Prayer was important in the early church (1 Cor. 11:1–6; Acts 1:13–14; 4:23ff). It was a high and holy experience when the church united in prayer. Today we “call someone to lead in prayer,” and we have no idea whether that believer is even in fellowship with God. In some churches, there are two or three people who monopolize the prayer meeting. If we are led by the Spirit (Jude 20), we will experience unity and freedom in our praying, and God will answer.

“Pray without ceasing” does not mean we must always be mumbling prayers. The word means “constantly recurring,” not continuously occurring. We are to “keep the receiver off the hook” and be in touch with God so that our praying is part of a long conversation that is not broken. God knows the desires of the heart (Ps. 37:4), and He responds to those desires even when our voice is silent. See Psalms 10:17; 21:2.

Thanksgiving is also a vital element of worship. We use “psalms and hymns and spiritual songs” (Eph. 5:19) to express our love and gratitude to the Lord. As we grow in our application of the Word of God, we must also grow in our expression of praise, for the two go together (Col. 3:16). If a local church is “growing in grace” the members will want to learn new hymns in order to give praise to God. If the heart and head do not keep pace with each other, Christian worship becomes either juvenile or hypocritical.

Apart from God’s Word, we have no certain revelation from the Lord. Worship that ignores the Bible is not spiritual. There may be emotion—and even commotion—but unless there is spiritual truth, the Holy Spirit is not at work. The three admonitions in these verses go together and help us understand how the Holy Spirit works in Christian worship.

The early church did not have a completed Bible as we do. The Holy Spirit gave the gift of prophecy to certain members of the church and would speak the message through them. When I preach in a church service, I preach the truth mediately by means of the Bible. These early prophets preached the truth immediately as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. Their spiritual knowledge was given to them by the Spirit, and often they spoke in a tongue. This is why the three gifts of prophecy, tongues, and knowledge are grouped together in 1 Corinthians 13.

Of course, there are dangers in this kind of ministry, because Satan (or the flesh) could seek to counterfeit a message from God, and thus lead the church astray. If the church restrained the speakers, they might be guilty of quenching the Spirit. If they believed all that was spoken, they might be obeying false spirits. The answer was to “prove all things.” There must be a discerning of the spirits (1 Cor. 12:10; 1 John 4:1–4). Paul gave specific rules for this in 1 Corinthians 14:29–33.

Today, we have a completed revelation in the Word of God and there is no need for prophets. The Apostles and prophets helped lay the foundation of the church (Eph. 2:20) and have now passed from the scene. The only “prophetic ministry” we have is in the preaching and teaching of the Word of God.

In using the word quench, Paul pictured the Spirit of God as fire (see Isa. 4:4; Acts 2:3; Rev. 4:5). Fire speaks of purity, power, light, warmth, and (if necessary) destruction. When the Holy Spirit is at work in our lives and churches, we have a warmth of love in our hearts, light for our minds, and energy for our wills. He “melts us together” so that there is harmony and cooperation; and He purifies us so that we put away sin.

The fire of the Spirit must not go out on the altar of our hearts; we must maintain that devotion to Christ that motivates and energizes our lives.

“Stir up the gift of God which is in thee,” Paul wrote to Timothy (2 Tim. 1:6), and the verb means “stir the fire again into life.” Apparently Timothy had been neglecting this gift (1 Tim. 4:14) and had to be reminded. The believer, and the local assembly, must avoid extremes: the legalist and formalist would put the fire out, while the fanatic would permit the fire to burn everything up.

It is important that we permit the Spirit of God to teach us the Word of God when we meet to worship. “Sharing” is good if you have something relevant to share from the Word; but I have listened to some “sharing meetings” that were not only unspiritual, but anti-spiritual. “Apt to teach” requires that we be “apt to learn.” Beware of a false spirit that can lead you and your church astray. Follow the Word of God and prove all things.

The purpose of worship is that we might become more like Christ in character and conduct. The greatest definition of worship I ever read was given by William Temple, a late Archbishop of Canterbury: “For to worship is to quicken the conscience by the holiness of God, to feed the mind with the truth of God, to purge the imagination by the beauty of God, to open up the heart to the love of God, to devote the will to the purpose of God.”

Paul emphasized balance in Christian living: the negative—“Abstain from all appearance of evil” (1 Thes. 5:22) and the positive—“And the very God of peace sanctify you” (1 Thes. 5:23). Some churches only preach the negative, and this leads to lives and ministries that are out of balance. Sanctify simply means “set apart for God’s exclusive use.” There is positional sanctification (Heb. 10:10); we have once and for all been set apart for God. There is also practical sanctification (2 Cor. 7:1), a daily dealing with our sins and a growth in holiness. All of this will culminate in perfect sanctification (1 John 3:2), when we see Christ and become eternally like Him. Expecting to see Jesus Christ is a great motivation for holy living.

After the corporate worship is ended, the saints minister to one another. They greet one another and seek to encourage. I have been in churches where the congregation escaped like rats leaving a sinking ship. Fellowship is a part of worship.

The “holy kiss” was not a sensual thing. Usually the men kissed the men, and the women kissed the women (see Rom. 16:16; 1 Cor. 16:20; 1 Peter 5:14). Often when ministering on mission fields, I have had the saints greet me in this way; and I have never been offended or suspicious. J.B. Phillips in his paraphrase solves the problem by saying, “Give a handshake all around among the brotherhood.”

Paul ended with another reminder that the Word of God is the important thing in the local church. The Word must govern our conduct and guide our lives. We are to read the Word personally, but we also need to hear the Word in the fellowship of the local church, for the one experience helps balance the other.