THE DEATH OF THE RIGHTEOUS (in honour of late Evang. Job Alabi)

Dearly Beloved, THE DEATH OF THE RIGHTEOUS (in honour of late Evang. Job Alabi) “Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my end be like his!” (Numbers 23:10b NKJV). I am overwhelmed by the apt reactions of people (especially on social media) to the news of the death of late Evangelist Job Adegboyega Alabi, the first known full-time and one of the greatest evangelists of the Nigerian Baptist Convention who died peacefully in his home in the morning of Friday 26 May 2017. Here was a man who was “forced” to resign from the pastorate of a local church and become an itinerary evangelist in a setting that did not recognize such then. He spearheaded the official recognition of evangelists in his denomination and did the work of an evangelist full time till his last day on earth. He influenced the lives of many people throughout his denomination and even beyond in spite of the fact that he did not hold any known "influential" official position at any level in the denomination or the society. He was a role model to many pastors and members of his denomination. The great man of God did not have any scandal whatsoever in his ministry as a church pastor and later a full-time evangelist. His death is indeed an irreparable loss to humanity. As many people were (and still are) reacting to his home call within hours of his passing away with many good comments, remarkable reminiscences of his life and their encounters with him as if these people have rehearsed the reactions before his sudden death, the words of Balaam in Numbers 23:10 came to my mind: “Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my end be like his!” (NKJV). How I wish my end were like that. How I wish that people reacted to my home call with good comments about me, and recalled their good reminiscences of their encounter with me. How I wish I leaved this world in active service to the Lord without any scandal. Unfortunately, Balaam that made that statement did not live and die a righteous man. He specialized in cursing people and “loved the wages of unrighteousness” (2 Peter 2:15 NKJV). He was summoned to curse the people of Israel, and he tried to do so on three different occasions despite the fact that he knew that God did not want to curse them (see Numbers 22-24). He subsequently advised Balak to lure the people of Israel to sin (see Numbers 25, Revelation 2:14). He died fighting against the people of God (Numbers 31:8). What a pity! “Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my end be like his!” It is not a wish. Anyone that will die the death of the righteous has to walk towards it by living a righteous life towards God and other human being. Will you die the death of the righteous? Will your end be like the end of the righteous? Start living a righteous and dedicated life now. In His service, Bayo Afolaranmi (Pastor). Prayer Point: Pray that you will be able to live a life of righteousness so as to be able to die the death of the righteous. NB This message is dedicated to late Evangelist Job Adegboyega Alabi (1975-2017), the great evangelist of the Nigerian Baptist Convention who died on 26 May 2017.