It is difficult to imagine how heaven rejoiced when the church began. Acts 2 describes that time when the most devout Jews from every nation under heaven arrived at Jerusalem and found a treasure they did not know existed. They thought they already had found what God had planned for them—the holy altar where sacrifices for their sins were made, the beautiful temple where the Lord met them and the priesthood chosen by God to carry their offerings to the Almighty. They were so wrong!
Then heaven intervened! Suddenly there was the sound of a rushing mighty wind that came from heaven to the place where the apostles were assembled. Then the visible fire that came upon the twelve and these common men began to speak in foreign languages. The text tells us that news of these events spread throughout the city, and the whole city came to investigate. To their amazement, men from every nation found these lowly Galileans talking about the wonderful things of God. Then Peter and the other apostles preached the first gospel sermon ever proclaimed. The result was the birth of the church when 3,000 were immersed on that day. Those Jews from every nation realized that God had something far better than the treasures of Judaism for He was now revealing the ultimate treasure of the kingdom of heaven.
There is a great lesson to be learned by every Christian when we see how those new Christians responded. Look at the text, “They continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. . . . So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people” (Acts 2:42-47). How heaven must have rejoiced to see the response of the redeemed in the daily lives of these new Christians! They had been saved, and every day they wanted to praise God. Heaven rejoiced, as did the church! This is the basis of worship! We have been saved, and we cannot wait to praise Him and seize every opportunity to be with the saints to adore Him.
Having said this, could I talk from my heart to those who choose to come to worship only one time each week? How would the choices you make today compare with the actions of those Christians? If your conclusion is that every other service other than Sunday morning is optional, look again at Acts chapter two. The joy of their salvation made them choose the “option” of being with the saints every day. Every week you have the same “option” choice. How would the option you have chosen compare with the option they chose? Prayerfully, I ask that you think about this. Heaven rejoices when we long to praise God!