Wanted by the Police: Hardened Criminals Condemned to Death—Escaped from Prison

Wanted by the Police: Hardened Criminals Condemned to Death—Escaped from Prison

We see this in this world every once in a while. There is a descrip­tion of the criminal; whether he is thin or fat, tall or short, fair or dark, with any distinguishing marks, such as a scar above his right eye.

This is an apt description that can also be applied to salvation—to the spiritual realm. Who is the criminal that has been condemned to death? The old man! Rom. 6:6; Gal. 2:20; 1 Pet. 2:24; Eph. 4:22. All “old men”— “the old man” in each individual person—has been condemned to die by crucifixion. However, most of them (among the Christians) have escaped and are presently at large. Now all of them are wanted by the “authorities.”

Description:

“Angry, sulky, grumpy, discon­tented, full of murmuring and com­plaining, impatient, respecters of per­sons, envious and suspicious, proud, haughty; are glad to receive money; would rather not pay out money, do not like to see bills, income tax re­turns, and tax bills; are greedy and miserly; flatterers, hypocrites, liars, unrighteous and unmerciful, luke­warm, lazy, self-assertive or with­drawn; lovers of self, self-indulgent, backbiters; they engage in empty talk, form parties, register others in these parties or are themselves registered in them. They call themselves Meth­odists, Baptists, Pentecostals, etc. They admire what is great in the world and despise or overlook the small and insignificant things. They are conceited, self-willed, stubborn, disobedient, stiff-necked and obsti­nate, critical; they judge others but not themselves, making demands and accusing; they sulk, are anxious, vain, lovers of finery; they seek the honor of man, are quarrelsome, unchaste, immoral, adulterous.”

These hardened criminals—just as ordinary criminals in this world— operate under all kinds of aliases, ti­tles, and hairstyles (among other things), to disguise themselves. How­ever, their original, true, and full name is: The old man. Each individual point of the description is to be con­sidered as a characteristic (like a scar), so that it is sufficient if a single one of them is recognized. Any infor­mation is to be sent to the authorities as soon as possible!

We do the entire church, as well as all of mankind a very great favor by assisting to apprehend these hardened criminals, since all of them have done unspeakably great harm in the homes, at their places of employment, and in the assem­blies. They call themselves priests, evangelists, elder brethren, and other names, and appear in all kinds of different disguises. How­ever, the advantage is that because of all their many, terrible crimes, they have received so many scars (over their entire “body”), that all of them are quite easily recognizable—if one has studied the descrip­tion closely.

Anyone who is interested in this matter—people’s salvation—is hereby requested to do his best to facilitate the apprehension of these escapees, so that the judgment, in the name of all righteousness, can be executed as speedily as possible.