The Great Company class will say “Alleluia” as soon as they perceive that the Church is complete. (Rev. 19:1; A. 240; F. 128.) But like Rebecca’s damsels of old, they must go the same long journey as the Bride class, only to be received as servants in the end. (Gen. 24:61; Psa. 45:14; F. 121, 171.) Shall we enter fully into our inheritance now, while the door is still open to do and dare in the Master’s Cause; or shall we be like the class mentioned in Ezekiel 44 that finds the door shut because the start is made too late, and must know that forever the Heavenly Priesthood, the prize of the High Calling, is closed, and that the most that can be then attained is the place as keepers or servants in the Temple? (Ezek. 44:1‐14; Z. ’05‐269.) Let us rejoice if we are heirs of salvation at all; but let us resolve, by God’s grace, that we shall, in the words of our text, “Look to ourselves, that we lose not those things that we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward”—all that the Father is pleased to give to those who love Him supremely.
“What we see going on about us seems natural to our minds. The way in which other people spend time and money is a temptation to the Lord’s people which must be _steadfastly resisted_. For us to do what others do, and to devote to the Lord’s service only what the world considers a reasonable day’s work, would not be fulfilling our Covenant of Sacrifice at all. Those who seek merely to do right, and to put in eight hours or so a day faithfully, after the manner of the world, will be judged from this standpoint; and they will merely obtain a place in the Great Company. They are not fulfilling the conditions of the Covenant of Sacrifice.”—Z. ’14‐71.
“We do not think we should understand the Scriptures to teach that the Great Company will attain to the same degree of spiritual development as the Little Flock. They fail to display that love and zeal which the Lord has set as the mark for participation in the Royal Priesthood.” (Z. ’14‐68.) “In determining to sacrifice themselves piecemeal when and how they and their friends might please, is the primary mistake.” (Z. ’96‐191.) “While the living members of the Bride are being separated from others by the _Truth_, the ears of this class are dull of hearing and they are slow to believe and slow to act.” (A. 240.) “In one parable the Lord styles this class a wicked and slothful servant. He does not deny him the honor of being a servant, He does not charge him with becoming an enemy. He is counted wicked and slothful because, having undertaken certain responsibilities as a servant, he has failed to manifest the proper spirit of earnest devotion.”—Z. ’07‐315.