Is the Holy Spirit not bound by only the words in the Bible?

Answer:

Emotionalism allows false teachers the elbow room to develop followings. The teacher doesn't have to develop well-reasoned ideas, he merely needs to generate excitement and people assume that these feelings are due to God. "Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned" (II Peter 2:2). See "Worship: The Emotional Component."

The verse being alluded to is "But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth" (John 4:23). Notice the first flaw: the preacher changed "spirit" to "the Spirit."

The Samaritan woman at the well had asked Jesus about one of the points of contention between the Samaritans and the Jews: Where must a person worship, here or in Jerusalem? (John 4:19-20). Notice that the justification for worshiping on Mt. Gerizim was that this was what their ancestors had done, even though the Law clearly stated that worship was to be done in Jerusalem (I Kings 9:3, II Chronicles 7:12).

Jesus said that the question would soon no longer matter because there would no longer be a single place to worship God (Malachi 1:11; I Timothy 2:8). The Samaritans had worshiped out of ignorance. The Jews had the truth of God’s will. But the time has come when God seeks people who will worship Him in both spirit and truth, from both a fervent desire and a willingness to obey God’s will. God is Spirit, so proper worship is not a mere physical ritual but from the heart, accompanied by obedience.

Acceptable worship has always been ordained by God, not man.

• God nearly destroyed the entire nation of Israel when they worshipped the LORD through a golden calf (Exodus 32:1-14, 28).
• Nadab and Abihu were killed by God when they offered common fire (Leviticus 10:1-2).
• Saul offered the burnt offering instead of waiting for Samuel. As a result, his kingdom was taken from him (I Samuel 13:8-14).

Jesus accused the Pharisees: "You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you: 'This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far away from me. But in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men'" (Matthew 15:7-9). They had drifted from the truth and did not worship with the proper spirit.

"To worship God in spirit and truth means that worship must be from the heart, not just outward acts, and that it must be done in exact obedience to God's commands. The worship must be directed to Him, not to the whims of the worshipers" [Bob Prichard, "Worship or Entertainment?]

The second error is the idea that the Holy Spirit directs people to act outside the teachings of the Bible. The preacher forgot that the Bible is the work of the Holy Spirit. "But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God" (II Peter 1:20-21). That revelation is complete. "Seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence" (II Peter 1:3). The preacher is claiming that the Bible is inadequate to direct people to worship God properly.

Finally, while claiming to be directed by the Holy Spirit, this false preacher can offer no proof that what he advocates comes from the Spirit. We only have his claim, and that is inadequate. Just as God warned Israel in the days of Jeremiah, "Thus says the LORD of hosts, 'Do not listen to the words of the prophets who are prophesying to you. They are leading you into futility; they speak a vision of their own imagination, not from the mouth of the LORD'" (Jeremiah 23:16).