were almost always the deepest in Christian expcrience. And that agrees with the passage about the trial of our faith working experience. God seeth not as man sees. Man seeth the appearance, but God looketh at the heart. 10 The fact is that God sees through us, quite through, and sees a great many hidden evils, that need to be brought out. So he puts us into the crucible.

Well, said Peter, the crucible is a wonderful thing, and those that go into a goldsmith's shop, and watch its operation, may learn a great deal that they never knew before. You know that in that passage in the Old Testament about the Refiner's fire," it is said that He shall sit as a Refiner and purifier of silver. Now the Refiner sits patiently, till the silver or the gold become so clear, by the dross rising, and being skimmed away, that he can see his own face in it. So the Saviour patiently and lovingly watches and works upon his children, when he puts them into the crucible, till he can see his own image in them.

Well, said John, as long as the dross rises, he cannot do that, except at intervals; and I'm thinking that, as long as we live, the dross will keep rising. Who can ever say, in this world, that he is perfectly free from sin? And if the crucible were taken off • Rom. v. 3. 10 1 Sam. xvi. 7. 11 Mal. iii. 3.

from the fire before the dross is all taken away, and it were so left, what then?

Why, said Peter, that is the very point I was coming to. You see that there is many a piece of gold in a goldsmith's shop, that a strange man coming in, or one who knows little about gold, might think was very pure. But what does the goldsmith do? Why, he just takes that same piece of gold, that shines so beautifully, and puts it into his crucible, and kindles the fire, and then, as soon as it is melted down, he bids the stranger look, and then, to be sure, it is all covered with dross, and it is not till that dross is all taken away that the gold is pure, though it might shine very brightly, and answer many purposes, even with the dross mingled up in it. But this shows why and how it is that while the processes of refinement and purification are going on with God's dear children, their sinfulness appears to themselves clearer than ever, and they sometimes think they are more sinful, while the Lord is making them more holy. It is because the Lord Jesus, the Great Refiner, brings out the dross that was before concealed.

Then, said John, how much do we need to pray with David, Cleanse thou me from secret faults." Search me, and know my heart, try me, and know

12 Psa. xix. 12.

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my thoughts, and see if there be any wicked way in me. It is pretty plain that there may be many wicked ways in a man, that have never yet shown themselves outside of him.

Heart and mind are concerned about equally in all men's ways, to which they set their minds in earnest. Self-indulgent evil desires and thoughts and opinions work the same way, but perhaps a long time in secret, before they are suspected or known. When they come forth in action then they only work out the mischief that was being intended and was brewing, and then they show what the man really was. He may have been a saint abroad though a devil at home before this discovery. How many savings banks of deposit to men's credit are thus broken by secret rogueries and sins!

Oh yes, said Peter, and what a mercy to have them brought out, disclosed, brought up to the surface as dross, and taken away; otherwise the whole lump might have to be thrown away as good for nothing. It is a great thing to be good to be tried, good for something. Where there is gold, there may be dross; but if there is gold, then the Lord Jesus will have the dross taken away. It is a great deal worse mixed up in the composition, and concealed, than when it is brought to the surface; though while it is

13 Psa. cxxxix. 23, 24.

out of sight the gold seems gold, and when the dross is rising, the gold itself seems oftentimes nothing but dross. So a child of God has to cry out in the bitterness of his soul, finding so many hidden evils disclosed, that he hardly dreamed of, Oh, alas! I am all dross, all dross! when the Lord Jesus is making him really better than he was before. Let not the lump of gold upon the goldsmith's counter, boast itself above that which is tortured and groaning in the crucible.

In such sweet conversation the time passed rapidly away, and meanwhile no language can tell how soft and beautiful continued to be the weather and the prospect. The sea was serene and quiet, the air. balmy, and the breeze delightful. It was so lovely, that for whole days, and almost weeks, they hardly changed a sail, and things went on so easily and regularly, that it seemed hardly worth while to be at the trouble of a daily observation. And yet it was just precisely here that a mistake was made in their reckoning, which, had it not been for the Lord's great mercy, would have led them to destruction in the midst of apparent peace and safety. The uninterrupted calmness of the weather, the regular daily progress of the ship, and the fine appearances in every direction, had made them forget about the currents, and not taking account of those, their real progress was by no means what it appeared to be by

1

the log, and they had been carried aside from the point where they thought they were upon the Chart.

It was just precisely here that some sunken rocks were laid down in the Chart, and they were now in that vicinity without knowing it. For the currents hereabouts could not be put down with any accuracy at a given point, because they were very changeable, and it was so much the more necessary to have been upon the watch, and to have used every means for detecting both their force and direction. A concealed current is a thing that may be very powerful the wrong way, even when the wind, waves, sails, helm, weather, and everything in the vessel's progress, may seem to be right. There is no time at sea, when men can be safely off their watch, and no time when they can safely neglect any necessary precaution. They know not what may come of it. The sins that do so easily beset us,11 need a steadfast care and patience against them, for they may ensnare us in a thousand unsuspected and dangerous ways.

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Enjoyment and security had made the pilgrims almost feel as if there could be no change in the weather, and yet it came. The sky was no more seen, although there were neither clouds nor tempests. They had had a bright clear air and serene

14 Heb. xii. 1.