WHETHER the apostle refers to our faith, or the trial of our faith, as being “more precious than gold that is tried in the fire,” is a little in doubt. Perhaps it includes both. Certainly the faith that is tried is more precious than gold; and, if the trial of our faith issues in the purification and strengthening of it, then we may safely and truly say that the trial is precious. Certainly it is not without reason that the apostle speaks of faith as being more precious than gold. A little attention to the passage in which this expression occurs (1 Peter 1:7), together with a comparison between it and refined gold, with which he brings it into competition, will reveal the correctness of the apostle’s characterization. Among all the precious metals, gold is the most precious. It is the standard of value among them all. The same may be said of faith. It is the most precious of all the graces of which a Christian may be possessed. It is the standard grace. Indeed it is the one grace upon which all others depend. Without it nothing we may have or do or feel can avail us at all with God. “Without faith it is impossible to please him.” Into this grace all our works and other graces are to be mixed, in order that they may have currency. Gold among the precious metals is used to describe all the excellent things which are set forth for our contemplation. So, if you want to characterize a man of God in the highest terms, you are only required to say that he is a man of faith. This was the one grace by which all the ancient worthies were designated. It was not the love which Abraham had which distinguished him, but the faith. It was not the love that made the Master marvel at the centurion, but the faith of the man. It is not our love that removes mountains, but our faith. It is not love that overcomes the world, but faith. It is the walk of faith that we are commended to, rather than the walk of love. It is not by love, but by faith, that the just live. We say this, not forgetting that, among the three graces Paul tells us of, love is “the greatest.” Love is the greatest only in that it is the surviving faith, and will endure after the time when faith and hope are laid aside for the lack of further use, when all is fruition with the believer. It is more precious because of its origin. Gold is from the earth, while faith is from Heaven. The faith of the Christian is the transfiguration of the natural faculty, which all possess, by being fastened to Christ. It is more precious, because it procures more and better things for us. It is true that the man who has gold can provide himself with almost all earthly good things; but with faith man can live, and rejoice without the things which gold will buy. With faith, especially with faith that has been tried in the furnace of affliction, a man is contented with such things as he has; he can rejoice even when he is sick and hungry. He can triumph and rejoice when all things seem to be against him. Gold will buy him food, raiment, and all earthly good things. It will surround him with friends, and give him place and power in the world. But faith will put him in possession of forgiveness, justification, regeneration, and eternal life. Faith secures for him an inheritance which will outlast this life, and make him rich throughout eternity. With gold man can only trade with this world; but with faith man can hold high commerce with Heaven. Gold will gain for man access into high places, and presence among the great ones on the earth; but the poorest man who has faith may secure for himself the “heavenly places in Christ,” and gain for himself audience and fellowship with the Father and with the Son and with the Holy Ghost. It will write his name among the worthies whose names are in the book of life, and on the roll of honor which God himself makes. It is more precious than gold, because it is more enduring. Few men in this world have been successful in winning much gold, and fewer still have been enabled to keep it. At last it must perish with all things earthly and temporal; but faith endures so long as life lasts, and introduces us into place and surroundings where the eternal wealth of God is. A man with never so much gold must leave it at his death bed; but faith never forsakes a man until it has put him safely across the dark river and landed him over to God, a saved soul. The more we spend our gold, the less we have of it; but the more we expend of our faith, the more it increases. Afflictions and trials diminish the value of gold, by rendering us incapable of enjoying what it might otherwise secure for us; but trial only makes faith to shine out with more resplendent beauty, and heightens its value. Gold often leads man into sin and death; but faith leads a man always away from sin and always into life. Gold will rust and corrode and drown men in perdition; but the tried faith of God’s people will be formed unto “praise, honor, and glory, at the appearing of Jesus Christ.” Rich in gold and a stranger to God, might be the brief biography of many a man in this world, while “rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom,” is the inspired biography of the poorest of this world who have sought and found Him who is revealed to, and made over to our faith. Let us covet this best gift, and increase it by using it, and rejoice in its purification by every trial which God sends upon us.—Independent.