The Chart

MY LITTLE MEN AND WOMEN: We are all travelers. Now when a traveler starts out upon a journey he always desires to have in his possession one of these things which I hold in my hand.

I know you will recognize it at once, and say that it is a map. This map tells you the name of the country; it shows you where there are mountains, where there are rivers, where there are valleys, where there are cities, and shows you the entire country of Germany. In traveling through a strange country, if you do not have a map, you might be lost upon the mountains, or your journey would be obstructed by the rivers which you could not cross, and in various ways you would find it absolutely necessary to have a map.

Now, when a traveler goes out upon the sea, it is just as necessary that he should have a map, or what the sailors call a chart, as it is for the traveler upon the land. The chart which the sea captain has, shows the mountains and the valleys and the rivers which are in the sea; for these exist in the sea, as well as upon the land. The rocks, against which the ships are sometimes dashed to pieces, are simply the tops of high mountains that come very near to the surface of the sea; and the captain without a chart, not knowing where they are, is likely to run against them with his ship.

The islands are simply the tops of these mountains, that rise higher above the water, and form a place of abode for man; and we call them islands, because they are very much smaller than the great continents on which you and I live. A chart of the sea always locates the dangerous places. They show where other ships have been foundered, and oftentimes where hundreds and thousands of lives have been lost. It also shows what are really rivers in the sea, or great currents, one of which we call the Gulf Stream.

When a ship is crossing the Gulf Stream the motion or current of this water might carry it many hundreds of miles out of its course, and if the captain had no chart he would not be able to allow for this distance, which the ship is being carried, either north or south. Now, you and I are travelers in this world. We are out upon a great voyage, and it is necessary that we should have a chart, and therefore God has given us the Bible, which you and I can use greatly to our advantage.

In the Bible, God has pointed out the dangers which lie like the hidden rocks under the surface of the sea. In the commandments God marks out the great dangers which beset you and me. There is the rock of idolatry. Whole nations of the earth have been wrecked on this rock.

Then there is another, Profanity, swearing: Oh! how many boys and men are ruined because they do not observe how God has marked this dangerous rock, against which no one can run without the danger of losing his immortal soul. Then there is the Sabbath breaking, another rock; and there is reverence due to parents; and God marks another, “Thou shalt not kill”; and then there is another, against committing adultery, against stealing, against bearing false witness, against covetousness.

All these dangerous rocks God has marked in the Bible, in order that you and I may not run against them, and thus be shipwrecked in our voyage to the haven of everlasting rest. God also marks the influences which you and I must come in contact with. Every boy who goes to school feels the influence of other boys, some of whom are very bad. If he permits himself to be influenced by these things he will go wrong, just the same as the ship that in crossing the Gulf Stream is carried out of its course.

So the Bible warns us against bad company. Now the chart which the sea captain has, indicates also the ports of safety. It shows the location of these different ports, and the direction he must take in order to reach them. So the Bible shows us where you and I can find refuge in the day of storm, and in the day of trial, and in the day of sickness, and in the day of distress.

To the sea captain, out upon the great ocean, there are ten thousand directions which are sure to end in shipwreck. There is only one safe way to go, in order to reach the port in security. Now what would you think of a captain out upon the seas who folded up his chart and laid it carefully away, and never looked at it, never studied it, never sought to know what is on the chart? Do you not see how he would go upon the rocks?

His ship would go down to the bottom of the sea, just as surely as if he had no chart on board his ship. It is important that he should have it in constant use. So it is important, not only that we should have the Bible, but that we should use the Bible, that we should read it, that we should study it, that we should know what it says.

I trust that each and all of you not only have Bibles, but that you study them daily, and that you seek to avoid the dangers which God has pointed out, and desire to know the will of God concerning you.