S. RUSSELL BAKER is now in his nineteenth year as General Secretary of the British and Foreign Bible Society, Victoria. He was trained for the ministry of the Church at the College of the Bible, Glen Iris, in the days of Principal A. R Main. He served the Church at Maryborough, Victoria, 4 years, Ormond 7 years, Shepparton 3 years, and Lygon Street 7 years. He was twice Preacher of the Victorian Conference Sermon, 1940 and 1960. Author of the booklet, "The Christian Walk", and is at present a member of the Home Mission Committee and Federal Literature Committee. In 1959 he was invited to visit the United Kingdom by the Parent Committee of the Bible Society.

      The purpose and direction of the material in this pamphlet, as the title suggests, is personal, and is meant to be so. We are approaching our subject not in the usual way by talking of "The Holy Bible" or "The Bible", but with a much more personal relationship to it--as "Your Bible."

      To begin with, let us think for a while about that Bible of yours, how it came to you, and what is the story behind it--behind this Book so often taken for granted.

      It has been in your hands since childhood and the cradle. There has never been a time to your knowledge when you were without it. It has been a familiar sight all along the way, and possibly because of this familiarity, the awareness of it and significance of it have faded or been dulled.

      You have been surrounded by the Book--in family volumes large and ornate, in solid table editions, in small type double column yapp edged bedside form, and in slender thin papered presentation style Moreover you have had a choice of versions, and the accommodation of several English translations.

      Yet if your Bible is going to be what it should be in your life, you must always hold in your mind a lively appreciation of how you came to be possessor of that one single Book. Your Bible!

      Perhaps first of all, it came to you as a gift from God.

      As we say, "O Thou Who hast vouchsafed to us the most precious jewel of Thy Holy Word!" In actual fact, it does come to us in the first place with the Divine Author's compliments. Like every good and perfect gift, it comes down from the Father in Heaven--a grant from God.

      A gentleman once had an appointment with Abraham Lincoln for five o'clock in the morning. He arrived at the White House fifteen minutes too early. He asked a servant, "Who is talking in the next room?" "It is the President, sir." "Is anybody with him?" "No, sir, he is reading the Bible aloud He spends every morning from four o'clock till five o'clock reading the Scriptures." This was the secret of Abraham Lincoln's courage, inspiration and strength. He said, "In regard to the great Book, I have only this to say, it is the best gift which God has given to man,"

      But it also comes to you because holy men wrote as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

      In other words we must keep fresh the fact that a great company of inspired men over a considerable period of time, committed to writing what has come to be in connected form and in a single volume--Your Bible. God spoke to men, and they recorded His Word.

      It came to you too, by the hand of the translator--the man who belongs to a noble army. Step up to A.D. 735. We are in an old abbey in Northumbria In the cloisters of the abbey an old man is propped up on a stone seat. Round him are young men, some supporting him and one or two others have writing tablets on their knees and queer-looking pens in their hands. They are writing down the words which the old man speaks. He bids them write quickly, for his strength is ebbing away and he may not be able to finish his task. At last the work is ended, and the young men carry the old saint to his bare cell and lay him near the open window. There in the rays of the setting sun his soul goes home to God. "That is the

      Venerable Bede." "He spent all his strength finishing a translation of the Gospel of St. John into Anglo-Saxon, so that his boys, as he called them might read it for themselves." The Bible cost Bede all his strength and years of toil--to pass it on.

      What shall we say more, for time would fail if we told of Tyndale, Wycliffe, Coverdale, Luther, Martyn, John Eliot, Carey, Morrison, Robert Moffatt, Williams, who through the centuries by faith, toiled ceaselessly, suffered greatly, subdued languages and made of them vehicles to convey to the nations the Word of God.

      Finally the printer and publisher. Johannes Gutenberg who lived from 1399 to 1468 stands as the pioneer of along line of printers and publishers, who have brought forth the Word of God into printed form. He brought into command a combination of existing factors in moveable type, and with the use of paper and ink, and with financial and other difficulties to overcome, performed this breathtaking achievement. He chose the Latin Bible and the edition was between 100 and 200 copies. Seventy-five years elapsed before the Bible was printed in English, namely Tyndale's New Testament, whose text after more than 400 years, is still surviving in over 90 per cent of our own English versions. Thus began the story of the printing of your Bible.

      Finally, in January 1604, a conference of Bishops and Clergy met at Hampton Court Palace, under the presidency of King James himself, to consider the matter of a translation which would be the official, recognised and authorised version of the English Bible. Fifty-four men were selected for the task, and the co-operation of all in the country who were specialists in Greek and Hebrew, were requisitioned, so that the translation committee should have the help of all the principal learned men of the land. In 1611, the Authorised Bible was published, a monument of literary beauty, an exhaustless fund of happy expressions which have passed into common use and enriched the English language, and a Book which easily remains the best loved Book in the world--Your Bible.

      The following extracts are from a document on the Bible which was found in Westminster Abbey, nameless and dateless:

• A nation would be truly blessed if it were governed by no other laws than this blessed Book. It affords a copy for a king, and a rule for a subject. It gives instruction and council to a senate, authority and direction to a magistrate. It cautions a witness, requires an impartial verdict from the jury, and furnishes the judge with his sentence. It entails honour to parents and enjoins obedience to children.
• It is the first Book, and the best Book and the oldest Book in the world.
• In short, it is a Book of laws to show right or wrong, a Book of wisdom that condemns all folly, and makes the foolish wise, a Book of truth that detects all lies and confronts all errors, and a Book of life that shows the way from everlasting destruction.
• To understand it is to be wise indeed, but to be ignorant of it is to be destitute of wisdom. It is a complete code of laws, a perfect body of Divinity, an unequalled narrative, a Book of lives, of travels and voyages.

      It is the king's best copy, the housewife's best guide, the servant's best directory, the young man's best companion, the schoolboy's spelling Book, and the learned man's masterpiece. And that which crowns it all is--The Author is the one in Whom is no variableness nor the shadow of turning."

      When a deputation waited upon the late King George V at Buckingham Palace on the occasion of the Tercentenary of the Authorised Version of the Bible, his Majesty said:

      "It is my confident hope, confirmed by the widespread interest your movement has aroused, that my subjects may never cease to cherish their noble inheritance in the English Bible, which in a secular aspect, is the first of all national treasures, and in its spiritual significance the most valuable thing that this world affords."

      It has been revised more than once, and has been the source of many an individual effort of translation--Your Bible. And now we live to see the advent of the New English Bible (New Testament), once again the result of a combined effort of British scholars working over thirteen years in the original text and giving to us a Book in timeless English--a completely new translation, not a revision of previous English versions, but an attempt to present the meaning of the original, in the best English we know. It is the timeless message of the Bible, in the English we use today--and with its use of words familiar to our ears, its crispness and freshness, will soon win its way into our hearts.

      At a recently held reception in the Stationers Hall, London, in connection with the celebration of the 350th anniversary of the Authorised Version of the Bible, a message was read to the gathering from the Queen, in which Her Majesty said: "The translation of the Bible into English came like a broadening beam of light to our forefathers, giving them the right and the power to search out for themselves the saving truths of the Christian Religion." She was glad that in her reign a new English version was being prepared and was awaiting with great interest the New Testament translation which was to be published this year. At the same gathering to which the Queen's message was read, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Fisher, referring to the New Translation, said, "A time had now come, when current English had lost touch with the old grandeurs of English speech .and thought; and new versions were needed to transfer such grandeurs into modern speech, so far as could be done, to restore to the common mind of the people the fresh springs of life to be found in the Christian revelation and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. After seeing the New Translation and having now had an opportunity to read it, my own feeling is that we shall go on to cherish the Old Version, and that the New Translation will became a favourite, and we shall soon learn to love it, too."

      Here then is Your Bible--the Book you so often take for granted. But our study takes a sharp turn here, for we are to speak now about

      It is possible to have a copy, and yet be a stranger to it, to know what has just been said above, but alas, without any meaning personally to you. How many people are in this position? It is on this point we turn our enquiry and ask you about YOUR Bible.

      Your Bible should be one possessed by you personally.

      There will be others in the home or lying around for common use, but is there one you call YOURS, to which you turn regularly and with familiar touch, and where you can always find it? Imagine a man going forth to battle who depends on another's sword. Yet many in the Christian warfare do not possess their own Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.

      Your Bible will be within easy reach--may be on the table, in your own room or in your study. Then you can as Augustine did, "take up and read", a saying which has always struck me as having geographical significance. No thought of a Bible high up out of reach but in a place where you can take it up and read. In addressing a meeting in London recently, Dr. Martin Neimoller said in connection with this matter of personal Bible reading, "My father told me the Bible didn't belong on the

shelf, but in your hand, under your eye, and in your heart." The question of "How often do you read your Bible?" has at the back of it another question, "Do you really want to keep step with Jesus Christ every day?" When that question has been settled, the other one will be already answered.

      There is no royal road, anal there is no substitute. This means there is one thing which is essential. In a word, it is this--you must get down to a real reading of it every day. Mere possession of the costliest copy or even the continual handling of it, do nothing to put you into vital touch with the living Word, without your willing approach and honest search, and above all, an absolute reliance on the Holy Spirit "who guides us into all truth." By such reliant and prayerful study of the Bible, our capacity to understand it will be both broadened and deepened. For this is a Book which in itself and by itself is no different from any other Book, but which, under the illumination of the Holy Spirit, becomes dynamite. The well-known words, "There is yet more light and truth to spring forth from His Word", are as true today as when they were first spoken. So the true student stands on a tip-toe of expectancy, straining his vision that he might see the revealing light shining on the horizon, making visible some truth, or its implication that would be of inestimable value to humanity.

      Speaking to students of the Edinburgh University in 1653, Archbishop Leighton said: "Let everyone that desires to be not merely a so-called Theologian or Divine, but taught of God--a true disciple and lover of God resolve within himself above all to make this sacred volume (the Bible), his constant study, intermingling his reading with frequent and fervent prayer, for if this be omitted his labour will be altogether in vain, supposing him to be ever so well versed in these books and have besides all the advantages .that can be had from the knowledge of the sacred languages and the assistance of commentators and interpreters.

      Different men have different views in reading this Book. As in the same field the ox looks for grass, the hound for a hare, and the stork for a lizard--some fond of critical remarks pick up nothing but little stones and shells. Others search into deep mysteries, giving themselves very little trouble about the precepts and instructions that are clear and evident and these plunge themselves into a bottomless abyss.

      But the genuine disciples of this true wisdom are those who make it their daily employment to purify their hearts by the water of these fountains and bring their whole lives to a conformity with this heavenly doctrine."

      For some purposes the submission of the intellect to the Bible, and the study by the intellect of the Bible, are themselves a blessing; but if the Bible is to accomplish its great purpose, we must bring to the study of it the devout and believing submission of the heart.

      Five Chapters a day ought to be read from your Bible, and I suggest you make this your standard henceforth. Have you ever discovered that your Bible breaks up into five convenient sections--more or less equal in the number of chapters?

      First the Law or Pentateuch with its 5 books.

      Then the Historical section containing 12 books.

      Next the Devotional section in 5 books.

      After which the Prophets--5 Major and 12 Minor.

      Finally the New Testament with its 27 books--making a total of 66.

      Now, if every day you read consecutively a chapter from each of these great sections of your Bible, you would be daily in touch with

the Law the Prophets, and History, the Poetry, and the New Covenant. Not for a long period of months would you have to wait to return to any of these major divisions of your Bible. Every day you would be acquainted with some portion of them, as one having just searched there and having too, a complete overall grasp of the entire Book the whole time. Moreover, the reading of these five chapters day will take you right through your Bible in eight months, three times every two years, and will include also each time almost a full extra journey through the Gospels. A most desirable accomplishment.

      In all, there are 1,189 chapters in the Bible and each of these five sections--except the first the Law or Books of Moses, which has 187 chapters and which leaves an opportunity to go almost a second time through the Gospels, has approximately 250 chapters. Thus in eight months, reading five chapters a day, you traverse the whole road from Genesis to Revelation, including the opportunity of a second reading of the Gospels. In other words, you will find that when you have read through to the last chapter of the Book of Deuteronomy at the same time as you are reading through the other four sections of History, Poetry, Prophets and New Testament there will be time over before finishing your reading of the other four sections to turn to the Gospels and read from there one chapter each day also, thus giving you an opportunity of a second journey very nearly through the four Gospels.

      Let us imagine ourselves carrying out this interesting formulae, reading first from the Law with all its majesty, and now entering into the ancient history, with all its thrilling passages interweaving itself with our very being. Yet even now we are thinking ahead of the solace and comfort of the Psalms and other Books of the Poetical section. Thus, without scarcely noticing how time is going, we are already consulting the Prophets, asking ourselves, "What has this prophet to say to me today in this modern world?" And thus on into the Gospel and through our spiritual exercise, before we seem scarce to begin.

      Why then have we talked of a chapter a day? The thing has been unworthy and unfounded. We have let down the adequate requirements of a follower of Jesus Christ in this matter. In what other book or journal would we suggest so small a task? Or compare it with the volume of material we consume every day from our newspapers. Yet in this Book, the words are "quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and of the joints and marrow, a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart," and which is said to be "true from the beginning", "living", "enduring forever", the words of which "shall not pass away", we have been satisfied to read but one and sometimes two chapters a day, and we have thought to be doing well to commend this amount of reading to new converts and disciples of Christ. I suggest we have either let down the whole high standard of Bible Reading requirements, or we have never yet risen to the possibilities. Start now on this exhilarating experience. Take 5 book-marks and insert them in YOUR Bible, marked Law, History, Poetry, prophets and New Testament, placing them in turn at Genesis Chap 1, Joshua Chap 1, Job Chap. 1, Isaiah Chap. 1, Matthew Chap. 1, and so begin a new day in your reading of the Bible.

      And if we do thus read our Bible after the fashion here set forth covering five chapters

      a day, not because of the mere amount or the volume of it--for it is not a matter of five chapters against a chapter or two chapters, it is a system designed to adequately survey and embrace the entire word at the one time and all the time--

then other things will fall into their right place.

      For instance, you will not fall into the error of saying, "Back to the Bible", which I believe to be an entirely wrong approach. Rather say--"forward with the Bible!" Back to the Bible, is out of harmony with the idea of forward and intensive action. It is also out of alignment from the spirit of progressive search--and in conflict with the genius of the method we have advocated here of sequence and movement right across the whole Book from the Law to the New Covenant. The Bible is never behind us--but always with us--ever our contemporary--and ahead of us.

      Again, the memorizing of Scripture will fall into its natural place--a very desirable and necessary thing--the hiding of God's Word in the heart--yet it is not the primary thing--We may be able to reproduce whole books and still not know what it is all about. Rather will it follow as a natural result, and shall we say almost as a by-product of the essential thing, the mastery of the Word itself.

      Or take the dangerous habit of reading the Bible at random. It is not a Book of Necromancy: once the clumsy driver of a medical missionary caused a lot of tabloid medicines to be thrown from the camel's back and scattered over the sands. They were all mixed up, could not be separated, and so were left lying on the ground. But one of the quack native doctors gathered them up, and some years later the medical missionary called on him and found on a shelf a large bottle labeled "Assorted Pills."

      "These," said the native doctor, "are more sought than any of my drugs. I only give them to patients whose cases I do not understand!"

      This is a parable of Bible study. Too often we go to our Bibles as that native doctor went to his bottle of "Assorted Pills." What wonder that the Bible, used in that way, has no healing virtue for our souls. We need to pray with the Psalmist, "Teach me Thy statutes", and then by much reacting and eager thinking, we must make it possible for the Author of the Bible to teach us. It is a complete pharmacopoeia. It contains the cure for every ill. But it is not to be treated as a book of necromancy or to be selected from at random.

      Take too, the related practice of drawing on the Bible just as the emergency arises. So we get the expected prescription which caters for this:

      When in danger, read . . . . . . . . . . . . .

      When in strife, read . . . . . . . . . . . . .

      Helpful enough at the time, but if I may say so, it is too late. A soldier doesn't commence his drill when the battle is joined, but is always prepared by daily practice, and life's battles will only finally be met and won when in our warfare, we are daily reinforced and equipped and ready for any action. When the Word is dwelling in us richly it will meet the emergency and mobilise all its forces to meet the attacker. The most glorious example of this is the way in which our Lord encountered Satan in the wilderness, and vanquished him with spontaneous lightning strokes of the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.

      Too late to turn up a passage and read when the enemy stands in front, armed. The

      Sword must already be in your hand, so that immediately it may be flourished and wielded for your victory.

      Take up and read YOUR Bible then, with a purpose and a plan. Read every day your five chapters, which will take you from the Law to the Gospel, sweeping you across the whole wide range of Holy Scripture in stages you can take in and assimilate and retain.

      It is not enough to tell people to read the Bible; they must be shown how to do it. Long ago, Jowett said that the Bible must

be read as we read any other book since that is the surest way to find out that I is unlike any other book. It must be broken up into sections and mastered one by one. It is useless to throw a library of sixty-six books at people and expect them to profit by our good intentions. Like the plays of Shakespeare, the books of the Bible belong to one family, but each is different. Each must be studied in its own setting or group and situation if we are to know why it was written and what it means. This asks for time and work, but it is worth it.

      Finally, let us add a question mark to our title "YOUR BIBLE?" Thus far it has been a matter of emphasis--first, "YOUR BIBLE!", then "YOUR BIBLE", and now the final development of our theme, "YOUR BIBLE?" For the question does inevitably arise, "Can you hold this Book as your possession? If others hadn't passed the Good News on, many who are now being taught to read for the first time through some portion of the Scriptures being translated into their native tongue, would not be learning as you are of God's love and compassion. The one sure way to have the Word dwelling in you richly is to pass it on. And as well as passing it on by spoken word, there are so many things to help now in the sharing of your Bible with others. For example, translational aids and linguistic schools, literacy methods and classes, colportage schemes, printing devices, visual aids, radio and television communication, all these for the re-diffusion of the Gospel. All support therefore to the hosts of people who devote time and talents, who apply knowledge and ability, and who bring to bear technical equipment, to communicate the Word to others, to the Bible Societies who continue to fulfil this purpose under God, to translate the one Book into every language how ever complex, to publish it however strange the script, to distribute it to all however remote, and to provide it for all however poor. For the claims of the Societies are not that they are mere printing or publishing concerns, valuable and efficient as that work really is, but that this work is a great spiritual movement, a great feeder of spiritual enterprise, a kind of channel, deep and broad and far-reaching for conveying the Water of Life to myriads of hearts and lives Millions of our fellow men have never had a single taste of the good Word of God--yet the fountain of the Water of Life springs up in our dwelling. Shall we leave them to perish? The fittest proof of our discipleship is that we love one another, and how better can we prove this than to pass on to them the Word of Life.

      The gift will be thrice blessed, men will be saved, we shall be profited, and God will be honoured.

      Meanwhile let us pray in the words of Christina Rosetti.