I want you to try a little experiment with me. First, look at the 3 images below. They are the “Adoration” (praise) part of my daily prayers (the rest being “C” confession, “T” thanksgiving, and “S” supplication: ACTS, easy to remember. Look at those 3 images for a few seconds and read the praise going on in heaven of the one of the throne, then of the Lamb standing but as if slain, and then of both the one on the throne and the Lamb standing by the throne.

After you have meditated on that for a while, close your eyes, lift up your hands to heaven, picture a door opening up for you to see all this praise in heaven (Rev 4:1 a door opened for John to see the throne visions of chapter 4 and 5), and then feel what it would be like if you could see the throne, the shining jasper stone on the throne, the emerald rainbow, the smaller 24 thrones with 24 elders on them, the lightning and thunder, the 7 lamps before the throne (the Spirit of God), the sea of glass before the throne, the 4 weird but awesome living creatures around the throne (each with 4 faces: lion, calf, eagle, man). Those creatures are crying out 24/7, day and night, praising the one on the throne saying “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come.” The 24 elders bow and worship the one on the throne, saying ¹¹ “Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.”

All that was Revelation 4. Pause now, close your eyes, and let spiritual eyes see all this in heaven and feel the emotion. The Hebrews letter said: 10:¹⁹ Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, ²⁰ by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, through His flesh, ²¹ and since we have a great priest over the house of God, ²² let’s approach God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” Did you digest that? It says that we can enter the holy place (actually the Most Holy Place where God dwells in heaven) into the very presence of God and that is what I am trying to get us to visualize now. Hebrews 4:¹⁶ Therefore let’s approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace for help at the time of our need.” We are approaching the throne of God and grace with confidence.

After you have done all that with the throne scene of Revelation 4, keep your eyes closed and mentally picture the 2nd image below of Revelation 5. Same throne scene, but look more closely. The one on the throne (the jasper stone) has a scroll in His right hand. Can you picture that? Can you see the scroll with 7 seals? Can you hear the angel asking “Who is worthy to open the scroll (which contains all the predictions that are going to happen soon in Revelation). Can you hear one of the 24 elders say, “The Lion of the tribe of Judah has overcome (death) and is able to open the scroll.” Then you see a Lamb standing as if slaughtered so there is blood around His neck from being killed, but He is standing so He is no longer dead (the resurrected Lamb of God). The Lamb takes the scroll from the one on the throne. Are your eyes closed off and on as you read this and picture it in heaven? Are you trying this experiment? Can you see the Lamb walking over and taking the scroll?

Then the 4 creatures and 24 elders fall before the Lamb with harps and incense (the prayers of the saints) and they start singing a new song, “Worthy are You to take the scroll and to break its seals; for You were slaughtered, and You purchased people for God with Your blood from every tribe, language, people, and nation. ¹⁰ You have made them into a kingdom and priests to our God, and they will reign upon the earth.”

Maybe the song they were singing in praise of the Lamb was like the Hillsong song Worthy is the Lamb. If you want to pause and sing along with the elders and creatures, here is the song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9qXEiXxQl0&list=RDp9qXEiXxQl0&start_radio=1

Keeping your eyes closed, picture millions of angels joining the elders and 4 creatures to praise the Lamb standing by the throne, saying “Worthy is the Lamb that was slaughtered to receive power, wealth, wisdom, might, honor, glory, and blessing.” That is the 2nd image below.

Now one last image, the 3rd one below. Eyes closed, can you feel the excitement as every creature and created thing under heaven and in the seas join in to praise, not only of the Lamb, but both the one on the throne and the Lamb, saying “To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be the blessing, the honor, the glory, and the dominion forever and ever.” Can your mind imagine animals, trees, mountains, stars, rivers, the clouds, the planets, flowers, fish, whales, insects, your dog, your cat, all animals that God created, as they all pause from their daily instinctive rituals to praise the one on the throne (the Father) and the Lamb (the Son). Can you imagine hearing that praise? Can you picture them singing? The 4 creatures hear all these animals praising and have one word to add, “Amen” (“Yes, I agree” or “I believe this to be true”.) The 24 elders fall down and worship both the one on the throne and the Lamb.

I had never heard this song. Let all creatures praise him: You might like it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYQdE5Uemyk&list=RDoYQdE5Uemyk&start_radio=1 or the tabernacle choir singing a traditonal oldie all creatures of our God and king https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAXv8mGM4cQ&list=RDnAXv8mGM4cQ&start_radio=1

The door into heaven is still open for your last glance at the throne. Your heart should be beating faster as these scenes unfold as you look through that door into the Most Holy Place in heaven into the very presence of God and you see the Lamb all the things in Revelation 4 and 5. I have tried to do these mental images while writing this, which is hard going back and forth to type, but I personally feel something that I don’t always feel when I quickly scroll through the 3 images below in my “A” adoration part of my daily prayer. I feel like I have maybe actually gone into God’s presence boldly and heard and seen all that is going on 24/7 around throne of God. My worship time is more meaningful today I want to open that door into heaven more often.

Now, one more image. Keep your eyes closed and picture yourself being around the throne one day after you die! Revelation 7 pictures the multitude of saints in white robes who had been martyred by the Jews and Romans in the first century. Picture them and yourself “standing before the throne and before the Lamb”. Can you see yourself there one day? You and the multitude are all crying out with a loud voice “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” (7:10). Then you hear all the millions of angels fall and worship, saying “Amen, blessing, glory, wisdom, thanksgiving, honor, power, and might belong to our God forever and ever. Amen.” Picture yourself there. Maybe picture your family there with you. And you friends. And those you have converted along the way.

Next can you mentally hear one of the 24 elders ask you a rhetorical question, ¹³ Then one of the elders responded, saying to me, “These who are clothed in the white robes, who are they, and where have they come from?” ¹⁴ I said to him, “My lord, you know.” He then replies And he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. ¹⁵ For this reason they are before the throne of God, and they serve Him day and night in His temple; and He who sits on the throne will spread His tabernacle over them. ¹⁶ They will no longer hunger nor thirst, nor will the sun beat down on them, nor any scorching heat; ¹⁷ for the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and will guide them to springs of the water of life; and God will wipe every tear from their eyes.”

That’s amazing. The red blood of the Lamb can make their robes white! Cleansed from sin, the new clothes of the righteousness of Christ given or imputed to us making us new creatures. Often passages in the New Testament are used to portray what eternal life in heaven is like when those passages are really talking about spiritual life, peace, joy, no tears, etc. of the church on earth. But Revelation gives a picture of martyrs in heaven, so we know this is a picture of eternal life in heven and what is like for those martyrs, and what it will be like for every person, including you and me, in heaven, wherever that is, when we die!

Here is your last image, that of the multitude in white robes around the throne. Picture yourself as one of the people in the picture.

1. ADORATION (You can add your own praise and worship)

Rev 4:11 “Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.” 

5:12 saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slaughtered to receive power, wealth, wisdom, might, honor, glory, and blessing.” 

13 And I heard every created thing which is in heaven, or on the earth, or under the earth, or on the sea, and all the things in them, saying “To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be the blessing, the honor, the glory, and the dominion forever and ever.”14 And the four living creatures were saying, “Amen.” And the elders fell down and worshiped.

Please leave a comment if this experiment created a more meaningful worship experience for you.