1917_The_Finished_Mystery_Text

shall be of the Man-child delivered before thattravail comes. Let us hope we may not be of thelambs (Isa. 34:6; D17) or the goats foundtogether in the nominal sheepfolds when the timehas come to wind up present ecclesiasticalsystems. All down the Age, some of God'schildren have been "turned over to Satan for thedestruction of the flesh, that the spirit might besaved in the day of the Lord" (1 Cor. 5:5; T69,71), because they have not lived up to theircovenants. The sufferings of the scapegoat class,turned into the wilderness, dying of thirst,hunger, snake-bites, thorns, briars, burrs, fleas orattacks of wild animals, were far greater thanthose of the Lord's goat, killed sacrificially. (Lev.16:7-10; T60.) Those who withhold from theLord what they have promised Him suffer farmore than those who fight manfully the goodfight of faith and lay hold with both hands on thehope set before us.The Great Company class will say "Alleluia" assoon as they perceive that the Church iscomplete. (Rev. 19:1; A240; F178.) But likeRebecca's damsels of old, they must go the samelong journey as the Bride class, only toFM137be received as servants in the end. (Gen. 24:61;Psa. 45:14; F121, 171.) Shall we enter fully intoour inheritance now, while the door is still opento do and dare in the Master's Cause; or shall webe like the class mentioned in Ezekiel 44 thatfinds the door shut because the start is made toolate, and must know that forever the HeavenlyPriesthood, the prize of the High Calling, isclosed, and that the most that can be thenattained is the place as keepers or servants in theTemple? (Ezek. 44:114; Z.'05-269.) Let usrejoice if we are heirs of salvation at all; but letus resolve, by God's grace, that we shall, in thewords of our text, "Look to ourselves, that welose not those things that we have wrought, butthat we receive a full reward"— all that theFather is pleased to give to those who love Himsupremely.