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 danger of losing his immortal soul. Then there is Sabbath breaking, another rock; and there is reverence due to parents; and God marks another, "Thou shalt not kill"; and then there are others, 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. [Illustration: Rocks and Mountains at the Bottom of the Sea.] 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 moved by these things he will go wrong, just the same as the ship that is 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 the captain 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 his desired port in safety. 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 his chart 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 a Bible, but that you study it daily, and that you seek to avoid the dangers which God has pointed out, and that you desire to know the will of God concerning you.