The psalmist of Psalm 103 writes these well-known words. As for man, his days are like grass. As a flower of the field, so he flourishes. For the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more. Moses writes something similar in Psalm 90 when he says, all our days have passed away in your wrath. We finish our years like a sigh. The days of our lives are 70 years, and if by reason of strength they are 80 years, yet their boast is only labor and sorrow, for it is soon cut off and we fly away. The Bible, the word of God, is clear that one day we all must die. and death sometimes comes earlier than we would like or that we think. And that is the wages of sin. Because of sin, we all must die. But as Christians, we have hope. We have hope in the Lord Jesus Christ. He died as well, but he also rose again on the third day. And in rising from the dead, he declared victory over sin and over death and over Satan. And the promise of the gospel is that those who believe on his name will also share in his victory. They too shall rise when the trumpet will sound and the Lord Jesus Christ will descend from heaven with a shout. Wim believed this with all of his heart, and now he is in glory with his Savior. And the desire of his heart has been fulfilled, and that's why we gather together in grief, yes, but we do not grieve as the world grieves. We grieve in hope, hope of the resurrection to come and of the promise of eternal life. We confess this hope and this comfort in the words of Lord's Day one question and answer one of our Heidelberg Catechism. And the question is asked, what is your only comfort in life and death? And the answer is that I with body and soul, both in life and death, am not my own, but belong to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. who with his precious blood has fully satisfied for all my sins and delivered me from all the power of the devil, and so preserves me that without the will of my heavenly Father, not a hair can fall from my head. Yes, that all things must be subservient to my salvation. And therefore, by his Holy Spirit, he also assures me of eternal life. and makes me sincerely willing and ready henceforth to live unto him." That is our comfort as believers in Jesus Christ. May this comfort also go with us today and in the days to come. We're going to sing together a versification of Lord's Day 1, question and answer 1 of the Heidelberg Catechism. in the song I Have No Other Comfort. And that I am thy Savior, whose death I I serve. is full atonement for all my sin and guilt. The cross is all my glory, the deed my faith it builds. And Thou, my great deliverer, art life, The scripture passage for this funeral service is taken from the book of Revelation, chapter 21. And you can find this in your pew Bible. That's the red book in front of you. And you can find this chapter on page 1217. Revelation 21, page 1217. Let us hear the word of God. Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth. For the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, behold, the tabernacle of God is with men and he will dwell with them and they shall be his people. God himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain. for the former things have passed away. Then he who sat on the throne said, behold, I make all things new. And he said to me, write, for these words are true and faithful. And he said to me, it is done. I am the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be my son. But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bulls filled with the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me, saying, come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb's wife. And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal. Also, she had a great and high wall with 12 gates and 12 angels at the gates, and names written on them, which are the names of the 12 tribes of the children of Israel. Three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west. Now the wall of the city had 12 foundations, and on them were the names of the 12 apostles of the Lamb. And he who talked with me had a gold reed to measure the city, its gates, and its wall. The city is laid out as a square. Its length is as great as its breadth. And he measured the city with the reed, 12,000 furlongs. Its length, breadth, and height are all equal. Then he measured its wall, 144 cubits, according to the measure of a man that is of an angel. The construction of its wall was of jasper, and the city was pure gold like clear glass. The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with all kinds of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, the fifth sardonyx, the sixth sardius, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysophrase, the eleventh jacenth, and the twelfth amethyst. The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each individual gate was of one pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass. But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light, and the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it. Its gates shall not be shut at all by day. There shall be no night there, and they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it. But there shall by no means enter into it anything that defiles. causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb's Book of Life." So far the reading of Holy Scripture and the text for the sermon this afternoon is taken from this chapter verses 3 and 4. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, Behold the tabernacle of God is with men and and he will dwell with them and they shall be his people. God himself will be with them and be their God. and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away. May the Lord bless the reading and the preaching of his holy word to our hearts this afternoon. Let's come before the Lord in prayer, ask him for a blessing. Our gracious God in heaven, You, O Lord, are our Creator. You have fashioned man from the dust of the earth, and you have formed each one of us in the wombs of our mothers. You have carefully knit together all of the parts of our body, and you have given us a never-dying soul. You have created us in your very image, And you have appointed all of our days, the day of our birth and the day of our death. And you, O Lord, are the one who sustains us. You are the one who provides us with food and drink, with shelter and clothing, and all that we need for this life. We thank you, O Lord, for all of your many, many blessings. And Lord, we have come together as family and as friends and as members of our congregation once again to mourn the death of one of our own. Many of us did not expect this. And yet, Lord, we must bow under your sovereignty. And we must acknowledge that you are the one who decides when we will pass away, when we will enter into eternal life. And you have seen fit to call our brother Wim out of this life. And you have summoned him to appear before your holy throne. And we can hardly imagine what he is witnessing as he stands before you in this very hour Time, of course, means nothing to him, because in glory there is no time. There is only eternity. But he is beholding the face of his Redeemer, the one who died for him, the one who is exalted at the right hand of the Father, who is seated at the Father's right hand. And He is witnessing the songs of the angels and of the saints who have gone on before us. And Lord, it is dazzling and it is wonderful. And He is at peace. And He is without pain, without suffering, without any of the effects of sin, and without sin itself. free at last to glorify His God without hindrance and awaiting the day of His resurrection. And we rejoice with Him. Yes, Lord, we are sad. We miss him. And we think particularly of his wife, Jen, his father, Bert, and his siblings, and all of his family. He was so dear to them. He brought such joy into their lives, always so cheerful, always so quick to laugh, to joke, but also always quick to express his love for the Lord Jesus and for all that he has done. And we thank you, O Lord, for his witness. We thank you for his faith in Christ. And that means that we, as was said earlier, we do not gather together in unbearable sorrow. but with sorrow mixed with joy and thankfulness and gratitude for all that you have done in him. And we thank you, Lord, for his testimony of faith. And we thank you that he is now with the Lord. So yes, we grieve, but we grieve in hope. And we look forward to that day when his body and the bodies of all men and women and children will rise at the sound of the trumpet and the shout of the archangel when the Lord Jesus Christ will descend from heaven and all people who have ever lived will stand before Him to be judged. And those who are righteous, those who have trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ and have lived to serve Him and to glorify Him, they shall enter into everlasting glory and there they shall remain forever and ever. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for dying on the cross and for satisfying the wrath of God against sin that we, whoever believes on your name, may enter into that place. We pray, O Lord, for your blessing upon this service. As the word of God will be proclaimed, we pray that it may be a comfort to our hearts We pray for those who are not able to be with us in this special occasion. We think of family members and we think of friends also in the Netherlands and perhaps other parts of our country and North America. We're thankful that they can at least join us through the live stream and we pray, Lord, for your blessing upon them and comfort their hearts as well. Lord, grant that everything that is done in this hour may be for your glory. And we pray that you would keep us from all sin and distraction. And may your name be praised. In Jesus' name we ask it. Amen. Let us sing now from Psalter number one. Psalter 1 was one of, the psalm on which Psalter 1 is based was one of Wim's favorites, and so we thought it appropriate to sing this psalter. Psalter number 1 will sing the three stanzas. This way, please. His secret ways, but of His worship divine. Beloved family and friends, Last Thursday at around noon, after a long battle with Huntington's disease, the Lord our God called to himself a most beloved son and brother and husband, Wim Kline. We all knew that Wim's health was declining. His oxygen levels had become critically low over the past several months. He had been losing weight, all as a result of this terrible disease. But very few of us, I certainly include myself in this, expected him to go when he did. certainly not only a few weeks after we gathered together to bury his sister, Hanita. But the Lord's ways are higher than our ways. And who are we to say anything about God's timing? We are creatures of the dust, and he is the infinite God. And he called him to himself at exactly the right time. The night before he passed away, Burton Yenny called me to tell me that he was in bed and that his condition was not good. It didn't sound very good. I was a bit concerned. The next morning, I went to go and see him. Jen was there and her father was there. And you can imagine my surprise that I was expecting to see him in bed, breathing heavily, shallowly, but instead he was in his wheelchair, sitting up. Dressed with Jen and her father at his side, he seemed to be pretty good. I sensed that he had some trouble breathing, but he was certainly in good spirits. In fact, I've never known Wim not to be in good spirits. But he was on that day as well. I even got a laugh out of him. once or twice. I read Psalm 23 with him, which we hope to reflect on at the graveside in a few moments. And as he usually did, he recited part of it with me. I didn't even have to read it. He knows it. He knew it all off by heart. And I thought for sure as I left his room that morning, I thought for sure I would see him again the next day. But about two hours after I got home, Bert called me to tell me that he had passed away. And I was shocked. And I kept saying to Bert on the phone, no, no. How can that be? I was just there. But he had passed on. The Savior was calling him home. And although I was shocked, within just a few seconds, I was also thankful that the Lord had come and had relieved him of the terrible trial and suffering that he had to endure for so many years. And I thought about him, where he was at that particular moment, standing before his Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, beholding him in all of his glory, together with the saints and the angels above, and I was jealous for a moment, and I rejoice that finally he is at rest. But we'll miss him. Everyone who knew him loved him. He was so gentle, and fun. But what we will remember most about Wim is not his gentleness, not his funniness, but what we will remember most about him is his genuine faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. Wim was clearly a believer in the Lord. He trusted in him. He looked to him as the only hope and ground of his salvation. And he clung to the Lord, even in those dark, deep valleys that the Lord had to lead him. He clung to him in the midst of adverse and trying circumstances that very few of us can even imagine. And for this, we are thankful. and we give God all the glory. When I met with Jen on Saturday to discuss the funeral, she asked me to speak on Revelation 21 verses 3 and 4. It was one of Wim's favorites. I almost hesitate to say that because Wim loved the whole Word of God. from beginning to end, and he had many favorite passages, Hebrews 1, Hebrews 11, Psalm 23, as I mentioned already, but especially this passage, Revelation 21, three and four, it spoke to him so much. It gave him such comfort throughout his life, especially towards the end. It's a beautiful passage. It's one of the most beautiful and certainly one of the most memorable in the word of God. In these verses, John, the Apostle John, sees a vision of the new heaven and the new earth. The new heaven, the first heaven rather, and the first earth was no more. They had passed away on the day of judgment. when Christ returned to the earth. We read of that in the previous chapter in Revelation 20 verse 11. And in the place of the old heaven and the old earth, God creates a new heaven and a new earth. And after God completed this work of creating the new heaven and the new earth, John says he saw new Jerusalem. Coming down from God out of heaven. What is the New Jerusalem? The New Jerusalem is just a metaphor for the church triumphant. that is made up of people from every tongue and tribe and nation throughout the entire world from the beginning of time to the end of time. And she is said to come down from God out of heaven because that is where she went after the day of judgment. When the Lord Jesus comes again, all the saints will go up to meet the Lord in the air and they shall be transformed. They will be glorified. Sin will be no more and the consequences the effects of sin will also be no more and now God has created this Wonderful world for his people to live in this new heaven and this new earth and so she comes down from heaven as John says like a like a bride adorned for her husband and God is going to show her this beautiful place That he has made for her to dwell in for all eternity And as she comes down from heaven, John says in verse 3 that he hears a loud voice from heaven. Most likely, this is the voice of an angel. We often hear the voice of angels throughout the book of Revelation. This verse is no exception. And he speaks loudly so that all the earth and all the inhabitants of the earth can hear what he is about to say. You see, he had just received a message from God. He had come from the very throne room of God. And God had commissioned him with a special message to proclaim to the entire world. And the message begins with the word behold. Behold. That's an old English word. We don't use it very often anymore. But the word behold is used when the speaker wants to grab your attention. And that's what the angel is doing. He's grabbing our attention. He's saying, listen carefully. Pay attention to what I'm about to tell you. Because it's very important. And it's very comforting. And what is this message? What is the message that God gave to this angel to proclaim? Here it is. Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men. What an astounding statement that is. The tabernacle of God is with men. The word tabernacle reminds us of the Old Testament, reminds us of the tent in which God dwelt with his people. during the 40 years wandering in the wilderness. God dwelt, in a manner of speaking, in this tent which was located in the very center of the camp of Israel and he literally dwelt among them there in that tabernacle. Ultimately he dwelt among them in the tabernacle foreshadows this he dwelt among them the person of his son the Lord Jesus Christ in John 1 verse 14 John says the word was made flesh and dwelt among us by taking upon himself our flesh and blood the second person of the Holy Trinity dwelt among his people in a way that he never had before. In physical form. He rubbed shoulders with them. He spoke with them. They could see him. He could see them. And he dwells still among his people, doesn't he? In and through the Holy Spirit who takes up his abode in our hearts. But here's the amazing thing. That in heaven, in the new heaven and the new earth, God will dwell with his people permanently and in perfection and without interruption to an everlasting eternity. Imagine what that would be like to dwell with God. We hardly know what that is. We experience God in different ways. We experience the peace of God. We experience peace with God and communion with God. But this is different. This is different than anything that we experience here in this life. This is perfect communion. Uninterrupted communion. God will dwell with his people. When Moses was on Mount Sinai, he met the Lord and God spoke with him for 40 days and for 40 nights. And when Moses came down from the mountain, you remember the people of Israel, they were dazzled by the brilliant glory that emanated from his face, so much so that they said to Moses, Moses put a veil on your face because we can't stand to look at you. That was only after 40 days of being in the presence of the Lord. Imagine being with the Lord to an everlasting eternity. When Peter, James, and John saw the Lord transfigured on the Mount of Transfiguration, they were so moved that Peter, not knowing what else to say, offered to build three tabernacles, three tents, one for Jesus, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. He didn't know what else to say. He was so stunned at the sight of the glory of God. Now imagine what it would be like to dwell in his presence, to have direct Uninterrupted communion and contact with God forever and ever and ever. It's too much for our finite minds to fully comprehend, but that's what life will be like in heaven. God will make his dwelling place with believers. He will dwell with them and they will dwell with him, but that's not all. As though that isn't enough. The angel, speaking of believers, goes on to say, and they shall be his people and God himself shall be with them. He says it again because it's just so overwhelming. In case we didn't get it the first time, he says it again. God himself shall be with them and be their God. And what we have here is the fulfillment of one of the promises of the covenant of grace. When God established his covenant with Abraham in Genesis 17, he said to him, and I will establish my covenant between me and you and your seed after you in their generations for an everlasting covenant to be a God to you and to your seed after you. And he goes on to say, and I will give to you and to your seed after you the land wherein you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God. And that promise was later confirmed in Jeremiah 31 verse 33 when God speaks of the new covenant. He says, this shall be the new covenant that I will make with the house of Israel. I will put my law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts and I will be their God and they shall be my people. And that's true even now when we are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, we are the people of God. But in the new heaven and the new earth, this promise will be fulfilled completely, fully. God will fully be our God. And we shall fully be His people, completely dedicated to Him, loving Him with perfect love, perfect faithfulness forever and ever and ever. There'll be no more sin in heaven. So often we sin against God and the communion that we have with Him is broken because of that sin. But in heaven there is no sin. There's not even any possibility of sin. There's no more backsliding. There's no more periods of spiritual depression and drought. It's all glory, glory, glory. Forever and ever. You see how much better the new heavens and the new earth will be than paradise itself. In paradise, there was also no sin, but there was a possibility to sin. And because of that, Adam fell into transgression, and we know the results of that, but in the new heaven and the new earth, there is no possibility of sin. There is a tree of life, but there's no tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And that means that all that sin has brought into the world will be completely done away with. The situation that the fall brought into the world will be completely reversed. In heaven God will dwell with his people in a way that he had not done before. And God's people will experience perfect communion with him. How wonderful. But even that's not all. And heaven, the believer will not only experience perfect communion with God, he will also enjoy the comfort of God. Look at verse four. The angel says, and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. Now, some people have looked at that verse and they have said, well, that must mean then that there is crying in heaven. The people are crying in heaven and God's going to come to them he's going to dry away their tears he's going to comfort them but that cannot be there can be no tears in heaven there's no sorrow in heaven there's only perfect joy perfect happiness the bible says that in psalm 16 verse 11 the psalmist says you will show me the path of life and your presence is fullness of joy at your right hand there are pleasures forevermore Isaiah in Isaiah 65 verse 19 says this, he quotes God as saying, I will rejoice in Jerusalem and joy in my people and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her nor the voice of crying. There's no sorrow in heaven. There's only joy, perfect joy. So what the angel means is when he says that God will wipe away all tears from our eyes, he means that in heaven there will be nothing that will cause us grief. And what is it that causes us grief? John mentions a number of things here. He mentions death. There's no death in heaven. Death is probably the one thing that causes us the most grief in this life. Nothing quite compares to the grief of death. Nothing hits us as deep. Nothing affects us as profoundly. And sometimes we experience grief over the death of a loved one for years. Sometimes we never quite get over it. It's always there. But in the new heavens and the new earth, there will be no more death. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15, death will be swallowed up in victory. Victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. There will be no more death. There will also be no more sorrow or crying. Those two words are linked together, sorrow, crying. Sorrow is that which leads to crying. And what the angel is saying here is that there's nothing in heaven and in the new earth that will bring sorrow and crying. There will be no more death as we've just seen, but there will also be no more trials. No more hardships. No more adversities. There will be no more persecution. There will be no more sickness. No more Huntington's disease. No more cancer. No more mental disorders. No more anxiety. No more depression. Only joy and happiness. And then John says there will be no more pain. No more mental pain. No more physical pain. No more spiritual pain. Because there will be no more sickness. There will be no more death. There will be no pain. And to confirm that, the angel says, for the former things have passed away. What does he mean by that? The former things refers to the old order of things. The fall of Adam and Eve introduced a new order of things. It introduced a new order of things with respect to man's relationship to God. Before the fall of man into sin, man enjoyed at least some measure of communion with God. It was not unbroken. God came down from heaven and he walked and talked with Adam in the garden of the cool of the day, but then he went back up into heaven again. Nonetheless, he experienced some measure of communion with God. But when man fell into sin, that communion came to an end. There was separation. There was enmity introduced in the order. The fall of man also introduced a new order of things with respect to man's relationship to each other. Before the fall, Adam and Eve were deeply in love with each other. They had eyes only for one another. Their marriage was perfect. But as a result of the fall, enmity was introduced, even in that most sacred of relationships between husband and wife, and it would extend to their children, and their children's children. And from henceforth, man would be at odds with each other. Husband and wife would be at odds with each other at times. And it also introduced a new order of things with respect to man's relationship to the creation. Before the fall of man into sin, creation was perfect. There were trees in the garden that abundantly brought forth the best fruit you can possibly imagine, and man could eat of that fruit to his heart's content. But what happened after the fall? After the fall the earth brought forth thorns and thistles and man had to eat bread by the sweat of his brow. The whole created order was upset by the fall of man into sin. This is why we have natural disasters, hurricanes and tornadoes and earthquakes and sickness and disease. Paul says in Romans 8 that the whole creation groans under the weight of sin. That's the old order of things. But in the new heaven and the new earth, there will be a new order. The old order will pass away. The new heavens and the new earth will be founded on a new order, a perfect order. It will be the way things God always intended them to be, and there will be no more change, no more possibility of another fall into sin. Oh, this is our home. This is what we as believers in Christ Jesus can expect. When we die, we will experience a foretaste of what John describes here. But when Christ comes again, we will experience it in full. And we'll see this heavenly Jerusalem, and this new heaven, and this new earth, and we will delight in it. Now Wim is in heaven, and he's experiencing something of this, not the whole thing yet. You know, heaven is still an intermediate state. It's not our final destination. He doesn't have a body right now. He's waiting for the redemption of his body, which will come in the day of resurrection. He's waiting for the new heavens and the new earth wherein he will dwell together with all of God's people. But heaven is still a foretaste of this. That's why while we grieve today, we also rejoice because of what Wim is tasting right now. And every believer in the Lord Jesus Christ will one day experience what he is experiencing and shall experience forever and ever to all eternity. Well, let me ask you as I close, Where will you be when you die? You know, the Bible says there's only two options. There's only one of two places we go when we die. We either go to heaven or we go to hell. There's no in-between place. There's no second chance. It's either the one or the other. Now, hell is a terrible place, and I don't want any of you to go there. It is a place, the Bible says, of unending pain and torment. Jesus says it's a place of weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. And you can dismiss that as just fairy tales. But what if you wake up one day after you die and you find that it wasn't a fairy tale after all? We need to think about these things. And every funeral is an opportunity for us to reflect on the meaning of life, the brevity of life, and our soul. God has created us with a never-dying soul. The body will die, but the soul will live on. What will happen to your soul when you die? Will it follow whim? Will it be in heaven with God? Or will it be in hell? The Bible lays open these two options. And it tells us how we can avoid the terrors and the torment of hell. And it's so simple. The Bible says, repent of your sins and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what it is. That's how we enter into heaven. And the gospel invitation comes to us also today. And in that gospel invitation, the gates of heaven are swung wide open, and the Lord Jesus himself beckons us, invites us to enter in. And he says, you don't have to go to hell. You can go to heaven. You can live forever with me in this new heaven and this new earth, such as John has described in our text. It can all be yours for nothing. For free? You say, how can it be for free? Well, it's not really for free. Jesus paid the price. He went to the cross. He suffered and died for our sins. And the promise of the gospel is that whoever believes in him will not perish, but have everlasting life. Oh, will you believe on him if you're not a believer? Will you believe on him today? Today is still the day of grace. It is still the day of salvation. Today the gates of heaven are still open. Tomorrow may be too late. Today, later today, may be too late. We don't know what the rest of this day will bring, and that's why the Bible comes with such urgency. Seek the Lord while he may be found. call upon him while he is near. Make haste to enter while the gates are still opened. Repent and believe and you shall be saved." Wim knew that gospel and he responded to that gospel. Will you Amen. Let us sing together words of it is well with my soul. We'll sing the four stanzas. In peace, like a river, the dead have died in, and sorrows like sin have flown. Love has taught me to see it is well, it is well with my soul. It is well with my soul. The sun It is well with my soul. It is well, it is well with my soul. In all the bliss of His glorious love, I stand out in part of the whole. It is well with my soul. It is well, it is well with my soul. O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming? And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Let's close in prayer. Almighty God, we rejoice, O Lord, and the wonderful prospect that is laid before the people of God. For those who trust in you have loved you and served you. It is most wonderful, and we've been given a glimpse of that, albeit a very brief glimpse, in this portion of your word this afternoon. And we thank you, O Lord, that you have made all of this possible. that you have secured an eternal redemption for your own, and that the day is coming when we shall see this new heaven and this new earth with our own eyes, and our eyes will be dazzled by it, and we will fall down on our faces before God to worship and praise your name forever. Lord, we know that Wim is experiencing that right now, together with Anita and Ange. We thank you, O Lord, and also their mother. We thank you for the hope that this gives us and the comfort that it provides for us as we continue to grieve his loss. I pray, O God, for the family again. Will you sustain and strengthen them and bless us now as we go to the cemetery And as we bury the remains of our dear son and brother and husband, strengthen us as we stand before that open grave. Let it be a solemn moment for us when we consider the realities of life and death and of eternity to come. Grant that these things may be impressed deeply upon our souls and upon our hearts. And we pray for those in this congregation this afternoon who do not know the Lord Jesus as their Savior. And we pray, Lord, as the gospel invitation has gone out, that you would bless it to their hearts, that they too would come and bend the knee to Christ and look to him as their only hope. Bless us, we pray, and graciously pardon all of our sins. We pray it in Jesus' name. Amen. I have one announcement before Bert comes up and speaks some words on behalf of the family, and that is that the family has requested that you park at the cemetery. If you're coming to the cemetery, park outside the cemetery gates, not on the cemetery property. There should be sufficient parking along the fence, and so please just park there, and then we will form a processional behind the casket to the gravesite. Well, I asked Bert and Jennifer if I could speak a couple of words, too, as a father who lost his three kids, but I didn't lose them. And I will come to that. So first of all, I will thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. That's the main thing. Secondly, also his wife, Jennifer, and her family. Thank you. I thank God we went often with me to visit my kids, going there often. And it was always hard, she knows. Pastor Jack, all my children, thank you. My grandchildren, I love them, yes, and I pray every day for my grandchildren, for my family, for my loved ones every day. For Enoch and Bill and their children. My sister Lance's children, they are here. Thank you for coming. All the friends, the people in the manor home who took care of it. The church here, I mean, thank you for the day. I know you're personally pretty good too. And my church family of Vancouver Island, I will say a couple of words in Dutch because in Holland they listen to and some don't understand English. And a special dank ook on my family in Holland. My sister, Titi, and from the eight kids, we are the only two left. And Gijs and the kinden. My brother-in-law and Annie just, my sister Annie, as a lot of you know, just passed on. I don't like the word passed away, because we pass on if we are in the Lord Jesus. We don't pass away. We pass on. And she passed on in January. She took care of me, Annie and Lance, when I was 11 years old and lost my own mom as she was nine. Till dad remarried and had a lovely second mom. And I'm thankful for that, and that lovely father was all love. The saying is, do goed en zie niet terug. I still have to learn a lot, but I've probably, I went back to English again, sorry about that. And I want to thank the children of my brother Henk and Piet. I also want to thank Greet, Jos, my wife's first wife's sister, who was always worried and always wanted to help. And also Greet, their children. And my brother-in-law, and he's also my cousin Max, Max Klein. He has done so much for the Huntington's. The Americans and Canadians together, a lot. He did a lot of work on that. And what I will say about Max too, he's not only my neef and my zwager. He showed a lot of love in his life and his kids too. So I want to have a little speech and thank you to everyone who I forgot. You know, some people they know me for a long time, some don't. Some people said over the years, there's probably a curse on that guy. His wife, who was, according to the doctors, became having the Huntington's. What happens once in the three, four million, without any family history, Joyce had over 100 cousins in Holland up to today. Nobody has Huntington's. Some say a curse. Some say he had a great faith. I will say, they're both not right. See, I have a great God, and like Wim always said, if the Lord brings you to it, he brings you through it too. And he does, I know that. Does it hurt? Terrible. Do I miss them all? Terrible. But you know, one of my favorite songs is that he always stays faithful, although I was not always faithful with the Lord, but he stays faithful. And I sang that song when Ens passed on, because he's a faithful God, I can tell you that. Yes, I say it hurts terrible. But we have hope because of Jesus, and we heard it today again. And what he said in Romans 10, verse 10, if you declare with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. That's a promise. That's what the Lord Jesus promises. And you know what? I can make a promise, but sometimes you cannot keep it. But God keeps always his promise. On Sunday, last Sunday, I couldn't go to church. I was still fighting a cold. And so I listened from a sermon. I really always liked that sermon. And the kids, they know that pastor do David Jeremiah. He is from, sorry. The cold is still working in me. David Jeremiah is from Southern California. We went even to his church. And he was preaching about the holiness of God. And that we, in our state, cannot approach God. We just heard from the pastor, and he mentioned that Moses was there, but he couldn't see him face to face. You can't, because you can't, because God is too holy. And it's, you know, but when they sing in heaven, we were just talking about it, most of it, what we read, is the angels saying, holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, because he's holy. And we, in our state, as sinful people, We cannot approach God. But through Jesus, we can do that. And he ended with a little story, and I will tell you the story. Now, he said right away, this is not in the Bible, but to make it a little, as in, yeah, to explain it a little. So he said, you know, there was a man who did pretty good in his life. So when he died, and he came by the pearly gate, and Gabriel was there. Again, it's a story, not in the Bible. Don't look it in the Bible. And he said, well, I want to go into heaven. And Gabriel said, yeah, but you need discipline system, you need at least 100 points. I said, oh, yeah, okay, yeah, that's quite a bit. He said, well, start with it. He said, well, you know what, I was married for 15 years, I never went with another woman, too bad. He said, so what? He said, yeah, that's good, that's one point. And then he said, what else? Says Gabriel. He said, well, Oh yeah, I went to church twice a week. He said give 10% to the church and that's another point Gabriel said. Then he said, what else? He said, well, okay, yeah, I helped the people on the street and even gave them food and clothes and took care of them. He said, that's two points. He said, but now I'm only by four points. He said, I need a God who is totally gracious. He said, now you can come in, because we can only come in by the blood of Jesus. And God is gracious. And I said by Anita here, when he saved me, he can save anybody. And I say that again. We have a gracious God. And I hope that we will all be there as a family, praising our holy God. Thank you. The poem I hope to read for you was first read just over 20 years ago at mom's funeral service. At that time it was read by Tante Greet, mom's sister from Holland. And Wim and Jen both liked it so much that Jen has kept it filed away all these years, only to pull it out this week. And I have the privilege, she's asked me to read it to you and also to read it to you in Dutch. Now I do realize that many of you do not understand Dutch. What we did do is we translated the poem, and I put a copy of it on the wall in the fellowship hall. So if you would like to know the meaning of the words, please, in the fellowship hall, on the wall, you will find the translation. I'm even reading it to you from the original paper that Jen still has. Dear God, I pray you, but you say no. Dear God, I beg you, but you shake your head. I keep asking you, once, twice, three times. I believed you would hear, but I don't notice. Waarom hebt gij u voor mij afgewend? Bent u de God die naar de armen ziet en die de hoorder der gebeden bent? Maar als u mijn gebed terzijde legt, wie helpt mij dan? Ik kan niet verder gaan. De weg die voor mij ligt is lang en recht en ik ben moe. I preferred to stand and rest, but you push me forward, and you act as if you didn't hear what I asked. Do I hear your voice? Oh God, is this your answer? Child, my grace is enough for you. First of all, on behalf of our family, we would like to say a heartfelt thank you to the staff at the Menno Home for the wonderful care you provided for Wim over the last five and a half years of his life. Your love and care for Wim was so evident, and that was displayed throughout his time with you, and especially near the end of his life. Wim had a special way of making friends with everyone, young and old. Residents and staff alike, he called you all his friends, and I know he'll be missed by you. We also want to thank our church family. Your love for Wim is shown in so many ways, and you all meant much to him. As we were cleaning up his room, we saw and read again the various cards spread around the room and posters posted on the wall. and it was just a reminder of your loving care. I know your gentle touches, your hugs, your kind words of encouragement, you taking his hand and yours, even though he would often not let go, and especially your prayers meant much to him and to our family. And to all who have joined us today in person, or via live stream, thank you for showing your respects and expressing your love by being here, present with us. And what shall I say about Wim, our dear brother? Oh, we will miss you terribly. You loved well and were so very loved by all of us here. Most importantly, though, we know you love your Lord and Savior and are finally truly home. Wim was born in Huisen, the Netherlands. He was the fourth in our family and the last one to be born in Holland. Growing up in Holland, we were surrounded by family, with most of our relatives living close by. Already at a young age, Wim easily connected with young and old. Already, sorry, I can still picture him walking hand in hand with Opa Klein. I don't know if any other grandchildren went for walks with Opa as often as he did. Wim was just easy to get along with, even then. Wim was also a big tease. And I believe even many of us here can attest to that. As a fourth child and for quite some time the youngest, he got away with much, at least in the eyes of his older siblings. And since he was mom's favorite, Wim definitely enjoyed certain perks. But somehow that never bothered us as older siblings. Sometimes, though, when he was younger, he would push his siblings too far. And then he would quickly run to mom for safety, knowing she would always have his back. And she did. Whenever we would tease him or blame him for something, mom would always say in her sweet voice, nay over him. Besides being a tease, he also showed no fear from a young age. Or perhaps it was simply because he trusted those around him. Or he just didn't see the danger. Without knowing how to swim, he would just run around the pool and jump in without warning. There were a few times I would have to fish him out of the water. And so eventually dad had had enough, and at the age of three and a half, Wim started swimming lessons. And he had his first diploma when he was four. He even made the local newspaper as the youngest swimmer to complete the Zwemvierdaagse. A few months after he completed that, we moved to Canada. Here, too, Wim quickly made friends of all ages, including the doctor down the road. This was not because he was particularly outgoing, but because Wim was constantly getting into all kinds of scrapes, bruises, and broken bones. I remember one particular time he was spinning a chair around and around and around in a neighbor's house when he flew out and broke his arm. By then, Mom, knowing Dr. Dick well, would phone him up, and he would pick up Wim and take him to the hospital. All the nurses in the ER would know him by name, literally. But getting injured never stopped Wim from trying new things. He loved to ski, and even though his knees would be all swollen up, he still had to try that flip on a nice big jump, and he would land it, his knees taking the brunt of it, No wonder he needed a few knee surgeries, but that didn't stop him. Another time, while he was swimming with his younger sisters, he told Natalie and Ange he was going to go and do another stunt. He was about to dive in the shallow end of the pool. At least he did tell his younger sisters not to try this because they may get hurt. Needless to say, he dove in, came up with a huge nosebleed. At least my sisters knew what not to do. Wim loved sports. Besides skiing, he played volleyball in his senior year, but he especially enjoyed track and field. I don't know how many first place ribbons he got for running as well as long jump, but I think he learned to run so well from us when he was younger, running through his mom when he pulled his pranks on us. Wim was also a talented artist, not only in drawing and painting, but also in music on the keyboard. He was able to play any song he heard on the radio and adding his own personal touch and improvisations. Besides, he also had a beautiful baritone voice. Yes, his music was a blessing to many. and high on the list of the things he longed to do yet again when he would reach heaven. He also enjoyed acting, which he started in high school and then continued on with an acting group after graduation. Plays like Anne Frank come to mind. But one that really stands out to me is when he played Matthew in Anne of Green Gables. He really was a natural. Wim has also had a very incredibly sweet tooth. At the dinner table, Wim's appetite was not as good as mine for some reason. Wim, I think, on purpose would save some room for dessert and more. Whenever Wim would come home, he would go straight to the kitchen. First you would hear the fridge door open, and then finally you would hear him go to bed after he's had his snack. in that order, until the very end, Wim especially loved his desserts, cake, chocolate, anything sweet. After living in Abbotsford during his teenage years, Wim moved to Creston for a year to help dad on the farm. Finding that farming really was not his passion, he went into construction for a while, but soon came back to Abbotsford. It was then that he reconnected with Jen, and they got married in August of 2000. Wim got along great with all kinds of people, but no one compared to his puppy. They made many treasured memories together with their many pets, but they also faced many challenges, especially when Huntington's disease made life increasingly difficult. However, their love for each other remained, and even as the disease progressed, till the very end, Jen was always Wim's puppy. Wim not only loved playing sports, but he also loved cheering on his teams. He was a huge Canucks fan and could be seen cheering them right until the end. whether on TV or at an actual game. I cherish those memories and will miss his cheer next to me while watching a game. Another highlight for Wim was when the Dutch national team would play soccer. He would get decked out in orange and would not miss a game. He also loved going to the local soccer field. And many a Saturday afternoon, you would find him cheering on his nephew. Yes, I truly believe he was Stefan's biggest and most loyal fan. Only cheering for the team, knowing exactly where the ball was, seeing the field amazingly well to the very end. We also very fondly remember our numerous trips together with the soccer team to Kamloops. Wim was really counted on as one of the parents and fit right in, yet again making friends with them all. And while there, we would be staying with Bill and Ninika, which also has given us much good, memorable memories. Yes, we will surely miss Wim, the twinkle in his eye, his playful teasing, his good-natured laugh, and his always positive and grateful attitude. He had such a love for people. But mostly, it was so evident how much he trusted and loved his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And even as Wim suffered, especially near the end of his life, he kept his eyes on his Lord. He knew where he was going. And he would give his so familiar thumbs up whenever he would talk about heaven. Wim passed away from this life into glory while suffering. And yet, his last expression on his face was a smile. And now it's just the three of us left. I don't know nor understand why some of us were spared from this disease. I honestly also do not know if we would have been able to bear it and fight it with the same courage and faith as we have seen in our siblings. However, through it all, we have witnessed and experienced, and yes, even tasted God's unwavering faithfulness. And for that, we are immensely thankful. And now as we go on, I can't help but think that Wim is still our biggest fan and faithful supporter, even though now he's cheering us on among the saints that have gone before us, cheering us on to run the race that is set before us, to not give up and to run it well. I can almost hear him cheering us on. Don't give up. Keep your focus on the Lord. Keep fighting the good fight of faith because the prize is so worth it. At this point, it is only us who can imagine what it must be like for Wim, what it will be like for him to walk by Christ's side, to finally see his face, to be surrounded by his glory. What will Wim do? Will he be dancing for Jesus, or will he be in awe still? Will he stand in his presence, or will he be on his knees? Will he be singing hallelujahs, or will he be even able to speak at all? We talked about these things before Wim passed, and Wim could only imagine. And now we can only imagine. But surrounded by his glory, Wim now knows in full when all he will do is forever worship him. We're going to sing Standing, the last hymn by the Sea of Crystal. The gravesite service will be held immediately after this service. The cemetery is the Mount Lehman Cemetery. If you just take Mount Lehman Road down almost to the end to Taylor Road, you turn left on Taylor Road and the cemetery is right there on the right-hand side. Afterwards, you're all welcome to come back to the church for a time of refreshment and fellowship with the family. Let's stand and sing. By the sea of Christmas, teaching for his children, ♪ The Queen in Heaven and the Lamb of God. ♪ ♪ God of tribulation, bright and sweet as day, ♪ ♪ They have been translated, and the Lord has spoken. ♪ but the human organs shall triumph in thee. I love you! Hmm.