Sounding the Depths:
When Jesus Prays For His People by Michael A. Milton
Some books are big and weighty tomes that carry the weight
of the world on their shoulder, others are slender but pack a mighty punch of
truth. Sounding the Depths by Dr.
Michael Milton is one of those small volumes that are pastorally sensitive,
theologically sound, and encouraging at every level. After reading these chapters based upon messages
from John 17, you cannot come away without a resounding high view of Jesus and
his prayers for the world. With
portraits of leaders from church history, biblical commentary, and practical
wisdom, Milton brings out fresh meaning from the gospel text that leads us to
worship and service.
The first chapter points out to the opening lines of John 17
where Jesus speaks to the Father in connection with glory. Milton makes the point vividly that the love
relationship that exists between Father and Son is bound up with the
covenant. Milton writes, “Every great
love was first be rooted in a covenant relationship. Love without covenant is fleeting,
Hollywood-like, without strength to endure.” (14-15) The Trinitarian love between the three
persons in the Godhead emanates compassion, fellowship, and unending love. Therefore, it is no surprise that the
relationship between the Son of God is uniquely a love relationship, committed
to one another. Milton hits on another
important point in this chapter by reiterating the fact that the Son of God’s
love for you is so deep that took Jesus to the cross, therefore, this
compassionate prayer on our behalf should move us to love him greater,
resisting evil in the present time (20).
This little book is saturated with the gospel. Milton writes, “The truth of the gospel is
that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. The truth of the gospel is that our broken
spirits and vulnerability, coming out of our own awareness of our sin
condition, opens the door of God’s strength in Jesus Christ. And likewise, this truth is what keeps
us. Knowing Jesus and His grace saves us
and seals us.” (31) Hanging onto Romans
5:8 while focusing on the power of Jesus Christ, the gospel penetrates to the
most wretched of sinners. Notice here that Milton indicates that our brokenness
is not which keeps us away from the gospel but the thing that drives us toward
Christ. Knowing Jesus involves both a
mental recognition of truth but also a experiential reality in the life of
every believer, longing to know Christ and make him known in all the earth.
Near the end of the book, Milton comes through with a key
truth that is worth repeating; namely that “There will never be a truly
successful man or woman, a truly great person, unless that person gives his
life away for others.” (71) Humility
comes in many different shapes but at the baseline it involves a delight in the
good of others for the sake of Jesus. We
have to go no further than looking at Jesus, who modeled perfect humility to the
point of death, even death on cross.
Milton does a great job throughout this book at identifying key
teachings in the gospel and following them up with insightful questions related
to the reader’s walk of faith.
Much thanks for this book goes to EP Books and Cross Focused
Reviews for this review copy in exchange for an honest review.
Comments
Post a Comment