The Revelation 21:17-21 | Episode # 1183

April 29, 2026

Hope Alive: Applying God’s Word to Your Daily Life

The Revelation 21:17-21

I am Chad Harrison, and I am the teaching pastor of Lake Community Church and had been serving as a pastor for 25 years. I'm also a practicing attorney. This podcast is designed to help you study God's word and find God's will for your life. The purpose of studying scripture is that you might know the character of Jesus Christ, and that you might see the world from the Father's perspective. That you gain wisdom that changes your life. I pray in the name of Jesus right now that God would open His word to you and allow you to see Him and to know Him. To know His will, that you might glorify Him and that you might walk in faith and power each day, especially today. In Jesus name.

If you would like to revisit today’s Bible study, please visit our website at https://hopealive.buzzsprout.com/ to download the transcript. 

If this podcast ministered to you, please subscribe, and leave us a review on Apple podcasts. Reviews help us reach more people and spread the wisdom of God. 

Please follow us:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hopealivewithgod/

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/hopealiveministry/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LakeComChurch/ -Lake Community Church

Transcript

This is Chad Harrison and you're listening to Hope Applying God's word to your daily life. Hi, this is Chad Harrison and I am the teaching pastor of Lake Community Church and have been serving as a pastor for 25 years. I'm also a practicing attorney. This podcast is designed to help you study God's word and find God's will for your life. I pray in the name of Jesus right now that God would open up

his word to you and allow you

to see him and to know him and to know his will, that you might glorify him and that you might walk in faith and power each and every day, especially today. In Jesus name.

It says then he measured its walls 144 cubits according to the measure of a man, that is an angel, meaning the walls. The actual walls are going to be 144 cubits, which is basically somewhere in the neighborhood of 150 to 200 yards. The walls themselves are going to be 150 to 200 yards wide. It says. And he says, measure the walls. And the constructions of its walls was as Jasper. And the city was a pure gold, like clear glass. The gold. The city is going to be made of crystal. That is pure crystal. And anywhere it's not crystal, the streets are going to be of gold, but it's going to be pure gold. White gold, perfect gold that looks like glass. Verse 18.5. Peter will be at a gate. No, he will not. Okay, all right. He not going to be at a gate. The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with all kinds of precious stones. The first foundation was Jasper. And the second sapphire. And the third, I can never say chalked, oni. The fourth emerald. The fifth sardonyx. The sixth sardi sardius. The seventh chrysolite. The eighth barrel. The ninth topaz. The tenth cherished. J.P. yeah, all right. The eleventh Jason. And the twelfth amethyst. Those are the. Those are the stones that are on the. On the breastplate. That was the priest's breastplate. Okay. Notice those stones are going to adorn the city. It's not just going to be pure white crystal. There's going to be beautiful stones all over the city. The 12 gates were the. Were 12 pearls. So the gates are going to be pearls. Now they're not pearly in that there are many of them. They're pearl gates, just giant Pearls. Okay. Verse 21 point B. And Peter was at. No, it's not. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass. Now I want you to Think about that. This has been the plan of God forever and forever. That you would dwell with him in a place like that. That you would dwell with him in a place like that. You're going to get to go to see heaven, okay? You're going to be in heaven, but God is not going to keep you in heaven. Depending on what you believe, you're either going to go for seven years, three and a half years or for one big party, okay? If you believe in pre trib, you believe you're there for seven years. If you believe in trib or, or mid trib, you believe that you're there for three and a half years. If you believe in no trip, no no, no rapture, no coming, then you're called up. We have the big wedding feast of the lamb and then we come back riding horses and it happens pretty quick, okay? It's the only way for you to believe it. It's the only way for it to work out. Now I'm gonna tell you, I can't really believe the last cause God's not gonna be putting together a big old party that it's been talking about throughout time immemorial. And it only be 30 minute party, okay? God's not like that. All right? It's gonna be a huge party. We're the bride, so don't you have to honor the bride? Doesn't the bride have to be made known? Then the bride have to be had to be seen by all? Well, there's a bunch of us. I mean if you think about it, is seven years really enough? Is seven years enough? I think it's going to be a seven year party. I think it's going to be a big old feast. The wedding feast of the lamb is just us partying for seven years and God revealing all that he's ever done. Can you imagine how great a party that's going to be? You're going to say I'm going to be tired. No, you're not. You're not going to be tired, okay? You're going to be like God. God doesn't sleep nor slumber. You're going to be as he is. And when the city comes down, you're not going to be leaving God. Because what does the Bible say about says his present he tabernacles with man. Okay, what does tabernacle mean? That's that, that's that tent that they built where God dwelt. When they were traveling through the wilderness, where were they traveling to the promised land. All right, how big was the Promised land. Supposed to be where I hear people all the time. Well, the Israelites are bombing other. Other people's land. I'm sitting there going, no, they're not. No, it's pretty much theirs, too, okay? And. And by the way, you can say that if you live now, in this time, in this age, you can say that, but when. When the king of kings comes, it's not going to be their land, okay? It's not. Because remember, all God's promises are what? Yes, and amen. God promises it. It's yours. All right? It's yours. Now, the real question is, okay, Pastor, if God promises it to me and all his plans for me are yes and amen, and I'm going to have it. I want you to hear me, because this is important. And God has this plan for this beautiful city. We just want to die and go to the city. Don't we want to. Just. Let's just. Let's just go and enjoy the city, okay? Here's the issue with that, God. Everything that God has ever planned for you to be and to have, you are going to have, she said Dada. Just letting you know, all right? Everything. Everything that God's promised you, you are going to have. Now the question is, how do you get it? All right, I want you to listen to me. How do you get it? Does God have to do what it takes just to give it to you? Or do you walk in it by faith? Now you're going to have it. The question is, is it going to be treasure that you took, or is it going to be treasure that had to be given to you? Are you following me? If it's treasure that's given to me and I give it back to God in worship, that's Indian given, am I right? Isn't it? Look, if you give me a gift and then later on you say, I'm having a party, I'm at a birthday party, I bring you back the gift and wrap it up and hand it to you, Is that very special? Huh? I've heard people getting just fist fights about stuff like that. Have y' all ever. Y' all ever heard that? Because if you think about it, you're really saying this gift was so terrible that I'm just going to give it back to you, right? You thought it was great. Me, not so much. I'm going to wrap it up, give you your great gift back, all right? It's not how it works. You're not going to be. You're not going to be able to glorify God with things that you didn't do anything for. If you'll remember David, when he was getting ready to prepare to build the temple, remember, David didn't get to build the temple. His son had to build the temple. Why? Because David was a man of blood, all right? Don't you hear me? Is that a negative thing about David? No. Why? Because God made him. He made him to be a man of that. He was not made for that purpose to build the temple. But when he went to the place to build the temple that God had told him to build, somebody owned it, okay? And he asked that person, he said. He said. He said, God has picked this place to build the temple. The guy who owned it said, man, that's fabulous. You know, because that's my promised land, right? Because I. It's from my tribe and my land and my people. That's fabulous. You mean God's going to build the temple on my property? Whoa. It's going to be good, right? Because it was given to me, so it's still mine even if he builds it there. Right? I think that's great. He says, I'm going to give it to you. What did David say? David said, no, far be it from me to sacrifice something that cost me nothing. All right? Far be it from me to offer God a sacrifice that cost me nothing. He said, I'm not doing that. A sacrifice, by definition, is to give something that is of yours, that's a value. Because you want to glorify God. Well, the only way for it to be yours is that you have to take it. You have to take it. And the only way I take things that are eternal is that I take them by faith. So in your Father's house, there's many dwelling places, and there are many things. Those dwelling places are places that are going to be uniquely made for who you are and who God made you to be. But the things that you will take to God to worship him with are the things that you did by faith here on the earth. So many times we want to receive credit, we want to receive honor. We want to be able to receive this, that, and the other on the earth for what we claim to do spiritually. I. I want you to hear me. The Bible says Jesus said, if you get honor from men on earth for what you do for me, you've already received your reward. You've already received that. He said, don't let your left hand know what your right hand's doing when you serve me. Serve me because it's serving me. Not because people are watching. That principle is important in life. We do not do things so people can see that we serve God. We do things because we love God and serve him. And it will have its due course and its due reward. And let me tell you, it's going to be a great reward. It's going to be fabulous. It's going to be wonderful. Like I said, I think I'm. You know how you can go play? They've got new ones around here. You know, you can go play the great golf courses, but you have to hit the ball into a screen and then it goes into virtual. It flies out there. I wonder if I can trick that machine and take my buddies. And every time I hit it, it just goes dead straight. And every time they hit it, it goes in the woods. If I could, I could pay. I'd pay good money for that. Okay, Just letting y' all know. All right? But look, I believe when I get to heaven, I'm gonna have a golf course in my mansion. And when I have it, it's gonna be. It's gonna be a golf course that becomes the one I want to play that day. So it's always the greatest golf courses that ever were. I just wake up and the golf course is a new golf course every day. And you go, why would you even think that? And that's obviously a joke, and it's funny, but he says, my mercies are new every morning, so why shouldn't my mansion be different and new and wonderful every day? It should be. It should be. I should. I should. I should see God in new and different ways all the time and that. And that city is built for that kind of stuff. I'm telling you, that's the best city I've ever heard about. Now, if you use Star Trek as the illustration, and we always want to do that, okay, not really, but it's like the anti Borg cube. Everybody that knows Star Trek knows what I'm talking about. If you don't know what I'm talking about, then you can't. The Borg are like the ultimate communist, okay? They are the communist, all right? But. But the cubes that they make, that they fly as their spaceships are built, like this city. Only this city is going to be crystal and light and beautiful and God's going to dwell in it. Pastor, why don't you tell me that? Well, you do need to know that your pastor's goofy and weird, okay? You do need to know that. You need to realize that, okay? When I read things in the Bible it makes me think of all kinds of stuff. And some of it's not good. Some of it's just terrible. Some of it's goofy and just doesn't work the way it should. Okay? But I believe that God. I do believe that God uses our experiences and the things we have in life to give us perspective about Him. And he says that we can see him in his creation. So how wonderful is it going to be to be in that city and we're going to dwell with him forever, Forever in that city. Now that's everlasting. That's. Starting from that day forward. That's truly everlasting. But we're going to have eternal life, which means we don't have just no end. We have, what? No beginning, neither. All right? It is. It is a. It is a beautiful, beautiful picture of what God has promised us. Now is the heavens and the earth brand new. I can't tell you for sure because the Bible doesn't. It's not quite clear about it. And you go, why isn't God clear about that? I don't know. I don't know why it's not clear. I really don't know why. It's only mentioned in three other places, and two of them are back to back in the book of Isaiah. I don't know that. I don't know why that is, okay? But I do know this, that what God's prepared for us is more than you can ever imagine. And so when God says, no eyes seen nor ears heard, what God is prepared to do for those who love him, it really means that you have no idea. But you should seek to grab hold of all that he promised you. And maybe just as much of just as much importance. You should be an encouragement for those who are closest to you to grab hold of the most that God has for them that they could ever imagine to grab hold of. You should do that because part of your reward is them, okay? Part of your reward are those people. So you should not hold your children, your friends, your husbands and wives back from the big things of God. You. You should push them toward those things. You should encourage them toward those things. You should speak those blessings over them, okay? You should say what you see that God is doing in their lives. And you should encourage them to continue to walk in them and to not walk in fear and to not walk in faithlessness or unbelief. You should not do that. Your words always should be encouraging. Your words should always be expectant. Your words always should reflect the promises of God and Listen to me. Sometimes we're wounded. I think you need to hear this. Sometimes we're wounded and we can't do what God's told us to do because we're afraid of the wound. Are you following me? But oftentimes the wounds are scars. And usually scars are stronger than what was there before. And usually the nerves are not as sharp as they were before. And the scars were necessary so that you could move through something you would have never moved through before had you not had the scars. You've got to have some scars because without them you would not advance where God wants you to be. You got to see it that way. And so many times when we talk about this great city, by the way, Romans talks about it, too. Or is it Hebrews? It's Hebrews 11. Y' all ever read the Roll Call of Faith? You need to read it tonight. Twice. Twice in that roll Call of faith. Well, let me just read it. What time is it, baby, it's 7:07. I mean, that's a beautiful time. Let me finish it. It's not 8:30. I rebuke that spirit by faith. Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as his inheritance. This is verse eight. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he dwelt in the land of promise, the land promised by God as in a foreign country dwelling intense, with Isaac and Jacob the heirs with the same promise. For he waited. Listen to this. For he waited for the city whose foundation, whose builder and maker is God. Y' all hear that? All the way back to Abraham in Genesis, it says, for he waited for the city which has the foundations, whose builder and maker is God. The Bible says that Abraham looked forward to a city that he had no clue was the city in Revelation 21. Whose builder is God. That's a wild thing to think about, isn't it? That city's foundation is the Promised Land where God had promised his children they would dwell. And like most believers, they just took a sliver. Don't get me wrong. A sliver is better than nothing. But I'm going to tell you, when it comes to cakes, slivers are terrible. Am I right? I like a big, thick slice, don't you? I do. Who wants to eat just a taste? Somebody will say to you. Would you like a taste? Well, no. Absolutely not. It tastes great. I know it does. Who wants a taste? I want a whole big old slice. If you're just going to give me a taste, that's just going to make me angry. That's exactly. Boy, I can't even say that. It's like living with a water view. Not water access, just a water view. Okay, you should not have said that, Heidi. You should not have said that. You. You have a water view. I get it. Yeah, you can. Anyway, we should take the whole cake, shouldn't we? And just because you're wounded doesn't mean you shouldn't take it. Father, in the name of Jesus, may we be whole cake takers. Father, in the name of Jesus, can we have the whole pie? Father, in the name of Jesus, I don't want to just taste your goodness, Father. I want to sit and eat at your table. Father, in the name of Jesus, may we be the kingdom of light that dwell in the city of light. In Jesus name, amen. As you go today, I pray that

the Lord will bless you and keep you, that he'll make his face to shine upon you and that he will give you hope and peace today in Jesus name.