The nations to which the authors of these first books belonged have passed away, the languages in which they were written are 'dead'--that is, they have ceased to be used in daily life in any part of the world. Broken bits and torn fragments of some of the early books may be seen in the glass cases of museums. Learned men pore over the fragments, and try to piece them together, to find out their meaning once again; but no one else cares much whether they mean anything or not. For the books are dead. They cannot touch the heart of any human being; they have nothing to do with the busy world of living men and women any more. Now, our Bible was first written in these ancient languages: is it, therefore, to be classed among the 'dead' books of the world? No, indeed. The fact alone that the Word of God can be read to-day in 412 living languages proves clearly that it is no dead book; and when we remember that last year 5,000,000 new copies of the Bible were sent into the busy working world for men and women by one Society alone, we see how truly 'alive' it must be. Nations may pass, languages die, the whole world may change, yet the Bible will live on. Why is this? Because in the Bible alone, of all the books seen on this earth, there is found a message for every man, woman, or child who has ever lived or will live while the world lasts: It is the Message of God's Salvation through His Son Jesus Christ. The message is for all; for the cleverest white man, the most ignorant savage; for the black man of Africa, the yellow man of China, the tawny little man who lives among the icefields of the Arctic Circle. It does not matter who the person is, nor where he lives; a living force exists in the Bible that will help every human being who acts upon its words to become one of God's true sons and soldiers. No human wisdom can explain this. The Bible tells us about Christ. Before Christ came all teaching led up to Him. He is the only safe Guide for our daily life. Through His death alone we have hope for the future. From the first page to the last the Bible speaks of Christ. This is the secret of its wondrous power. '_These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the Psalms, concerning Me._' (Luke xxiv. 44.) Although we speak of the Bible as one Book, because it tells one world-wide story, yet this one Book is made up of many books--of a whole library of books in fact. [Illustration: BROKEN BITS OF CLAY BOOKS IN THE CUNEIFORM LANGUAGE, BELONGING TO THE TIME WHEN MOSES WROTE THE FIRST WORDS OF GENESIS] Go into a library, look at the well-stocked shelves. Here is a volume of history, here a book of beautiful poetry, here a life of a great and noble warrior. This book was written only last year, this one appeared many years before you were born. Just so is it with the books of the Bible.