"The Elect Lady"; 2nd John
ZADOK PUBLICATIONS - Dr. C. R. OLIVER
May 1, 2004

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ZADOK PUBLICATIONS MONTHLY NEWSLETTER

May 1, 2004

"The Elect Lady"
2nd John

"To the elect lady and her children, whom I love in Truth"
2John 1:1

Because John had already written Revelation when he penned the passages of 2 John and his following epistle, strong evidence sides with the belief he continued to use apocalyptic reference and word selection. Reading of Revelation is a labor in humility as one searches through the layers of depth and breadth inherent to its meaning. However, since John is now about 90 years old and past his exile, past the threats of the Roman Emperor Domitian, and perhaps was making visitation to the churches...his nomenclature may well have been affected by his previous writing. Who is this "elect lady" of commentary controversy? (Commentaries name her, allegorize her, explain her, technically review her, make her local, make her universal, or declare her a Babylonian, a lady of Ephesus, a secret lover, or the Bride. In their attempts to weave between denominational lines, they quote ancient texts, historical data and myriads of "other" experts [One of the great difficulties with commentaries and theologians is they tend to quote each other and form sort of an endogamous union], but come to no firm decision.

2 John, though only one page in length and containing just thirteen verses, has the effect of a well placed explosive, or in less combative terms, the exactness of a scalpel. Its caution is couched in the same terms a loving brother might use to warn against an evil plot or expose a scheme aimed at fraud. Believing the elect lady to be the true church embracing the true doctrine of Messiah, there is cause to sound the "deceiver alarm" once more. The "elect lady" is once again imperiled and needs a clear voice from those rooted in truth. Solomon's Song describes this elect lady and warns of "watchmen" who will seize her and abuse her (Song of Solomon 5:7, see also comments in Solomon's Secret about these verses). Revelation depicts the elect lady in Chapter 12 and graphically portrays her enemy and the war against her.

If ever in church history, there is a time for renewed concern among those who seek to be guardians of the "doctrine," that time is now. Those who truly love the "elect lady" are deeply shaken by the multiplied assaults mounted against her...assaults calculated to deceive her and destroy her children. Like John, the overwhelming consuming priority is to call for a return to the "doctrine of the Messiah" and declare war on those who fellowship with the deceivers. (Paul similarly was dismayed at how speedily removed some of his churchmen were from the truth preached to them.) Imagine the complex manipulations that are being manifested in the modern church and among its leaders after more than two thousand years of intrigue! The bastard church bears no resemblance to the elect lady or her siblings!

The real elect lady can cry out, "Let Him kiss me with the kisses of his lips," with no fear of defiling Him in the act. The real elect lady is magnificently clothed in majesty and pregnant with that which has no difficulty being embraced by the Father and His throne. The doctrine of Messiah is her doctrine. His doctrine was simple: "I do always that which I see and hear from my Father." Deceivers deny this God-man's reality as well as His relevancy to the "real world." Herein lays the powerful deception of the post 2000 church. Humanism's call away from careful obedience has reared a generation which believes that what "they regard" as primary is the true relevancy. Spirit and flesh yielded without rebellion to the absolute will of God is satan's greatest enemy.

Isaiah 50:4-8a says, "The Lord God has given Me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him who is weary, He awakens Me morning by morning, He awakens My ear To hear as the learned. The Lord God has opened My ear; and I was not rebellious, Nor did I turn away, I gave My back to those who struck Me and My cheeks to those who plucked out the beard; I did not hide My face from shame and spitting, For the Lord God will help Me; Therefore I will not be disgraced; Therefore I have set My face like a flint and I know that I will not be ashamed, He is near who justifies Me." Baptized in the Holy Spirit, Jesus yielded His life to the will of God supremely. His works and words were "sealed" by the Father. No other doctrine befits the "elect Lady" than that one "sealed" by the Father.

Those who love God, find John affirming them: "This is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, that as you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in it." His commandments are written and verbal. He communicates universally through His word and individually through the Spirit, BUT there are many anti-Messiah and His doctrine deceivers.

The warning from John must be sounded again, "Look to yourselves." If ever there was a time when one cannot trust the "watchmen," it is now. Slowly, the awareness of the narrowing field of fellowship is dawning upon the "elect lady." Lest she lose all that she has worked for and held dear, she must divorce herself from near friends and confidants and return to the "secret place in the cleft." Verse nine is absolute and without equivocation, "Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Messiah does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Messiah has both the Father and the Son."

The great issue looming before the current fellowship is the issue of sharing. The fellowship has not only brought the deceivers into the house, but warmly embraced them. In direct disobedience to the will of God and the warning of the Apostle: "If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him; for he who greets him shares in his evil deeds." This is the manifest doctrine of "being condemned by what one condones." Precisely for the same reason, Jesus did not offer to restore, resuscitate, revive or remake the Temple of His day, but rather established His Bride; little reason is found to do the same with the modern church. Let the "elect lady" be established. Whether it is heard from the pen of the Messianic Jew, John (the children of the elect sister), or this modern penman, the doctrine of the Messiah must be lifted high among the true children of the elect lady! The first century elect lady has many children!

Until Next month,

Dr. Cosby R. Oliver, PhD.

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