High And Lifted Up

By Ted Mock

June 17, 2026

Isaiah 6:1-3 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple… seraphims… one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.

My wife has been reading from Tozer for a long time, and the discussion often comes up as we do our daily devotions, about the drift in some churches to a casual approach to worship.  “Come as you are and leave as you came” seems to be the order of the day.  The following is not original with me, but Scott Pauley did a better job than I could of putting into words what is in my heart about this serious issue.

There is a trend of people returning to liturgical churches in recent days. Some are interested merely in religious form, but others are not searching for formalism—they are sincerely seeking reverence in worship. Not style, substance. Not ritual, reality. Musical productions, outlandish media shows, fleshly pulpit antics, and silly gimmicks have caused many churches to become the very thing they feared most – irrelevant.

An ir-reverent church will always become an ir-relevant church.

May God help us to be what Christ established His church to be, “the pillar and ground of the truth.” Tradition can never replace truth. Nothing can. The answer to the contemporary church is a Biblical one, not a ceremonial church.

• Teach the Bible.
• Make much of Jesus.
• Observe the ordinances regularly.
• Sing doctrinally rich songs joyfully.
• Call people to fervent prayer.
• Honor the Holy Spirit.
• Love people.
• Advance the gospel.

Reflection—Become a church with a high view of the Holy God, a serious approach to Scripture, and an emphasis on eternity.