, unto praise and honour and glory.' The fire carries
away the dross; it makes the pure metal glow in its lustre. It burns up
the 'wood, hay, stubble'; it makes the gold gleam and the precious
stones coruscate and flash.

And so note this general notion here of the intention of all life's
various aspects being to test character is specialised into this, that
it is meant to test faith, first of all. Of course it is meant to test
many other things. A man's whole character is tested by the experiences
of his daily life, all that is good and all that is evil in him, and we
might speak about the effect of life's discipline upon a great many
different sides of our nature. But here the whole stress is put upon the
effect of life in testing and clarifying and strengthening one part of a
Christian's character, and that is his faith. Why does Peter pick out
faith? Why does he not say 'trial of your hope,' of your 'love,' of your
'courage,' of half a dozen other graces? Why 'the trial of your
_faith_?' For this reason, because as the man's faith is, so is the man.
Because faith is the tap-root, in the view of the New Testament, of all
that is good and strong and noble in humanity. Because if you strengthen
a man's trust you strengthen everything that comes from it. Reinforce
the centre and all is reinforced. Your faith is the vital point from
which your whole life as Christians is developed, and whatever
strengthens that strengthens you. And, therefore, although everything
that befalls you calls for the exercise of, and therefore tests, and
therefore, rightly undergone, strengthens a great many various virtues
and powers and beauties in a human character, the main good of it all is
that it deepens, if the man is right, his simple trust in God manifested
by his trust in and love to Jesus Christ: and so it reinforces the faith
which works by love, and thus tends to make all things in life good and
fair.

Now if thus the main end of life is to strengthen faith, let us remember
that we have to give a wider meaning to the word 'trials' than
'afflictions.' Ah! there is as sharp a trial of my faith in prosperity
as in any adversity. People say, 'It is easy to trust God when things
are going well with us.' That is quite true. But it is a great deal
easier to stop trusting God, or thinking about Him, when things are
going well with us, and we do not seem to need Him so much, as in the
hours of darkness. You remember the old story about th