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Thank you for listening this Truth Network Podcast. We are here to remember the life of Vicki Apple. Your presence here today is a testimony of her life that has touched the lives of so many others, and there were a whole bunch of folks who came through here today who didn't stay for the service, but I think she knew everybody in Alameda County, and everybody she knew was a friend. That's the kind of person she was, a loving person, unselfish, one who considered others ahead of herself. She was a giver, not a taker. She was behind the scenes.
She never called attention to herself or promoted herself. But if there was a need that she could meet, she would meet it. And what a blessing. What a blessing to have someone like that as a part of our church, not for 44 years, but for 46.
We got a correction on that a little bit ago. So she and Larry had been part of this congregation for a long, long time, and it's been such a wonderful blessing to us during all of those years. Vicki Apple, Vicki Lee Hardy Apple was born in Alameda County on May 19, 1951, and she passed into the presence of the Lord on June 11, 2024, at Brookdale Burlington Memory Care, surrounded by family and friends.
She was the wife of Larry Apple and the daughter of the late Joseph A. Hardy and Elizabeth Lemons Hardy, a native of Alamance County and of Graham. She attended Alexander Wilson and Southern Alamance High School and was retired from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2013. As mentioned, she was a faithful member of Beacon Baptist Church in Alamance for over 46 years. Vicki loved the Lord. I can testify to that as her pastor. And she loved her church where she volunteered in junior church, toddler's class, nursery, hospitality center, and indeed any place where there was a need and where she was asked to help.
Vicki truly loved serving Christ as well as serving others in her church family. She is survived by two sons, Brian King and wife Brandy of Simpsonville, South Carolina. And Chris Apple and his wife Tori of Graham, North Carolina. Granddaughter Morgan Elizabeth King, grandsons Taylor Abbott King, Zachary Scott King, and wife Heather. And Mason Alexander King, all of Greenville, South Carolina.
And many cousins, nieces, nephews, and a host of friends. And a very special friend, Brenda Glass, who's been a comfort companion at her side for many months. She was preceded in death by a daughter, Amy Elizabeth Apple, and a sister, Betty Jo Massey.
What a team those two were. We miss them both dearly. And her favorite aunt, Louise Lindsay Hardy. Vicki had a servant's heart, was always helping others in need, a faithful worker in any job she had throughout her lifetime.
The family does express its appreciation to all of you who have reached out to the family in various ways. This has been a long time for her, a long ordeal, as she has struggled with declining memory for a number of years. And she knew that was coming. In fact, she planned her own funeral. When Larry told me that, I said, when did she do that?
He said, seven years ago. She knew what was coming. She knew what to expect. And she didn't want to be a burden to anybody else, and so she took care of it. And all of these things are just reminders of the kind of person she was. But as I said to the family a moment ago when we met for prayer before the service, what we really want to remember is that all of these characteristics are the outworkings of the grace of God in her life. These were the fruit of the Spirit, the Holy Spirit of God, who brought her to himself and who did a sanctifying work in her life over her lifetime. And so that's what we have come to remember today is not only Vicki, but the God who gave her life and the God who gave her new life, the new birth, and the God who sustained her and grew her and developed her in Christlikeness over the years. And it is the Lord Jesus Christ that we have come to worship today. I trust that by the grace of God, you can say with David, the shepherd king of Israel, the Lord is my shepherd.
I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil.
My cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Let's pray. Father, we commit this time to you, for this is a time to worship and honor the creator of the universe, the creator of our lives, the sustainer of our lives, and most of all, the savior of our souls. And we come therefore, O Lord, to give you honor and glory as we remember this particular life that you brought into being and molded and guided and used to touch the lives of so many others.
Father, we surely will miss our dear sister, already have, as she has been incapacitated now for a long time. But Father, we recognize that you give us life to live on earth only for a limited amount of time, and the time is relatively short. And then you call us into eternity. And for those who are trusting Christ, you call us into your presence and how we rejoice in that. And we know that being absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. And to go and be with Christ is far better than to stay here upon the earth. And so we rejoice in these truths and we pray that those truths shall indeed be real in the life of everyone who's gathered here today by the grace and mercy of your spirit working in hearts. We pray in Jesus' name.
Amen. Vicki wanted us to sing at her service, and she wanted us to sing Not I But Christ. You'll find it on page 537 in your hymnal, and you'll need to find a hymnal and turn and follow along as we sing. I recognize that this is not a song that is well known by everyone, but it certainly has a great message.
And I think it's simple enough that you can pick it up and beacon folks who know it, if you'll sing out good and loud so that others can follow as we sing. Not I but Christ be honored, loved, exalted. Not I but Christ be seen, be known, be heard. Not I but Christ in every look and action. Not I but Christ in every thought and word.
And then think about the words of the refrain. This is the truth that not everyone understands fully, and we want you to understand it. O to be saved from myself, dear Lord.
O to be lost in thee, that it may be no more I, dear Lord, but Christ that lives in me. What's your greatest problem? What's your greatest obstacle? What's your greatest problem in life?
It's yourself. We need to be saved from ourselves. We need to be saved from our sinful heart, and Christ does that.
We'll let you remain seated as we sing this one together. O to be saved from myself, dear Lord, but Christ that lives in me. Not I but Christ be honored, loved, exalted. Not I but Christ be seen, be known, be heard. Not I but Christ in every thought and action. Not I but Christ in every thought and word. O to be saved from myself, dear Lord, O to be lost in thee, O that it may be no more I, dear Lord, but Christ that lives in me. Not I but Christ, changed to sorrow. Not I but Christ, life will always be new. Not I but Christ, the Lord of heaven and earth now.
Not I but Christ, washed away the fear. O to be saved from myself, dear Lord, O that we lost in thee, O that it may be no more I, dear Lord, but Christ that lives in me. O to be saved from myself, dear Lord, O that it may be no more I, dear Lord, but Christ that lives in me. O to be saved from myself, dear Lord, O that we lost in thee, O that it may be no more I, dear Lord, but Christ that lives in me. At this time, Paul Nance, a long friend of the family, will come with some personal reflections. I'm not going to do this justice. Hey, Suge. I think that was her greeting to most everybody she met.
That certainly helped me relax. Larry put together some things that he had thoughts about Vicki and its reflections, a life well lived. Vicki Apple, 1951 to 2024. He selected Proverbs 31 verses 26 through 28. She opens her mouth with wisdom and on her tongue is the law of kindness. She watches over the ways in her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and call her blessed. Her husband also. And he praises her. Vicki, a woman who had her priorities right.
The Lord was first in all things. If it's not in accordance with the Bible, it was wrong with her. She read the Bible every day. Her daily devotions every morning, prayed for her family each day, used her weekly prayer list as a guide until her memory began to fail. Her dedication to her Lord was evident in all she did and solely around her co-workers and friends. She loved to cook and entertain friends and family. Fried chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, stewed apples, and homemade biscuits.
Amen. Dessert with strawberry pudding and her sweet iced tea. As dementia began to take her toll on her, she lost her ability to cook the food she wanted to do. Her love for gospel music never faded. She could sing many songs, not from memory, but mostly from her repetition of her favorite songs. And you know, Vicki supported the economy.
That's another amen, right? She loved to shop with her sister. BJ, the two of them could find deals. And you know how much they saved money for Larry and Ron. Okay, Christmas time was a boat full of fun for Vicki and BJ.
Lots of shopping for presents. Vicki loved her grandchildren, Morgan, Mason, Zach, and Taylor. She loved to call and sing happy birthday to them.
That was a joy. She prayed for them daily and loved them unconditionally. As her dementia took its toll on her, her ability to talk failed, but her smile was evident to all she saw. Her sweet caregiver, Brenda, has always been a faithful friend to this family. Now, Vicki is home with BJ, Amy Elizabeth, and the rest of God's faithful servants. In conclusion, she will be missed but not forgotten. She touched so many lives. Thank you, Paul.
I think that was very well done. Death is an inevitable part of life. It's as sure as that you were born that you were going to die.
That's true of all of us. It's strange, isn't it, that sometimes we will spend hours and hours and hours planning for something that may or may not happen, and then totally ignore something that has to happen. It's inevitable to happen. We are going to die.
We need to prepare for that. Several years ago, my wife and I were excited about the possibility, the prospect, of celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary in Italy. We spent many, many hours, delightful hours, planning that trip until COVID hit. That was the end of that, all of those plans.
We ended up spending a few nights in Abington, Virginia instead of Italy, and thankful we could do that. But the point is so obvious, isn't it? We spend lots of time on something that may or may not happen, but sometimes neglect the most important thing. This is going to happen. All of us are going to be in a casket someday with our friends and loved ones gathered around.
We need to be ready. When Jesus Christ himself was facing death and his disciples were beginning to understand the reality of it and the seriousness of it, they were very troubled. Jesus in John 14 said, Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions.
If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself, that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go, you know, and the way you know. Thomas said to him, Lord, we do not know where you are going and how can we know the way? Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Turn, please, in your hymnal to page 477, another hymn that Vicki wanted us to sing at this service today.
Four hundred seventy-seven, probably more familiar to you than the last one. More love to thee, O Christ, more love to thee. Hear thou the prayer I make on bed than day.
This is my earnest plea. More love, O Christ, to thee. More love to thee.
Let's stand as we sing this together. More love to thee, O Christ, more love to thee. Hear thou the prayer I make on bed than day.
This is my earnest plea. More love, O Christ, to thee. More love to thee. More love to thee. More love, O Christ, more love to thee. More love, O Christ, more love to thee.
Hear thou the prayer I make on bed than day. More love, O Christ, more love to thee. More love to thee.
Let's all do this work, sing with their pain. Sweet are the messengers, sing their refrain. Where play they sing with thee? More love, O Christ, to thee. More love to thee.
More love to thee. Well, shall my faith just travel? Well, shall my praise? Well, shall this faith of morning rise? My voice shall praise.
Well, shall this prayer shall be? More love, O Christ, more love to thee. More love to thee.
More love to thee. At the conclusion of the service today, we're going to sing another hymn that probably will be completely familiar to everyone here. In fact, I was told it's the second most well-known hymn in the English language.
The first one being Amazing Grace, and the second one being Rock of Ages, cleft for me. Let me hide myself in thee. I want us to think about the words of that particular hymn. Augustus Toplady wrote that. He was a clergyman in the Church of England back in the days of Charles Wesley and George Whitefield. The Lord saved him when he and his mother were traveling in Ireland, and they went into a service in a barn conducted by a lay preacher, who was certainly not eloquent, but he knew the Lord and he proclaimed the gospel. And young Augustus Toplady, I think, was about 16 years of age at that time, and he came to embrace Christ and to know the Lord Jesus as his savior from sin.
He wrote a lot of hymns. We have a number of them in our hymnal, but the one that is best known is this one, Rock of Ages, cleft for me. Let me hide myself in thee. Let the water and the blood from thy riven side, which flowed, be of sin the double cure.
Cleanse me from its guilt and power. There are five stanzas in our hymnal, but the fifth one was not written by Toplady, so we're not going to look at that one. But we're going to look at the first four stanzas that you'll find in our hymnal, and I must say that in various hymnals you'll find sometimes three stanzas rather than four, and sometimes the word order is changed a bit from one particular edition of a hymnal to another. Yet even when the word order is changed, nearly all of the phrases that are found in the one in our book are included because they are easy to rearrange, but you don't want to lose the truth of what is written in these verses. The first stanza we could call Sinner Sheltered.
Rock of ages cleft for me. Let me hide myself in thee. It talks about a shelter for sinners. Now, this concept of the rock is found a number of times in the Bible in various places and is a reference to the Lord Jesus Christ himself.
There's a lot of imagery in this hymn, so you have to understand what the imagery is talking about, and when it says rock of ages cleft for me, it's talking about the Lord Jesus Christ as the rock of ages. One particular text that deals with that aspect of who the Lord is is found in 1 Corinthians chapter 10. And here we read, Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea. Paul is talking to the Corinthian church about the days of Moses when the children of Israel were under his leadership. All were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. All ate the same spiritual food. And then this all drank the same spiritual drink for they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them. And that rock was Christ. We know that in the wilderness, when water was not available, that Moses cried out to God and God said, strike this rock and water flowed out. Well, Paul tells us that that was Christ with them.
Not literally that Christ became a rock, but that was Christ with them supplying that water from the rock. And it's a it's a picture like Jesus said to the Samaritan woman when he went to the well and she drew out water and he said, give me give me water to drink. And then he said to her, if you knew who was talking to you, you'd realize that the water that I can give you is eternal life. And she said, what kind of water do you have?
You don't even have a bucket to draw out of the well. But he was talking about the work of God's spirit and giving eternal life. And he was likening that to water. And so the water that flowed out of the rock in the wilderness in the Old Testament was a picture of eternal life that comes from Christ. And that eternal life could only be supplied when the rock was struck. That's why we read rock of ages cleft for me. Or we'd be more familiar with the word cleave. To cleave something is to strike it and to divide it. To cleave something is to split it. And so rock of ages that has been cleft or has been cleaved for me. And thereby sometimes that word cleft is used not as a verb to strike, but as the result of that striking, which is a space that is opened up when the striking has occurred. And so it's a place to hide. Cleft for me in the cleft of the rock, in the place in the rock that was created by striking.
What is that a picture of? For Jesus Christ to provide eternal life. He had to be struck. He had to be smitten. He had to be crucified. He had to die in order for sinners to have life. But because of God's mercy, that's exactly what happened. And this rock of ages was cleft. It was smitten. It was divided for me and for all who will trust in Jesus Christ.
Rock of ages cleft for me. Let me hide myself in thee. You have to do that, you know. The cleft has been done.
The striking has occurred 2000 years ago. The opening has been made. And now God says you come and hide yourself in Christ. You come to him.
Acknowledge your need. We don't often think of ourselves as hiding from God, but in a sense this is another one of those mysterious things. To hide in the cleft of the rock is to hide in God from God, if I can put it that way. To hide in the Lord Jesus Christ from the righteous judgment of Almighty God that falls upon those who are not sheltered in the rock. You will either be protected by the rock, Christ Jesus, because you have gone to him for that protection. Or if you are left outside, then the wrath of God, which is a real thing because of his righteous justice, it must fall upon you.
And you don't want that to happen. So flee to Christ. Go to the rock. Hide yourself in the cleft of the rock.
Rock of ages cleft for me. Let me hide myself in thee. Let the water and the blood from thy riven side which flowed. We know that's a picture of the crucifixion as the blood of Christ flowed from Calvary. And when they were trekking, the soldiers were trekking the three men on the cross to see if they were dead. And the two criminals on either side of Christ were not yet dead, so they performed the customary operation of breaking their legs to hasten their death. But when they came to Jesus, they determined that he had already died.
He'd already yielded his spirit because he was in perfect control of it. They didn't determine the time of his death. He did. But just to be sure, they didn't break his leg, but what did they do? They thrust a spear up into his side, and the Bible tells us out flowed blood and water. Whatever was left of bodily fluids in him all drained out at that time.
That's what this is talking about. Let the water and the blood from thy riven side which flowed do what? Is this just a sentimental thing that we look at and say, well, wasn't that a wonderful act of love? Wasn't that a wonderful act of martyrdom? No.
Far more than that. Be of sin the double cure. Cleanse me from its guilt and power.
Like we sang to begin with, the first and greatest problem we have is what? Sin. Our own sin which separates us from God.
Sin that brings the judgment of God, the just judgment of God upon us because of our disobedience and rebellion against him. But hiding ourselves in Christ, the blood that he shed on Calvary is the remedy for our sin. Be of sin the double cure.
Cleanse me from its guilt. We all are guilty of sin and power. Sin has a grip on us.
It has a power on us. But those who trust in Christ find that that power is broken. So sinners sheltered stands a one. Sinners unable stands a two.
Not the labor of my hands can fulfill the law's demands. Could my zeal? No. Respite?
No. Could my tears forever flow? All for sin could not atone. Thou must save and thou alone. We all need salvation but the problem is we're not able to achieve it by anything that we can do.
Not the labor of our hands can fulfill the law's demands. Could my zeal, zeal in religion, could it be poured out in greatest measure? Could my tears forever flow? It's not an emotional thing to cry and think that that's going to cleanse us from our sin. All these and other things that could be mentioned for sin could not atone. Thou must save, O Lord Jesus Christ. Thou must save the rock that was cleft for me. Thou must save the God-man who came to earth to take upon him a human body to lay it down in death upon the cross. That the judgment that is due unto sinners might be satisfied and that those who trust in Christ might be saved. And so stanza two, sinner unable. We can't save ourselves but we can go to Christ and he can save us.
What is stanza three? Sinner humbled. That's the problem, isn't it? It's our pride. We don't like to admit that we can't do anything good enough to save ourselves.
That's an abomination to our human pride. But we must come to that place where we are humbled to realize I cannot, I cannot please God by my works, by my righteousness. We have to come to the place where we acknowledge I really am not a good person. I thought I was. I like to represent myself in that way. I like to compare myself with others and say, well, I'm better than they are.
It's not good enough. Sinners, aren't we? Verse three, nothing in my hand I bring simply to thy cross I cling. Naked come to thee for dress, helpless look to thee for grace. Foul, I to the fountain fly.
The fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins. Wash me, Savior, or I die. We must be humbled to realize that we are sinners and we cannot save ourselves and we need a savior desperately. But God's already provided one. Why should we not avail ourselves of the provision that God has made? And that brings us to stanza four, sinners saved while I draw this fleeting breath.
The ones you're drawing right now is fleeting and the day will come when you'll draw your last one. While I draw this fleeting breath, when my eyelids close in death, when I soar to worlds unknown, see thee on thy judgment throne. How do you think of God? He is powerful. He is knowledgeable. He is gracious and loving. Thank God for that. But he's just. He's just. He loves to forgive sinners their sins.
But it's in the way that he is appointed through the Lord Jesus Christ. Don't count on forgiveness any other way. And we're all going to draw that last breath when I see thee on my judgment throne, when you see God on his judgment throne, when you come before him, are you going to hear? Come in, my child.
You trusted my son. Your sins are cleansed. You have eternal life.
Welcome home. Or are you going to hear? Your sins are still listed on your account. You would not believe in my son. You would not come to the rock that was cleft for you. And therefore, depart from me, you worker of iniquity.
I never knew you. Which will it be for you? I trust. I trust you'll be hidden in the rock.
Rock of ages cleft for me. Let me hide myself in thee. Let's pray. Oh, gracious Heavenly Father, full of mercy and love. And yet, O Lord, we know that you have revealed yourself to us in more attributes than simply your love. You have revealed that you are a righteous God, a holy God, a just God, a God who in justice punished your own son for the sins of those who trust in him. That's merciful. And yet there was no other way. You had to have a payment that satisfied justice.
And so you made the payment at great cost. And, O Father, we pray that all who hear my voice today will recognize that and will run to the cleft in the rock, run to the Savior who was crucified, run to the Savior who rose again from the dead and whoever lives seated at the right hand of your throne. O Heavenly Father, how we thank you that there is a rock of ages cleft for all who trust in you. How we thank you that by the work of your spirit, you brought our sister Vicki Apple to that realization and that she trusted in you. And how we thank you that all who will trust in Jesus will be saved. May that comfort every heart, I pray in Jesus' name.
Amen. Rock of Ages, 362 in your hymnal. We'll sing stanzas one, two, three, and four.
Three hundred sixty-two. Shall we stand as we sing? Rock of Ages, 362 in your hymn. Rock of Ages, 362 in your hymn. Rock of Ages, 362 in your hymn. Rock of Ages, 362 in your hymn. Rock of Ages, 362 in your hymn. Rock of Ages, 362 in your hymn. Rock of Ages, 362 in your hymn. Rock of Ages, 362 in your hymn. Rock of Ages, 362 in your hymn. Rock of Ages, 362 in your hymn. Rock of Ages, 362 in your hymn. Rock of Ages, 362 in your hymn. Rock of Ages, 362 in your hymn. And behind thyself they'll ring. Thank you.
