In the realm of grace, we often find some of God's best saints with a somewhat coarse-grained exterior. They may be uncouth, unlettered, uncultured, and reared in the backwoods, but they can look up with Job and say, "He maketh my heart soft."
While Christian education is to be prized, and culture to be much esteemed, there are some who have not had these advantages, yet have proved by actual experience that God's grace is free for all, and a clean, soft heart can abide beneath a rough exterior.
Methinks Elijah, with his rough garments and shaggy hair, had underneath his crude exterior one of the softest hearts of his time. John the Baptist, with camel's hair clothing, leathern girdle, and locust pabulum had a kind, soft heart within.
Sometimes God's people are much misunderstood because of their natural uncouthness and blunt manners, when, if their hearts could be seen, they would appear whiter than snow and softer than silk. Thank God, He knows.
The beautiful blessing of "perfect love" has been often misunderstood. Some seem to think it is a sort of lovey-dovey, sentimental something that makes its possessor smile on everybody and everything no matter what the moral quality may be. Perfect love sometimes assumes the rugged type, and deals along drastic lines. It can weep with those who weep, but when there is a very critical operation to perform, there may be no place for tears just then, for tears would blind the eyes.
Elijah, whose heart was full of perfect love, came to a place where the false prophets had to be exterminated, and he had grace and grit enough to carry out the heaven-appointed program.
John the Baptist, whose experience Jesus Christ himself did not question, could face the hypocritical church members and say, "O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance" (Matt. 3:7, 8).
No, perfect love deals death blows where death blows are needed. A mad dog is running loose in the street. Children are playing on the opposite corner. Some one rushes out with a bludgeon in his hand, and jeopardizes his life, but he lays out the mad dog. Some sentimental on-looker asks, "Was that love that prompted you to treat that dog thus?" He answers, "Yes; love for those innocent children over on the corner."
A man is drowning. In vain he struggles and screams. He is about to perish, when a stalwart specimen of humanity swims out and deals the poor man a terrible blow in the proper place to stun him. He ceases to struggle, and the expert life-saver swims ashore and lays his man at the feet of rejoicing friends. Some one says, "Was that love that made you strike that poor, helpless man?" He replies, "Yes; if I hadn't stunned him, he would have drowned himself and me too."
A freight train was pulling into an Illinois town in the night. The crew saw a building on fire and had reason to believe that a friend was upstairs in a certain room. The train was stopped and two men rushed to the scene of the fire. Up the stairs they mounted and never stopped to knock at the chamber door, but rushed to the slumberer. There was no time for ceremonies. They grabbed the man and dragged him down the stairs most abruptly. They had scarcely reached the outside when the stairway fell in, and had they been a minute later all would have been lost. Imagine that rescued victim complaining of harsh treatment, skinned shins and sprained ankles! Love made the rescuers adopt speedy and most drastic measures and nothing else would have saved.