Using the illustration of the goldsmith, describe the process and purpose of trial.

In the ancient world a goldsmith would put gold in a vat over a fire, and as the heat melted the metal the impurities would rise to the top, where he would skim them off and throw them away, and then he would turn up the heat. When we start out in the Christian life we are given baby heat; impurities rise and are skimmed off, and as we advance and our faith increases, the heat is turned up, so that the hotter it gets, the more impurities rise to the surface. The purpose is to keep us from thinking we have arrived or attained perfection, and to bring our flaws to the top so we can deal with them. So when things get so hot that we snap under the pressure and ugly comes out of us, that is exactly what is supposed to happen, and we should be encouraged, for the whole purpose of the pressure is to show us our flaws so we can deal with them.