THE URGENT NEED OF FAITHFUL MEN.

TEXT: 2 Kings 2:1-3 (AMP)
¹ WHEN THE Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were going from Gilgal.
² And Elijah said to Elisha, Tarry here, I pray you, for the Lord has sent me to Bethel. But Elisha replied, As the Lord lives and as your soul lives, I will not leave you. So they went down to Bethel.
³ The prophets' sons who were at Bethel came to Elisha and said, Do you know that the Lord will take your master away from you today? He said, Yes, I know it; hold your peace.

2 Timothy 4:10 (AMP)
¹⁰ For Demas has deserted me for love of this present world and has gone to Thessalonica; Crescens [has gone] to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia.

In the book of 2 Timothy 4:10 Paul said “Demas has forsaken me...” he was so disappointed in the conduct of Demas that he had to write to Timothy to express his disappointment. It is not that easy to find faithful men. We have many sycophants parading themselves as faithful men, but we will get to know them when some challenge comes. There are those who will tell you that they are ready to die for you or for a cause but it is only sugar coated words. It is sad today that people now use God as an excuse for their unfaithfulness. They will tell you that they are led of God and that is why they are changing their position or stand. It is so sad and unfortunate because in the first instance, they are the ones who came to say they are very sure God told them to identify with you or a cause. 

Not many who are around us can be trusted. Many people are just in our lives for what they can get out of the relationship. Immediately they discover that they can get what they need from somebody else their allegiance will change. They do not love you; they only love what they can get from you. They like the good things they gain from or through you but they do not care about you. They are the brothers of Demas. The Living translation says Demas because he loves the good things of life. He thought he would make some name or get some reputation by attaching himself to Paul but when he found out that Pauls’ ministry was more sacrifice and hard labour for the kingdom he ran away. Paul experienced the unfaithfulness of John Mark during their first missionary journey, it was so painful an experience to Paul so much that when John Mark returned to join them for the next missionary journey in Acts 15:38 Paul refused to have him in his team. Again when Paul was a prisoner in Rome he was deserted by the Christians in Asia (2 Tim 1:15) Unfaithfulness is a betrayal of trust and it often leads to lose of confidence in such a fellow.  In time past all you need from somebody is their word and you are very sure they will keep their promise, but today even when someone signs an agreement with the evidence of some document you are not really sure what the result will be; the document could be fake.  People no longer know the meaning of promise because it has lost its true meaning. A faithful man is someone who is ready to go through the sun and rain with you. Like Demas many are only passionate after their selfish lust. They are there for themselves. They are like vultures waiting to have their pound of flesh.  The Glory Realm Devotional by Rev. Igho Y; the Glorious Fountain Ministries.