'The Servant of the Lord'--that means, first of all, that Christ, in
all which He does, meekly and obediently executes the Father's will.
As He Himself said, 'I come not to do Mine own will, but the will of
Him that sent Me.' But it carries us further than that, to a point
about which I would like to say one word now; and that is, the clear
recognition that the very centre of Jewish prophecy is the revelation
of the personality of the Christ. Now, it seems to me that present
tendencies, discussions about the nature and limits of inspiration,
investigations which, in many directions, are to be welcomed and are
fruitful as to the manner of origin of the books of the Old
Testament, and as to their collection into a Canon and a whole--that
all this new light has a counterbalancing disadvantage, in that it
tends somewhat to obscure in men's minds the great central truth
about the revelation of God in Israel--viz. that it was all
progressive, and that its goal and end was Jesus Christ. 'The
testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy,' and however much we
may have to learn--and I have no doubt that we have a great deal to
learn, about the composition, the structure, the authorship, the date
of these ancient books--I take leave to say that the unlearned
reader, who recognises that they all converge on Jesus Christ, has
hold of the clue of the labyrinth, and has come nearer to the marrow
of the books than the most learned investigators, who see all manner
of things besides in them, and do not see that 'they that went before
cried, saying, Hosanna! Blessed be He that cometh in the name of the
Lord!'

And so I venture to commend to you, brethren--not as a barrier
against any reverent investigation, not as stopping any careful
study--this as the central truth concerning the ancient revelation,