I like visiting cemeteries. I always have. I grew up next to a large one. It was beautiful and even had a beautiful name. Stone columns adorned either side of the entry and a babbling brook ran in front and all along the side. Gentle hills were fun to swoop my bike down and were not hard to pedal up. Huge pine trees looking like Christmas trees allowed a solitude-seeking girl to part the boughs and lay inside the greenery on a bed of pine needles, reading Nancy Drew, at once protected and apart from the world. I liked that cemetery for its quietude, but I was not yet old enough to really ponder the eternality of those residing in it, under the ground.
I write earlier today about two missionaries in Haiti who were beaten, killed and burned by a vicious gangs in Haiti. In the first of two incidents on Thursday, May 23, a roving vicious gang entered the compound, tied up Davy adn Natalie, and also Jude Montis, the mission’s leader. They were beaten, and their belongigns from the Lloyd’s house and around the comploud were loaded onto a truck and stolen. Stafferes untied the thrio after the gang left.
However, a short time later, a second, even more vicious gang overcame the barricades the leaders had erected, and killed the couple. Also killed was Jude Montis. The men’s bodies were burned.
Natalie Baker Lloyd is the daughter of Missouri state Rep. Ben Baker.
On his Facebook page, Rep. Baker announced the news of the young couple’s murder. Davy was 23 years old and Natalie was just 21. The two were married in June 2022. The compound, which hosts a dormitory, bakery, dorms, home, and a church, was built and maintained by the mission, which is Missions in Haiti, founded in 1998 by Davy’s father, David Lloyd II and his wife Alicia.
David LLoyd wrote on the night in question that he had been on the phone with his son Davy when the gang arrived. Mr Lloyd Senior wrote,
Davy, Natalie and the kids were coming out of Youth at the church they were ambushed by a gang of 3 trucks full of guys. Davy was taken to the house tied up and beat. The gang then took our trucks and loaded everything up they wanted and left.
This first gang left. But another one soon arrived.
So they are holed up in there, the gangs has shot all the windows out of the house and continue to shoot. Their lives are in danger. I have been trying all my contacts to get a police armored car there to evacuate them out to safety but can’t get anyone to do. I also am trying to negotiate with the gang so how much $ to stand down and let them leave and get to safety. PLEASE PRAY…it’s going to be a long night…
Little did Davy’s father know how long. The worry for their children so many thousands of miles away must have been wrenching for the family.
We know from reports that Davy left the phone conversation with his dad to go see what the commotion was by the gate. That was the interruption in the conversation that later ended his life.
Rep. Baker had written that if you see a link to the bodies of Davy, Natalie, and Jude, PLEASE do not view it. An update from the family posted on Rep. Baker’s Facebook page states,
Things are looking very positive for the transport home for Davy and Natalie. There are two very good options for the family to choose from, mostly settled. Prayers for their discernment in their choice, and then for all of the logistics to be worked out smoothly as planned. Rough timeline seems to be about mid to late next week, best case scenario. Dealing with a foreign country presents its unforeseen challenges, but we are all hopeful. Another reminder that there are only 2 officially sanctioned GoFundMe pages out there, one by Jeremie Bridges, and another by Dirk Deaton and Chris Slinkard. Please report any social media posts that are advertising anything but those two.
Davy had loved Haiti all his life. He learned Creole as a tot and was eager to return from Bible college and begin serving, which he did in 2022. He ‘knew’ he would serve the Lord there even when he was a young boy. Davy wanted only to marry a woman who would joyfully serve in Haiti with him, and he found that mate in Natalie.
As Natalie’s father, Missouri state Rep. Ben Baker said in a Facebook post. “They went to Heaven together.”
Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. For you are just a vapor that appears for a little while, and then vanishes away. James 4:14.
They were there, and then they were not. The Lord took them. The Lord is good.
Source Natalie’s reel on Instagram from their wedding album
Sundays are a good time to think about those who preceded us in death for the cause of Christ. In this series, all the past essays have presented honor to those who were persecuted unto death from Paul’s time through the first waves of persecutions, ending with persecutions under Marcus Aurelius in 162AD, with one essay leaping forward in time to present honor to the martyr Jan Huss who was killed in 1415.
Three missionaries, including a married couple from the US, were killed in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, on Thursday evening.Davy and Natalie Lloyd “were attacked by gangs this evening and were both killed,” Natalie Lloyd’s father, Missouri state Rep. Ben Baker, said in a Facebook post. “They went to Heaven together.”
“Please pray for my family we desperately need strength. And please pray for the Lloyd family as well,” Baker said.Mission director Jude Montis, 45, was also killed. All three worked for Missions in Haiti, Inc., which has been operated by Davy Lloyd’s parents for more than two decades, according to the group’s website.
Davy Lloyd, 23, had a “love for Haiti,” his father David Lloyd told CNN. “His first language was Creole. He used to tell us when he was little that someday he was going to be a missionary in Haiti.”He and Natalie Lloyd, 21, were ambushed as they left church in Port-au-Prince on Thursday evening, according to David Lloyd.
This photo provided by Brad Searcy Photography shows Davy and Natalie Lloyd. Brad Searcy Photography via AP
The situation in Haiti had become volatile and excessively dangerous. In fact, the airport at Port-Au -Prince had been closed for three months due to gang violence and chaos. When it reopened last week, Davy’s father David Lloyd, who ran the mission from the US, asked if Davy and his wife Natalie wanted to leave. They said no, because there were children they were taking care of. They loved Haiti and the Haitians, and wanted to continue serving them in the name of Jesus, despite the fact that violence had severely escalated, and kidnappings were rampant, especially targeting Missionaries.
Davy was actually on the phone with his father David when the attacks occurred. He and Natalie had been beaten, but survived the first wave of attacks. But the gang returned, and shot Davy and Jude and set their bodies on fire. They also killed Natalie. The US Embassy eventually obtained the bodies of the two Americans and are currently searching for a plane that will return them home.
Though their bodies have not yet found eternal rest, their souls are now safe in the arms of Jesus, with eternal peace and a crown for their gift of life given to Him for His name.
No doubt hearing ‘Well done, good and faithful servant’ upon their co-arrival to heaven.
Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has [a]been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. James 1:12
Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, so that you will be tested, and you will have tribulation for ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. Revelation 2:10
Last week I wrote a series on discernment in 6 essays. They are below. I called it “Wolf Week” because false teachers are called wolves in scripture. My own version of Shark Week 🙂
A short follow-up series I am publishing beginning today contains 4 more essays in short form focusing on 4 influential ‘Bible’ teachers. I have written discernment essays on these four previously in years past, but those essays were longer. In articles like that, I include sources, explain the teacher’s errors thoroughly, and provide examples. All this make the essays longer. Nowadays however, people like to read less lengthy material. So I cut to the chase and made shorter essays showing why these folks are false.
Having learned, hopefully, what was presented in the previous Wolf Week essays, these cut to the chase essays hopefully will edify you and give you skills to explore further, if you choose to.
“Beware of supposing that a teacher of religion is to be trusted, because although he holds some unsound views, he yet ‘teaches a great deal of truth.’ Such a teacher is precisely the man to do you harm: poison is always most dangerous when it is given in small doses and mixed with wholesome food”. JC Ryle
I’ve spent the last 5 days discussing from the Bible the fact of false teachers, their methods, their characteristics, and their traits. False teachers are destructive to the individual, to the local church body, and to the faith in general.
and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things to draw away the disciples after them. (Acts 20:30)
So that leaves one last important question. Why does God allow false teachers? Why does He allow them to destroy? Why does He use false teachers to pollute the faith, draw away the unwary, and make shipwrecks of whole churches? (Revelation 2:20[Thyatira], 3:1 [Sardis], 3:16 [Laodicea]). What good can a false teacher possibly do in God’s Economy?
For there also have to be factions among you, so that those who are approved may become evident among you. (1 Corinthians 11:19).
That’s the reason. False teachers are a magnet for the sinner, the unsaved, the fleshly. If these people are drawn to a false teacher, and especially if they stay with a false teacher after evidence is presented, a schism forms between the redeemed and the person who prefers falsity.
God uses the false teacher as a magnet to show which side people are on. And don’t think we the forgiven sinner, is immune to following a false teacher. We have sin in us and are drawn just as the false professing believer is. In fact, we should be grateful for the false teacher’s existence if we follow one for a time, because we can then repent and ask God to help us. And then praise Him for his help, patience, and forgiveness. False teachers show us our blind spots of sin.
In Matthew 7:15 Jesus had warned the disciples that false teachers are like wolves that wear sheep’s clothing. In Matthew 10:16 Jesus said He was sending them as sheep out to where the wolves were. In Acts 20:20 Paul said he knew that after his departure savage wolves will come. Wolves are quite the theme in the New Testament. Wolfish false teachers cause division. And that is a good thing, noting the verse again,
For there also have to be factions among you, so that those who are approved may become evident among you. (1 Corinthians 11:19).
He did send us a measuring tool to allow us to determine with evidence some who are professors and who actually possesses the Spirit, and that is the wolf. The wolf is a test.
In the verse above, we see the word factions. The word has been translated in different translations as divisions, differences, and even heresies. It is from the Greek word haireomai; properly, a choice, i.e. a party or disunion. It meansa self-chosen opinion, a personal (decisive) choice. The term stresses the personal aspect of choice. Sources- Strong’s Greek and NASB Lexicon.
If you ever wondered why a person would defend a false teacher even after having been given evidence of their falsity, this is why. They CHOOSE it. It is a strongly decisive choice according to the word use in the original language.
Now we read this verse,
Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to the person through whom the stumbling block comes! (Matthew 18:7).
The world has various and ingenious ways of tempting the Christian to stumble. One of the most direct ways is through a false teacher. How?
By doing like Jezebel, by teaching doctrine that isn’t biblical. I think you commit the most heinous of all crimes. That’s why the Bible speaks so forcefully against false teachers, because they lead God’s people into the worse kind of sin, and that is a misrepresentation of who God is. And that’s the severest of all, because if your God isn’t right, you can’t settle anything. And so false teachers are the ultimate who are guilty in this regard. John MacArthur, The Danger of Causing a Christian to Sin sermon on Matthew 18:5–9.
The false teacher is used by God as a magnet, a curse, and a crowbar to make a separation between the true believer and the false believer. For his part, the true believer/false believer goes along with it by his choice. It is a test.
CC BY-SA 3.0 DEED
but we have renounced the things hidden because of shame, not walking in trickery nor distorting the word of God, but by the open proclamation of the truth commending ourselves to every person’s conscience in the sight of God. (2 Corinthians 4:2).
So ultimately the answer to the question, Why does God allow false teachers? As John Piper says, “The result is that we learn the exceeding sinfulness of sin by how we more easily embrace false teaching rather than biblical truth.” So the answer is, to test us.
Secondly, everything He does is for His glory, and our good. So while it is a trial for us to endure false teachers, it is for our good and His glory that they should exist. False teachers test our sinfulness, and they display Gods patience. What we do is pray to stay strong in the faith, trust God, and repent early and often. God is good, all the time.
One way to spot a false teacher is how they respond (or don’t respond) to biblical correction. Denny Burke wrote:
Those who refuse to respond to biblical correction eventually prove themselves to be devoid of the Spirit and taking orders from another master (Jude 1:19). Recalcitrance in the face of correction is dangerous, and it is why the apostles would often apply some of the most bone-chilling descriptors to unrepentant false teachers. ~Denny Burk, How to Deal with False Teachers
The same might be applied to a bystander who enjoys the false teacher and refuses to be corrected away from that false teacher with the scriptures. Worse is their insistence that BECAUSE the teacher ‘helped them,’ the teacher surely can’t be false. But that is the false teacher’s job, to be helpful.
Christian Lady 1: So-and-So is a false teacher. Christian Lady 2: No way! But she’s helped me in my walk! And she says true things sometimes! Christian Lady 1: The demon possessed slave girl was ‘helping’ Paul, so why was Paul ‘greatly annoyed’? Because her statement was only partly true, AND it was spiritually ambiguous. Paul exorcised her.
Ladies, we don’t need to allow a false teacher to help along our God. He doesn’t need just any truth. Truth that’s proclaimed must be clearly explained and specifically credited to HIM. Here is what the slave girl was saying-
“These men are bond-servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you a way of salvation.” (Acts 16:17)
The slave girl said, ‘Most High God’. This matters because though Jews would have recognized the phrase, pagans were used to many people saying there was a ‘most high god’, notably, Zeus. And, “a” way of salvation? It is THE way of salvation. See the subtlety with the slave girl’s statement being off the center of truth?
False god Oceanus, central statue at the Trevi Fountain in Rome. EPrata photo
The way of evil is darkness and crooked paths (cf Proverbs 2:13-15).
The final arbiter of whether a teacher is true or false isn’t how much or little he or she has ‘helped’ you. In fact, many times the truth won’t feel like it’s helping at first. Truth hurts, it convicts, it pricks the conscience… and the opposite of that is the problem of false teachers knowing how to tickle ears. Tickling is pleasant. So is he or she REALLY helping you if you always feel tickled and helped, and never feel provoked by the lessons?
Don’t go by your internal feelings, which lie. Go by the sterling truth of God’s word. Compare what the teacher is saying to the Bible. Then do it again, because they are subtle, sneaky, and destructive, and we are less than intelligent sheep after all.
False teachers are dangerous, and part of what makes them so dangerous is that they will affirm so much that is good and true. They will not deny all of the doctrines upon which the Christian faith stands or falls, but only select parts of it. They draw in the unsuspecting with all they affirm and only later destroy them with all they deny. ~Tim Challies, Lessons I’ve learned from False Teachers
Would you buy a pair of new pants that only partly fit? Would you eat a brownie that was only partly filled with cockroaches? Would you drive tires that were only partly covered in rubber? Of course not. We expect the full, working edition of whatever we consume. Since that is true for mundane things, it is even MORE important to ensure that God’s truth we knowingly consume is fully truth, sterling, sparkling, and whole.
You don’t need to listen to someone who speaks some truth, sometimes, from a mouth of lies that oppose Christ. The truth is how we are sanctified- John 17:17. That false teacher is not helping you if you’re absorbing only partial truth, then you get only partial sanctification. What you get from the false teacher’s mouth of lies is polluted truth, and that doesn’t help anyone.
When we read directions telling us to quiet ourselves, to ‘be still’ so we can hear God because too many distractions dampen our ability to hear Him – it says something important about God:
1. It says that God can’t cut through ambient noise to make Himself heard. 2. It says that He created the creation, but can’t control it enough to get His message to the ears of the person to whom He intends to speak.
For years I have written discernment articles about discerning certain movements, trends, and this or that particular false teacher. One of my earliest was a series on Beth Moore, who became one of my ‘starter false teachers’ thirteen years ago. (Joel Osteen was the other). I wrote about that the other day.
2 Timothy 4:3 says, For the time will come when they will not tolerate sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance with their own desires,
Thus, one way the symbolism of the wolf differs from the actual false teacher, is that the animal wolf preys on mammals who are minding their own business. The false teacher wolf has a partnership with its prey. The ‘victims’ of the false teacher deliberately prop up the teacher. ‘They accumulate for themselves’ teachers who teach something that satisfies an unrepented-of lust in their flesh. It may be sensuality, greed, health, or whatever. But people who cling to false teachers even after being shown how dangerous she is, have culpability for perpetuating the problem.
Repent early and often so the wolf does not smell out your sin and nurse it for you.
So, discernment is more than pointing out this or that false teacher. False teachers also exhibit certain characteristics. As is written at The Masters University, false teachers exhibit a “pathology.” We need to be “spiritual pathologists” to detect them.
To that end, below are some excellent articles outlining the characteristics of false teachers describing the types of things they do to deceive. If you are reading an author’s Christian book or listening to a podcast or sermon, and you begin to wonder if the person is solid or if he or she is a wolf, these are good articles to start ‘testing the fruit’ of their teaching or behavior.
“It takes careful discernment to see that the light is really darkness. Paul taught Timothy how to diagnose satanic darkness masquerading as divine light. Here’s how he described the key symptoms that identify those infected with the spiritual disease of false teaching:”
The article then goes on to describe each symptom of the false teacher disease.
10 Characteristics of False Teachers
Here is Noah Adams, lead pastor of City Park Church in CO, with a list of 10 Characteristics of False Teachers. It’s at Linkedin but you don’t have to sign in to read it, just press the X and the pop-up goes away. He matched each type of false teacher with scripture, then explains.
1.They creep in unnoticed (Jude 1:4) 2. They operate in secret (2 Peter 2:1-3) 3. They have many followers (2 Peter 2:1-3) 4. They create division and obstacles (Romans 16:17) 5. No matter what it seems like, they do not have God (2 John 1:7-11) 6. Some began in sound doctrine (1 Timothy 4:1-5) 7. Their words seem intelligent (1 Timothy 6:20-21, Colossians 2:8) 8. They look like legitimate apostles of Christ (2 Corinthians 11:13-15, Matthew 7:15) 9. They target the spiritually naive (Romans 16:17-18) 10. They twist Scripture (1 Timothy 6:3-5, 2 Timothy 4:3-4)
7 Traits of False Teachers
Here is Colin Smith with “7 Traits of False Teachers” from The Gospel Coalition (in 2013, back when they were pretty OK). This is a different article from the similarly named article below. Smith explains why these false teachers are different, with a short answer from the Bible for each question.
1.Different Source—Where does the message come from? 2. Different Message—What is the substance of the message? 3. Different Position—In what position will the message leave you? 4. Different Character—What kind of people does the message produce? 5. Different Appeal—Why should you listen to the message? 6. Different Fruit—What result does the message have in people’s lives? 7. Different End—Where does the message ultimately lead you?
7 Traits of False Teachers
Here is Tim Challies with 7 Traits of False Teachers, which include The Heretic, The Charlatan, The Prophet, The Abuser, The Divider, The Tickler, The Speculator.
If you are thinking of a particular false teacher right now, go to Challies’ article and see if you can match your false teacher with one of his certain 7 traits.
False Teachings and How to Battle Them
Kim Sorgius Jones at Not Consumed has an essay outlining several steps to guarding your kids from false teaching. I am not familiar with this blog or this author, but I liked her approach in this one essay. She identifies 7 false teaching messages that kids are likely to fall prey to in our culture today, including:
Follow your heart, Godly living brings prosperity, Right choices will get you the perfect life, God will never give you more than you can handle, If you try harder, you can be right with God, I deserve better, I need ME time. More at “7 False Teaching Messages & How to Battle Them“.
Further Reading
Tim Challies “The Spiritual Gift of Discernment” book. Far too often the gift of discernment is said to be little more than a gift for making good decisions–for knowing God’s will when we need to turn to the left or the right. Yet the Bible tells us that it is more.
Sinclair Ferguson, “What is Discernment?” article. True discernment means not only distinguishing the right from the wrong; it means distinguishing the primary from the secondary, the essential from the indifferent, and the permanent from the transient. And, yes, it means distinguishing between the good and the better, and even between the better and the best.
This week I’m taking a look at false teachers, whom the Bible calls wolves. I look at their characteristics, traits, and methods according to the Bible.
Poetry is by Kay Cude. Used with permission. Kay Cude is a Texas poet.
The Sheepfold, Moonlight. 1856-1860
BY KAY CUDE
Through shadows long the dusk drew near to spread its cloak ov’r all; and watched I there the setting sun, its glory long displayed. And as the eve flowed like the sea, there saw its breaking tide; wash ov’r that shore, submerge that line that marks the night from day.
And as the twilight covered me, upon the path I trode, heard I a howling–not afar–yea, wolves therein at bay. What then that sound, that too-near cry, that breaks upon my ears? T’was Satan’s voice through men–his words–deception’s planned foray.
So then my step at quickened pace, determined to avoid, the rushing onslaught of those fiends, proficient with their lies. From mouths perverse I heard their yelps–distortion, rank deceit!! Through mouths profane, egregious words, revealed demonic ties.
Then on that path near where I stood, upon a group they came; engaged them there to turn aside and listen to their words,– to capture those within that flock, with clever speech persuade; they narcigeted God’s Sure Word, made theirs the “truth” preferred.
And I distressed in shadows stayed, perchance their faces see; for in that pack, before me clear, saw faces I knew well! And greatly shaken to my core, with trembling heart I watched; and there was grieved that “who they seemed,” their idiom dispelled.
And as the eve became the night, that veil that sets our rest; I watched as they revealed themselves as hunters for a prey. Though garbed these men in cleric’s robes, through doctrines of Sheol, perverted they God’s Holy Word; blasphemed Salvation’s way.
With souls suborned spoke they the words borne through the Devil’s lips, neath shepherd’s cloaks, dressed they like those of Christ’s beloved redeemed; supplanted they the Word of God with flagrant disregard; contrived their will, incited doubt, their dogma there esteemed!
And soon saw I the faltering steps of some turn slight their heads; to hearken to deception’s swill, therein perceived as truth! Beheld bewitchment glaze their eyes, confound their reasoning; watched them beguiled, near trance-like state, no longer resolute.
Like pigs at feast midst slop and filth, some joined to sup their fill, there wallowed in idolatry; renounced Christ’s finished work. Bedazzled by the lure of wealth, of health and “easy” grace, defiled they soon Christ’s sacrifice; atonement there besmirched.
And as they trode upon the grace of God’s redemptive plan, they as the wild ass roams the plains, as harlots sin pursued! There turned from Light they said was theirs, yet proved themselves as fools; enraptured with self-righteousness, their love for Christ withdrew.
How then? I queried of myself, can evil overtake, so quickly those who name the Lord their sovereign Christ I AM? –Through words or script that hold not fast to God’s delivered Word; –preferring tales that tickle ears, make Christ mere mortal man.
As tears and anger filled my breast, I shouted out a plea! “turn now from myths, forsake these wolves whose writ consumes the soul!” Reject this feast they offer you–’tis vomit you’ll consume, belched forth from depths of Satan’s bile–THIS hatred’s not its whole.
–It never rests, nor does it sleep, it never sates his need; therein is set his subterfuge to render you bemused. –Then she deception casts her net, delusion her end yield; and round your soul draw tight the ropes, reel in the dragnet’s due.
Like greedy dogs still they pursued this gospel borne of Hell; like mindless men devoid of sense, joined to that wicked throng! And they like Judas took that sop and dipped it in the bowl, there seared their minds incapable of judging right from wrong.
And as the shadows of the night grew deeper in the dark, saw I deception master them; delusion unconstrained. And they who “seemed” like branches true, engrafted into Christ, bewitched by lies, removed themselves preferring sin’s domain.
And then I fell upon my knees neath failure’s crushing weight, there realized the choice they made, my pleas would not deter! And suddenly a fear arose that gripped my very heart! Now I a hindrance for the wolves, their vengeance might incur!
And in that shock of sudden fear, my face prone to the earth, cried to the Lord to wash me clean, this sin to set aside! Then quick within my spirit rose the reason not to fear– the battles we engage with wolves, o’er each the Lord presides!
Remember, those who leave the flock, those never to return, were never Christ’s but of the world; pretenders from the start. But there amongst that depraved throng, perchance are God’s elect– know ’tis Christ’s will to seek them out, redeem their errant heart.
The brands we seek to pluck from Hell IS NOT a work of ours; for ’tis Christ’s Spirit that prevails, our part is faithfulness. And when think we that we have failed to reach those ones deceived: THE DRAW IS GOD’S FOR HIS ELECT; SALVATION TO POSSESS.
Description of Millett’s painting, The Sheepfold, Moonlight: In this nocturnal scene, the waning moon throws a mysterious light across the plain extending between the villages of Barbizon and Chailly. Millet was recorded as saying of the solitary shepherd: Oh, how I wish I could make those who see my work feel the splendors and terrors of the night! One ought to be able to make people hear the songs, the silences, and murmurings of the air. They should feel the infinite.
the-end-time.org 