Nick Roark

'Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.' Grateful to God for Dr. Sailhamer (1946–2017) for pointing us to the text.

"Whosoever is on the Lord’s side, let him join with the Lord’s hosts. If you be not, stand back and do not dare to come; but if you be, the standard is lifted up, the trumpets sound. Come, comrades! who is for Christ! Soldiers, who is for the Lord God Omnipotent? Unfurl the standard afresh to-day. Jehovah-Nissi, the Lord, is our banner, and who will stand back? Let us enroll ourselves beneath him, and say, 'O Lord, go forth with our armies and grant success; for the battle is great, and without thee we shall utterly fail, but with thee we shall surely get the victory.'" -Charles H. Spurgeon, “The Church—Conservative and Aggressive,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 7 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1861), 7: 368.

"Have you considered what the enemy can do, if he is permitted to come in like a flood? In one hour he could raise such a storm as would put you to your wits end. He could bring such a dark cloud over your mind, as would blot out all remembrance of your past comforts, or at least prevent you from deriving the least support from them. He could not only fight against your peace, but shake the very foundations of your hope and bring you to question, not only your interest in the promises, but even to doubt of the most important and fundamental truths upon which your hopes have been built. Be thankful, therefore, if the Lord restrains his malice." –John Newton, Wise Counsel: John Newton’s Letters to John Ryland Jr., 2nd Edition, Ed. Grant Gordon (Carlisle, PA: @banneroftruth, 2009/2026), 29.

"Your experiences will vary, but His love and promises are always unchangeable." –John Newton, Wise Counsel: John Newton’s Letters to John Ryland Jr., 2nd Edition, Ed. Grant Gordon (Carlisle, PA: @banneroftruth, 2009/2026), 26. tollelege.net/2026/04/11/his…

"It belongs to your calling of God as a minister that you should have a taste of the various spiritual trials which are incident to the Lord's people, that thereby you may possess the tongue of the learned, and know how to speak a word in season to them that are weary." –John Newton, Wise Counsel: John Newton’s Letters to John Ryland Jr., 2nd Edition, Ed. Grant Gordon (Carlisle, PA: @banneroftruth, 2026), 25.

"Our employment in this world requires much in praying, groaning, sighing, mourning, wrestling, and fighting against the world, flesh, and the devil (Eph. 6:10). But in the world to come, our employment will lie in praising and magnifying the Lord. Again, our enjoyment will be changed, as will our employment. We shall change our inconstant enjoyment for a more constant (1 Thess. 4:17-18). We shall change our dark and obscure enjoyment for a brighter enjoyment. 'For now, we see through a glass darkly but then face to face,' here we receive grace for grace, there we shall receive glory for glory (1 Cor. 13:12)." -Robert Purnell, A Body of Doctrinal and Practical Divinity from 1657; or A Little Cabinet (Greenbrier, AR: Free Grace Press, 1657/2026), 377.

@PastorPWMartin Totally agree, Paul. It’s a treasure of a book.

We have given away more copies of this book to pastors than any other (100+). I cannot commend it highly enough. Just yesterday a pastor was quoting me something from this gem.

"Let us give ourselves to the study of the Word, and to prayer. And may the great Teacher make every Scriptural truth food to our souls." –John Newton, Wise Counsel, 2nd Edition (Carlisle, PA: @banneroftruth, 2009/2026), 11. tollelege.net/2026/04/07/pre…

"'Search the Scriptures,’ says Christ, ‘for they speak of me.’ As Christ is the treasury of all knowledge, so the Scriptures are the treasury of Christ. These treasures lie scattered in all the veins of the prophets and apostles. Dig for them as for silver, take pains and travel to understand them." -Thomas Goodwin, Works (@RHB_Books), 4: 247.

"You may now rest secure indeed: Christ is risen; who therefore shall condemn? (Romans 8:34)" -Thomas Goodwin, The Works of Thomas Goodwin, Volume 4 (Grand Rapids, MI: @RHB_Books, 1861/2006), 4: 30. tollelege.net/2026/04/05/chr…

Father, in Your mercy dispel the darkness of this night, and let Your servant sleep in peace, that at the dawn of a new day I may wake with joy in Your Name; through Christ our Lord. Amen.

“I first met Elisabeth Danes through her manuscript when I was doing research in the British Library. I remember reading it and feeling the centuries dissolve. Here were the words of a fellow bibliophile from five hundred years ago; it is a reminder that there have been lovers of books for as long as there have been books to love.” -Mary Wellesley, “Introduction,” The Gilded Page: The Secret Lives of Medieval Manuscripts (New York: Basic Books, 2021), 1.

“When we, or those we love, face death, we can find assurance in the fact that Christ, too, has experienced death in all its fallen fullness. He really, truly died. His soul was separated from His body for three days. This is just as we will remain dead and just as our souls will remain separated from our bodies until Christ returns. Our Savior has gone before us. Just as the Ark of the Covenant went before the people of Israel through the wilderness for three days to find a place for them to rest (Num 10:33), so Christ has gone before us through the wilderness of Hades to prepare a place for us to rest in Him. But He has not only experienced the fullness of human death; He has also defeated it. Death does not have the last word.” -Matthew Y. Emerson, “He Descended to the Dead”: An Evangelical Theology of Holy Saturday (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic: An Imprint of InterVarsity Press, 2019), 219.

"What Christ acquired by this sacrifice is beyond description." –Herman Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics: Sin and Salvation in Christ, Vol. 3 (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2006), 3: 339.