirit creates in the blessings of the gospel in the context of the church of Christ. These are ordinarily inseparable. This communion of or with the Spirit is, as we have seen, paradigmatically expressed in the life and ministry of Jesus, the man of the Spirit par excellence. As such he was filled with the Spirit and walked in the Spirit; Christians are exhorted to enter into a like communion.” –Sinclair B. Ferguson, _**[The Holy Spirit](https://link.amazon/B0jbCWRns)**_, ed. Gerald Bray, _**[Contours of Christian Theology](https://link.amazon/B0jbCWRns)**_( Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1996), 175–76. [⌊Book cover for "The Holy Spirit: Contours of Christian Theology" by Sinclair Ferguson.⌉⌊ Book cover for "The Holy Spirit: Contours of Christian Theology" by Sinclair Ferguson .⌉[ More quotes from [Sinclair Ferguson](https://tollelege.net/category/sinclair-ferguson/)· More on [Communion with God](https://tollelege.net/category/communion-with-god/) ## “He hath done all things well” by J.C. Ryle - Link: https://tollelege.net/2026/11/05/he-hath-done-all-things-well-by-j-c-ryle/ - Published: 2026-11-05T06:00:00-06:00 - Author: tollelege “The last thing which demands our notice in these verses, is the remarkable testimony which was borne by those who saw the miracle here recorded. They said of our Lord,“ He hath done all things well!” (**Mark 7:37**) It is more than probable that those who said these words were little sensible of their full meaning, when applied to Christ. Like Caiaphas, they “spoke not of themselves.”(** John 11:51**) But the truth to which they gave utterance is full of deep and unspeakable comfort, and ought to be daily remembered by all true Christians. Let us remember it as we look back over the days past of our lives, from the hour of our conversion. “Our Lord hath done all things well.” In first bringing us out of darkness into marvellous light,—in humbling us and teaching us our weakness, guilt, and folly,—in stripping us of our idols, and choosing all our portions,—in placing us where we are, and giving us what we have,—how well everything has been done! How great the mercy that we have not had our own way! Let us remember it as we look forward to the days yet to come. We know not what they may be, bright or dark, many or few. But we know that we are in the hands of Him who “doeth all things well.” He will not err in any of his dealings with us. He will take away and give,—He will afflict and bereave,—He will move and He will settle, with perfect wisdom, at the right time, in the right way. The great Shepherd of the sheep makes no mistakes. He leads every lamb of His flock by the right way to the city of habitation. We shall never see the full beauty of these words till the resurrection morning. We shall then look back over our lives, and know the meaning of everything that happened from first to last. We shall remember all the way by which we were led, and confess that all was “well done.” The why and the wherefore, the causes and the reasons of every thing which now perplexes, will be clear and plain as the sun at noon-day. We shall wonder at our own past blindness, and marvel that we could ever have doubted our Lord’s love. ‘Now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face. Now we know in part, but then shall we know even as we are known.’ (**1 Cor. 13:13**)” –J.C. Ryle, _[**Expository Thoughts on Mark**](https://amzn.to/3TpHHIM)_ (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1859/2012), 120. Ryle is commenting on **[Mark 7:31-37](https://ref.ly/Mark%205.21-34;esv?t=biblia)**. [⌊Expository Thoughts on the Gospels by JC Ryle⌉⌊Expository Thoughts on the Gospels by JC Ryle⌉[ More quotes from [J.C. Ryle](https://tollelege.net/category/jc-ryle/) · More on [Gospel according to Mark](https://tollelege.net/category/gospel-according-to-mark/) ## “Heaven is but the kindness of God” by Thomas Goodwin - Link: https://tollelege.net/2026/11/04/heaven-is-but-the-kindness-of-god-by-thomas-goodwin/ - Published: 2026-11-04T06:00:00-06:00 - Author: tollelege “‘Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.’ (**Psalm 23:6**) When thou art in heaven, that is the time when love and the kindness of love are drawn out, and drawn at length indeed: > ‘That in ages to come He might shew the exceeding riches of His grace, in His > kindness towards us through Jesus Christ.’ (**Ephesians 2:7**) Heaven is but the kindness of God, heaped upon kindness; kindness indeed, and this continued in the fulness of it to all eternity.” –Thomas Goodwin, **_[The Works of Thomas Goodwin, Volume 9](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1601788487?tag=toletaupanre-20)_**( Grand Rapids, MI: Reformation Heritage, 1861/2006), 9: 212. [⌊Works of Thomas Goodwin⌉⌊Works of Thomas Goodwin⌉[ More quotes from [Thomas Goodwin](https://tollelege.net/category/thomas-goodwin/)· More on [Heaven](https://tollelege.net/category/heaven/) ## “Sonlight is the new sunlight” by Dane Ortlund - Link: https://tollelege.net/2026/11/03/sonlight-is-the-new-sunlight-by-dane-ortlund/ - Published: 2026-11-03T07:00:00-06:00 - Author: tollelege “If Jesus Christ is what makes heaven heaven, and if Jesus has a body, then is not the enjoyment of Him terribly restricted? If He is limited to a single ordinary body, then are not the millions of believers on the new earth limited in their access to Him? Here we remember the picture given to us at the very end of the Bible of what it will be like to be with Jesus in the new earth: > “And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God > gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb” (**Rev. 21:23**). What the sun is to the earth on a clear June day, apparently, Jesus Christ (the Lamb) is to the new earth. No one on a cloudless summer day is worried that there isn’t enough sun to go around. The sun is casting its beautiful glory everywhere, and everyone is enjoying it. In some similar way, while Jesus does remain incarnate permanently and thus spatially finite, no one need worry that there won’t be enough Jesus to go around. He will be casting His beautiful glory everywhere, and everyone will be enjoying it. Sonlight is the new sunlight. There are no lines of people on the beach to enjoy the sun. There will be no lines of people in the new earth to enjoy Jesus Christ. Throughout the rest of this book we consider the many joys of a Christian’s final future. But not only are these secondary, they are also derivative. Subtract Christ from the new earth, and we do not have paradise minus one figure; we have summer without the sun. Even the picture and frame illustration from earlier doesn’t quite capture the relationship between Christ and other joys, because a frame can exist apart from its picture, but no joys can exist in heaven apart from Christ. He is not only the supreme joy of heaven; every joy of heaven is itself an extension of Christ and traceable back to Him alone. This is why Jesus told us, “I go to prepare a place for you” (**John 14:2**), yet in the very next sentence he said, “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you _to myself_, that where I am you may be also” (**John 14:3**). _He Himself is the place prepared for us_.” –Dane Ortlund, _**[Finally Home: The Christian Hope of Heaven](https://link.amazon/B02gLPEyW)**_( Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2026), 28-29. [⌊Finally Home by Dane Ortlund⌉⌊Finally Home by Dane Ortlund⌉[ More quotes from [Dane Ortlund](https://tollelege.net/category/dane-ortlund/) · More on [Heaven](https://tollelege.net/category/heaven/) ## “This is my real country!” by C.S. Lewis - Link: https://tollelege.net/2026/11/02/this-is-my-real-country-by-c-s-lewis/ - Published: 2026-11-02T10:30:00-06:00 - Author: tollelege “It is as hard to explain how this sunlit land was different from the old Narnia as it would be to tell you how the fruits of that country taste. Perhaps you will get some idea of it if you think like this. You may have been in a room in which there was a window that looked out on a lovely bay of the sea or a green valley that wound away among mountains. And in the wall of that room opposite to the window there may have been a looking- glass. And as you turned away from the window you suddenly caught sight of that sea or that valley, all over again, in the looking-glass. And the sea in the mirror, or the valley in the mirror, were in one sense just the same as the real ones: yet at the same time they were somehow different—deeper, more wonderful, more like places in a story: in a story you have never heard but very much want to know. The difference between the old Narnia and the new Narnia was like that. The new one was a deeper country: every rock and flower and blade of grass looked as if it meant more. I can’t describe it any better than that: if you ever get there you will know what I mean. It was the Unicorn who summed up what everyone was feeling. He stamped his right fore-hoof on the ground and neighed, and then cried: > “I have come home at last! This is my real country! I belong here. This is the > land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it till now. The > reason why we loved the old Narnia is that it sometimes looked a little like this. > Bree-hee-hee! Come further up, come further in!” He shook his mane and sprang forward into a great gallop—a Unicorn’s gallop, which, in our world, would have carried him out of sight in a few moments. But now a most strange thing happened. Everyone else began to run, and they found, to their astonishment, that they could keep up with him: not only the Dogs and the humans but even fat little Puzzle and short-legged Poggin the Dwarf. The air flew in their faces as if they were driving fast in a car without a windscreen. The country flew past as if they were seeing it from the windows of an express train. Faster and faster they raced, but no one got hot or tired or out of breath.” –C.S. Lewis, _**[The Last Battle (The Chronicles of Narnia Book 7)](https://link.amazon/B09Cd9kKP)**_( New York: Harper, 1956/2010), 114. [⌊The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis⌉⌊The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis⌉[ More quotes from [C.S. Lewis](https://tollelege.net/category/cs-lewis/) · More on [Heaven](https://tollelege.net/category/heaven/) ## “The form of every virtue at the testing point” by C.S. Lewis - Link: https://tollelege.net/2026/11/01/the-form-of-every-virtue-at-the-testing-point-by-c-s-lewis/ - Published: 2026-11-01T08:59:12-06:00 - Author: tollelege “Hatred is best combined with Fear. Cowardice, alone of all the vices, is purely painful—horrible to anticipate, horrible to feel, horrible to remember; Hatred has its pleasures. It is therefore often the compensation by which a frightened man reimburses himself for the miseries of Fear. The more he fears, the more he will hate. And Hatred is also a great anodyne for shame. To make a deep wound in his charity, you should therefore first defeat his courage. Now this is a ticklish business. We have made men proud of most vices, but not of cowardice. Whenever we have almost succeeded in doing so, the Enemy permits a war or an earthquake or some other calamity, and at once courage becomes so obviously lovely and important even in human eyes that all our work is undone, and there is still at least one vice of which they feel genuine shame. The danger of inducing cowardice in our patients, therefore, is lest we produce real self-knowledge and self-loathing with consequent repentance and humility. And in fact, in the last war, thousands of humans, by discovering their own cowardice, discovered the whole moral world for the first time. In peace we can make many of them ignore good and evil entirely; in danger, the issue is forced upon them in a guise to which even we cannot blind them. There is here a cruel dilemma before us. If we promoted justice and charity among men, we should be playing directly into the Enemy’s hands; but if we guide them to the opposite behaviour, this sooner or later produces (for He permits it to produce) a war or a revolution, and the undisguisable issue of cowardice or courage awakes thousands of men from moral stupor. This, indeed, is probably one of the Enemy’s motives for creating a dangerous world— a world in which moral issues really come to the point. He sees as well as you do that courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point, which means, at the point of highest reality. A chastity or honesty, or mercy, which yields to danger will be chaste or honest or merciful only on conditions. Pilate was merciful till it became risky. It is therefore possible to lose as much as we gain by making your man a coward; he may learn too much about himself!” –C.S. Lewis, _**[The Screwtape Letters](https://link.amazon/B0dgWR4Oi)**_ (New York: HarperOne, 1941/2001), 160–162. [⌊The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis⌉⌊The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis⌉[ More quotes from [C.S. Lewis](https://tollelege.net/category/cs-lewis/) · More on [Courage](https://tollelege.net/category/courage/) ## “Forever in the arms of His mercy” by Thomas Brooks - Link: https://tollelege.net/2026/10/31/forever-in-the-arms-of-his-mercy-by-thomas-brooks/ - Published: 2026-10-31T18:00:00-05:00 - Author: tollelege “The greatest design of Christ in this world is mightily to endear the hearts of His people; and indeed it was that which was in His eye and upon His heart from all eternity. It was this design that caused Him to lay down His crown and to take up our cross, to put off His robes and to put on our rags, to be condemned that we might be justified, to undergo the wrath of the Almighty that we might forever be in the arms of His mercy. He gives his Spirit, His grace, yea, and His very self, and all to endear the hearts of his people to Himself.” –Thomas Brooks, “[**The Unsearchable Riches of Christ**](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0851513026?tag=toletaupanre-20),” [_**The Works of Thomas Brooks, Volume 3**_](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0851513026?tag=toletaupanre-20), ed. Alexander Balloch Grosart (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1866/2001), 3: 114. [⌊A top-down view of a wooden table featuring 'The Works of Thomas Brooks Volume Three' book, a black candle, a round wooden coaster, a green pen, and a potted plant in the background.⌉⌊A top-down view of a wooden table featuring 'The Works of Thomas Brooks Volume Three' book, a black candle, a round wooden coaster, a green pen, and a potted plant in the background.⌉[ More quotes from [Thomas Brooks](https://tollelege.net/category/thomas-brooks/) · More on [Love of God](https://tollelege.net/category/love-of-god/) ## “The Spirit of God was poured out in answer to prayer” by Jonathan Edwards - Link: https://tollelege.net/2026/10/30/the-spirit-of-god-was-poured-out-by-jonathan-edwards/ - Published: 2026-10-30T14:00:00-05:00 - Author: tollelege “The Spirit of God was poured out upon Christ Himself, in answer to prayer (**Luke 3:21–22**): > ‘Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also being > baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Ghost descended in > a bodily shape like a dove, upon him; and a voice came from heaven, which said, > Thou art my beloved Son, in thee I am well pleased.’ The Spirit descends on the church of Christ, the same way, in this respect, that it descended on the head of the church. The greatest effusion of the Spirit that ever yet has been, even that which was in the primitive times of the Christian church, which began in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, was in answer to extraordinary prayer. When the disciples were gathered together to their Lord, a little before His ascension,‘ he commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which’ (saith he) ‘ye have heard of me,’ i.e., the promise of the Holy Ghost (**Acts 1:4**). What they had their hearts upon was the restoration of the kingdom to Israel: ‘Lord,’( say they) ‘wilt Thou, at this time, restore again the kingdom to Israel’ (**Acts 1:6**)? And according to Christ’s direction after His ascension, they returned to Jerusalem, and continued in united fervent prayer and supplication. It seems they spent their time in it from day to day, without ceasing; till the Spirit came down in a wonderful manner upon them, and that work was begun which never ceased, till the world was turned upside down, and all the chief nations of it were converted to Christianity. As there is so great and manifold reason from the Word of God, to think that if a spirit of earnest prayer for that great effusion of the Spirit of God which I am speaking of, prevailed in the Christian church, the mercy would be soon granted; so those that are engaged in such prayer might expect the first benefit. God will come to those that are seeking him and waiting for him (**Isa. 25:9 and 26:8**). When Christ came in the flesh, he was first revealed to them who were ‘ waiting for the consolation of Israel,’ and ‘looking for redemption in Jerusalem’(** Luke 2:25, 38**). And in that great outpouring of the Spirit that was in the days of the apostles, which was attended with such glorious effects among Jews and Gentiles, the Spirit came down first on those that were engaged in united earnest prayer for it (**Acts 1:14**).” –Jonathan Edwards, _**[Apocalyptic Writings: “Notes on the Apocalypse” An Humble Attempt](https://link.amazon/B0hxDaR7W)**_, ed. John E. Smith and Stephen J. Stein, _**[vol. 5, The Works of Jonathan Edwards](https://link.amazon/B0hxDaR7W)**_( New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 1977), 5: 355-357. [⌊The Works of Jonathan Edwards Volume 5 Apocalyptic Writings⌉⌊The Works of Jonathan Edwards Volume 5 Apocalyptic Writings⌉[ More quotes from [Jonathan Edwards](https://tollelege.net/category/jonathan-edwards/)· More on [Holy Spirit](https://tollelege.net/category/holy-spirit/) ## “The sum of all perfection, glory and eternal joy” by Jonathan Edwards - Link: https://tollelege.net/2026/10/29/the-sum-of-all-perfection-glory-and-eternal-joy-by-jonathan-edwards/ - Published: 2026-10-29T06:00:00-05:00 - Author: tollelege “The sum of the blessings Christ sought, by what He did and suffered in the work of redemption, was the Holy Spirit. So is the affair of our redemption constituted; the Father provides and gives the Redeemer, and the price of redemption is offered to Him, and He grants the benefit purchased. The Son is the Redeemer that gives the price, and also is the price offered; and the Holy Spirit is the grand blessing, obtained by the price offered, and bestowed on the redeemed. The Holy Spirit, in His indwelling, His influences and fruits, is the sum of all grace, holiness, comfort and joy, or in one word, of all the spiritual good Christ purchased for men in this world. And He is also the sum of all perfection, glory and eternal joy, that he purchased for them in another world. The Holy Spirit is that great benefit, that is the subject matter of the promises, both of the eternal covenant of redemption, and also of the covenant of grace; the grand subject of the promises of the Old Testament, in the prophecies of the blessings of the Messiah’s kingdom; and the chief subject of the promises of the New Testament; and particularly of the covenant of grace delivered by Jesus Christ to His disciples, as His last will and testament, in the **14th, 15th and 16th chapters of John**; the grand legacy, that He bequeathed to them in that His last and dying discourse with them. Therefore the Holy Spirit is so often called “the Spirit of promise,” and emphatically“ the promise, the promise of the Father,” etc. (**Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4 and 2:33, 39; Gal. 3:14; Eph. 1:13 and 3:6**). This being the great blessing Christ purchased by His labors and sufferings on earth, it was the blessing He received of the Father, when He ascended into heaven, and entered into the Holy of Holies with His own blood, to communicate to those that He had redeemed. **John 16:7,** “It is expedient for you, that I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.” **Acts 2:33**, “Being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this which ye now see and hear.” This is the sum of those gifts, which Christ received for men, even for the rebellious, at His ascension. This is the sum of the benefits Christ obtains for men by His intercession (**John 14:16–17**). “I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever; even the Spirit of truth.” Herein consists Christ’s communicative fullness, even in His being full of the Spirit, and so “full of grace and truth” [**John 1:14**], that we might of “this fullness receive, and grace for grace” [**John 1:16**]. He is “anointed with the Holy Ghost” [**Acts 10:38**]; and this is the ointment that goes down from the head to the members. “God gives the Spirit not by measure unto Him” [**John 3:34**], that everyone that is His “might receive according to the measure of the gift of Christ” [**Eph. 4:7**]. This therefore was the great blessing He prayed for in that wonderful prayer, that He uttered for His disciples and all His future church, the evening before He died(** John 17**). This is the blessing He prayed for to the Father, in behalf of His disciples, was the same He had insisted on in his preceding discourse with them. And this doubtless was the blessing that He prayed for, when as our high priest, He “offered up strong crying and tears,” with His blood (**Heb. 5:6–7**). The is the same blessing that He shed His blood for, that He also shed tears for, and that He poured out prayers for.” –Jonathan Edwards, _**[Apocalyptic Writings: “Notes on the Apocalypse” An Humble Attempt](https://link.amazon/B0hxDaR7W)**_, ed. John E. Smith and Stephen J. Stein, _**[vol. 5, The Works of Jonathan Edwards](https://link.amazon/B0hxDaR7W)**_( New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 1977), 5: 341–342. [⌊The Works of Jonathan Edwards Volume 5 Apocalyptic Writings⌉⌊The Works of Jonathan Edwards Volume 5 Apocalyptic Writings⌉[ More quotes from [Jonathan Edwards](https://tollelege.net/category/jonathan-edwards/)· More on [Holy Spirit](https://tollelege.net/category/holy-spirit/)