September 23, 2021
September 23, 2021
“The Servant Who Wears a Crown”
Tribute for memorial service on May 7, 2016 for Enoch Yuttasak Sirikul
given by Dr. Guy Saffold, Executive Director ACTS Seminaries
Ten years ago Nok began inviting me to Thailand. It was the beginning of a wonderful friendship. We taught and preached together from north to south.
It has been said this week that Nok finished well. How did he do that? What was it that enabled him to finish well?
The answer became clear to me on the morning of March 11, 2016, the last time I preached together with him. In a single four-hour sweep we walked staff at Thai Campus Crusade through the entire book of 2 Timothy.
When you work with a translator you say something and the translator responds. This process went smoothly, until suddenly Nok stopped translating. I looked over to him. There were tears in his eyes. He was having trouble speaking. When his voice returned he told me why had been unable to continue.
What he told me that morning was, I believe, the secret to how he lived and finished so well. I want to share that secret with you.
We have heard that Nok was a man of great vision. Very true! Some leaders struggle to find a vision, but not Nok. His vision was:
• Clear: The gospel of salvation through Christ.
• Simple: It’s our job to proclaim it.
• Large: To everyone.
Nok wanted every person in Thailand to experience the love of Jesus and have eternal life. He never made the vision larger because it included everyone. He never made it smaller because he would not leave anyone out.
Some leaders have a big vision but no plan to achieve it. They are just talk. Not Nok! He had plans, big plans. Now, the most important thing about a plan is that people believe in it, so in his very special way Nok inspired hope. “With Him we can,” he would say. “If we work together . . . if we have faith . . . if we trust in God’s power . . . . then we can get it done.” His conviction was contagious. People believed his call to action. Things would happen!
Yes, if there was ever a man with vision, it was Nok. But vision is the DIRECTION he brought to the work. It is not what he shared with me that day about finishing well.
We have heard from numerous friends that Nok had a large and generous heart. I believe Nok had the spiritual gift of friendship. Much of it is the gift called “helps.” Nok was one of the best helpers you could ever know. If you wanted to serve the Great Commission, you would have Nok’s help. You had to be serious about it because he was not a man to waste time. But if you were, you’d find him digging in with you. Or, more likely, you’d find that he had wrapped you into one of his own projects!
He encouraged us, inspired us, made us better than we were. But this was the PASSION that Nok brought to the work. It is not what he shared with me that morning about finishing well.
We have heard how Nok was a personal example of leadership. Absolutely true! It is a deep principle that if a general wants his soldiers to be brave, it matters that he is personally courageous. In Scripture there is an expression: “Do the work.” Nok did the work personally. He led the way by doing the work himself. As others followed he would call back to them. “Run a bit faster . . . . Keep going. . . . Don’t give up. . . . let’s do it together. . . . With Him we can.”
But the courage of personal example is the DILIGENCE Nok brought to the work. It is not what Nok shared with me that morning about how he was able to finish well.
On that last morning as we preached through 2 Timothy we came to 2 Timothy 4:7. Knowing that death was very near Paul say, “My life is already being poured out like an offering to God. The time of my departure has come.”
I read out the verse. Silence! No translation from Nok. I looked over and saw the tears in his eyes. “What’s wrong, Nok?” I said. With a choked whisper he said to me, “I feel so bad for the Apostle Paul. He was so faithful. I want to be faithful too.”
That is the answer to how Nok was able to live and finish well. He had a deep passion to be faithful.
• Faithful to Jesus who saved him.
• Faithful to the family God gave him.
• Faithful to the staff entrusted to him.
• Faithful to the Great Commission to which God had called him.
Nok wanted to found faithful. And so he was!
Our lives are like a book. Every day we write one page. One day we write the last page. Only then when the full story is known can others apply a title to our book. Nok has written his last page. It's is time to add a title. I suggest that it be “The Servant Who Wears a Crown.”
Nok was a servant of Jesus. He ran the race, kept the faith. He was faithful. The crown of righteous was his reward from the Lord Jesus.
Nok is gone now. But he has left behind his book. He urges us to study it carefully, to absorb its clear, simple and powerful message. Through it he calls back to us. “Be faithful. . . . Keep going. . . . Don’t give up. . . . Believe in God. . . .Trust in Him. . . . You can do it too. . . . With him we can !”
Tribute for memorial service on May 7, 2016 for Enoch Yuttasak Sirikul
given by Dr. Guy Saffold, Executive Director ACTS Seminaries
Ten years ago Nok began inviting me to Thailand. It was the beginning of a wonderful friendship. We taught and preached together from north to south.
It has been said this week that Nok finished well. How did he do that? What was it that enabled him to finish well?
The answer became clear to me on the morning of March 11, 2016, the last time I preached together with him. In a single four-hour sweep we walked staff at Thai Campus Crusade through the entire book of 2 Timothy.
When you work with a translator you say something and the translator responds. This process went smoothly, until suddenly Nok stopped translating. I looked over to him. There were tears in his eyes. He was having trouble speaking. When his voice returned he told me why had been unable to continue.
What he told me that morning was, I believe, the secret to how he lived and finished so well. I want to share that secret with you.
We have heard that Nok was a man of great vision. Very true! Some leaders struggle to find a vision, but not Nok. His vision was:
• Clear: The gospel of salvation through Christ.
• Simple: It’s our job to proclaim it.
• Large: To everyone.
Nok wanted every person in Thailand to experience the love of Jesus and have eternal life. He never made the vision larger because it included everyone. He never made it smaller because he would not leave anyone out.
Some leaders have a big vision but no plan to achieve it. They are just talk. Not Nok! He had plans, big plans. Now, the most important thing about a plan is that people believe in it, so in his very special way Nok inspired hope. “With Him we can,” he would say. “If we work together . . . if we have faith . . . if we trust in God’s power . . . . then we can get it done.” His conviction was contagious. People believed his call to action. Things would happen!
Yes, if there was ever a man with vision, it was Nok. But vision is the DIRECTION he brought to the work. It is not what he shared with me that day about finishing well.
We have heard from numerous friends that Nok had a large and generous heart. I believe Nok had the spiritual gift of friendship. Much of it is the gift called “helps.” Nok was one of the best helpers you could ever know. If you wanted to serve the Great Commission, you would have Nok’s help. You had to be serious about it because he was not a man to waste time. But if you were, you’d find him digging in with you. Or, more likely, you’d find that he had wrapped you into one of his own projects!
He encouraged us, inspired us, made us better than we were. But this was the PASSION that Nok brought to the work. It is not what he shared with me that morning about finishing well.
We have heard how Nok was a personal example of leadership. Absolutely true! It is a deep principle that if a general wants his soldiers to be brave, it matters that he is personally courageous. In Scripture there is an expression: “Do the work.” Nok did the work personally. He led the way by doing the work himself. As others followed he would call back to them. “Run a bit faster . . . . Keep going. . . . Don’t give up. . . . let’s do it together. . . . With Him we can.”
But the courage of personal example is the DILIGENCE Nok brought to the work. It is not what Nok shared with me that morning about how he was able to finish well.
On that last morning as we preached through 2 Timothy we came to 2 Timothy 4:7. Knowing that death was very near Paul say, “My life is already being poured out like an offering to God. The time of my departure has come.”
I read out the verse. Silence! No translation from Nok. I looked over and saw the tears in his eyes. “What’s wrong, Nok?” I said. With a choked whisper he said to me, “I feel so bad for the Apostle Paul. He was so faithful. I want to be faithful too.”
That is the answer to how Nok was able to live and finish well. He had a deep passion to be faithful.
• Faithful to Jesus who saved him.
• Faithful to the family God gave him.
• Faithful to the staff entrusted to him.
• Faithful to the Great Commission to which God had called him.
Nok wanted to found faithful. And so he was!
Our lives are like a book. Every day we write one page. One day we write the last page. Only then when the full story is known can others apply a title to our book. Nok has written his last page. It's is time to add a title. I suggest that it be “The Servant Who Wears a Crown.”
Nok was a servant of Jesus. He ran the race, kept the faith. He was faithful. The crown of righteous was his reward from the Lord Jesus.
Nok is gone now. But he has left behind his book. He urges us to study it carefully, to absorb its clear, simple and powerful message. Through it he calls back to us. “Be faithful. . . . Keep going. . . . Don’t give up. . . . Believe in God. . . .Trust in Him. . . . You can do it too. . . . With him we can !”
