Addressing the Idea of Heavenly Worship

There is a lot of discussion among Christians as to how we should worship. I think most of us agree that if we knew how it happened in heaven, that's how we should do it on Earth. But what is Heavenly Worship like? Can we know? What do you think? In this blog, I will attempt to answer this question ... bare with me as I stumble through it. I would like to thank, in advance, Fr. Mario P. Romero for the Scriptures I will use which I am taking from his book: Catholic Pocket Evangelist. Any quotes from the Bible will be directly from The Revised Standard Version - Catholic Edition (RSV-CE) which can be browsed at:
http://www.ewtn.com/devotionals/biblesearch.asp

Well lets start with Revelation 1:10 -

"I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet"

The worship service has began with a loud voice like a trumpet. This implies that there is some kind of music or speaking at the beginning of worship, but not all that much else can be inferred.

Revelation 1:13 -
"and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden girdle round his breast;"

Consider this in the context of Exodus 28:4: "These are the garments which they shall make: a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a coat of checker work, a turban, and a girdle; they shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother and his sons to serve me as priests. "

We can see that this "son of man" is dressed as a priest ... who is the "son of man?" Jesus often referred to Himself as the "Son of Man" to show that He was not only fully God, but fully man. The "son of man" in this verse is Jesus. This clicks with the rest of Scripture because according to Hebrews, Jesus is the High Priest.

Moving on to Revelation 2:17: "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone which no one knows except him who receives it.' "

This implies some kind of communion or Eucharist. Think about it a bit. The manna was bread from heaven for the Israelites. Jesus was the Bread of Life. :) John 6:48-51: " 'I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that a man may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh.' "

Revelation 4:4: "Round the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, clad in white garments, with golden crowns upon their heads." This is talking about priests. Another word for elder is "presbyter" and the word "presbyter" has been shortened in the English language to "priest".

Revelation 4:8: "And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all round and within, and day and night they never cease to sing, 'Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!' " This is a hymn of praise that is used in Catholic Churches and possibly other liturgical churches ... it has also evolved into an evangelical hymn "Holy, Holy, Holy" ... :)

Revelation 5:6: "And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders, I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth; " Now, let's ponder this weird statement. I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain ... Jesus was our Passover Lamb led to the slaughter ... the Lamb is filled with the Holy Spirit. This shows the sacrificial nature of worship. Sacrifice is necessary for worship. ---

1 Corinthians 5:7-8
"Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our paschal lamb, has been sacrificed. Let us, therefore, celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth."

1 Corinthians 11:26
"For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes." --- Jesus appears dead at the worship in Heaven ... so they're probably taking communion, when we proclaim of the death of the Lord.

Revelation 5:14: "And the four living creatures said, "Amen!" and the elders fell down and worshiped." Similar to the "Great Amen" at the end of the Eucharistic prayer. It also shows "kneeling" during worship.

Revelation 8:3: "And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer; and he was given much incense to mingle with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar before the throne; " there is an altar and note the use of incense. Also the saints are offering up prayers ... the saints are those in heaven ... the saints are offering intercessory prayer for those on Earth (what else would someone in heaven have to pray for?)

Finally, in Heavenly worship, there is a "Liturgy of the Word" and a "Liturgy of the Eucharist" very similar to the Catholic mass:

Liturgy of the word: Revelation 5-8
Liturgy of the Eucharist: Revelation 19:9 "And the angel said to me, 'Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.' And he said to me, 'These are true words of God.' The marriage supper of the Lamb ... the Eucharist is a renewal of our "marriage" vows to Christ ... otherwise known as our Baptismal vows. The 2 become one flesh as in Genesis: The 2 being the Church and Jesus Christ.

I think it is clear from this that the mass is the only true representation of Heavenly Worship, just from the fact that sacrifice is always present at mass (and the Divine Liturgy of the Orthodox and E. Catholic). No other denomination of Christianity has sacrifice present at their "worship services". I hope I helped, but if I didn't I apologize. :)