98 THE EEY. JOHN SHAEP, M.A., OX THE BIBLE. 



demonstrate the existence of that Christian witness which, in turn, 

 promotes the ever extending circulation of the Book. 



The Master said, " The Seed is the Word." There are hosts of 

 men and women who believe in the Seed. Their acts show their 

 belief ; and their belief eventuates in a practical witness to the 

 Bible. As followers of Christ the}^ hold that the Book is ordained 

 of God to perform a certain spiritual service ; and that the world of 

 men needs to come under the influence of the Book. They act out 

 their conviction. Some, as colporteurs, go on daily rounds, in the 

 home-land or abroad ; others, as collectors of funds, do their part 

 in another way. As combined, these activities express, in organised 

 form, the witness which is registered in the reports of Bible 

 Societies and missionary agencies. The witness in this case is 

 direct and not indirect ; it is of those who know, as distinguished 

 from those who are ignorant and unappreciative of the message of 

 the Bible. And in speaking of this witness I would not for a 

 moment controvert the contention that witness is also borne along 

 other lines, e.g., from the results of archaeological research, and the 

 influence of the Book upon the minds of barbarian people, and so 

 forth. 



The growth of mission labour in various lands shows with how 

 much greater emphasis the witness of the Christian community 

 throughout the world is borne to-day than was the case a century 

 ago. " The little one has become a thousand." Does anyone ask 

 why all these exertions in the literary world should have for their 

 subject the book which we know as the Holy Bible 1 The answer 

 is, because in the last century, more than ever before, through 

 mental conviction and spiritual experience, hosts of men and 

 women found this Book to show the way of Salvation as revealed 

 to a needy world in the life and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. 



