Worship in Spirit and in Truth. John 4:23-24
Jesus said that there is a true worship, implying that false worship also exists. He went on to identify true worship as being “in spirit and in truth” (v.23). He said that because God is Spirit, He must be worshiped in spirit and in truth (v.24). Emphasizing the importance of worship to God, Jesus said “the Father is seeking” true worshipers (v.23). What is worship in spirit and in truth?
Spiritual Worship. The opposite of spiritual is fleshly. Spiritual worship is not fleshly. Spiritual worship is led by the Holy Spirit instead of being led by the fleshly interests, ideas or emotions of worshipers.[1] Spiritual worship is always in tune with the Scriptures because they were written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and there can be no contradiction between what the Spirit led the human authors of the Bible to write and how He would lead worshipers to worship. Spiritual worship that pleases the Father glorifies Jesus Christ. It is not aimed at entertaining man, or giving glory to anyone or anything but God. Worship that glorifies music, musicians, singers, or worship itself is fleshly and not spiritual.
Truthful Worship. Worship that is in truth is worship that is led by the truth of Scripture rather than by the whims or dictates of people. Scripture magnifies God and humbles man, and worship in truth does the same. Worship in truth is Christ-centered (rather than man-centered) since He is the Truth (John 14:6). In addition, truthful worship is honest, rather than hypocritical.
Heavenly Worship in Eternity. Revelation 4, 5, & 11
Revelation 4, 5 and 11 provide a wonderful glimpse into heavenly worship. We cannot say that in Heaven, God’s people do nothing but sing for eternity. There is evidence that there are other responsibilities in Heaven. What we can say is that whatever God’s people do in addition to worshiping God in song, all that they do will be done in an attitude of worship that glorifies God without interruption for eternity.
Note:
[1] While emotionalism—or worship that seeks to manipulate one’s emotions—is not spiritual, worship is an expression of love and devotion to God that is often accompanied by emotions. This is proper and should not be prohibited as long as all things are done decently and in order.