For eight weeks we have walked through the non-negotiables of God. He is always holy. He never breaks His covenant. He never ignores injustice. He is never distant. He always loves. He punishes sin. He is always involved. Today we close this series with the truth that holds every other truth together: God is always worthy of worship.
But before we go further, we must confess something. None of us can worship God enough, serve Him enough, or sacrifice enough to satisfy what He deserves. Micah asked it best:
"Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of olive oil? He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." (Micah 6:6-8)
Proverbs agrees: "To do what is right and just is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice" (Proverbs 21:3). God does not want our performance. He wants our obedience.
Elijah Stands Alone
In the ancient world there was many false gods, but one of the most prominent was Baal. Worshipoing Baal gave people a false feeling or sense of power over nearly everything. To worship Baal you had to gather together in a group, cut your own body with knives or swords, let your blood flow as appearing to to be dramatic and giving honor to Baal. They had prostitution rituals at the alter from all sides and if that wasn’t enough, children was sactified before the alter to prove their loyalty.
1 Kings 18, the mighty Prophet Elijah approached all the people and said, “How long are you going to struggle with the two choices? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” But the people did not answer him so much as a word.
On Mount Carmel, Elijah faced 450 prophets of Baal—men who basically wanted to prove Baal is the one true God. They a alter was built and they screamed themselves hoarse from morning until night, who cut themselves until blood ran down their arms, begging a silent god to answer. Nothing. No voice. No fire. No response. Because Baal was never real to begin with. Remember now, Baal was their!
Then Elijah rebuilt the altar of the Lord with twelve stones, one for each tribe of Israel. He ordered the alter be drenched with over 60 gallons of water. No trick. No shortcut. Just an a prophet of the living God and a simple prayer: "Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, today let it be known that You are God in Israel" (1 Kings 18:36).
Then fire fell from heaven. It consumed the offering, the wood, the stones, even the water in the trench. And the people who had wavered for so long between two opinions fell on their faces and cried out, "The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God!" (1 Kings 18:39).
God was not auditioning that day. He was simply being who He has always been—the only One worthy of worship. That’s it! No one else! The Real Struggle that day wasn't really about fire falling from the sky. It was about the human heart deciding who deserves its allegiance. And that battle didn't end at Kishon Brook. It continues in every generation, including ours. Choose you this day whom you will serve!
Jesus stood in the wilderness, hungry and weak, and Satan offered Him bread, power, and glory—if only He would bow down. Jesus refused. He chose worship over shortcut.
David hid in a cave with the very king who hunted him asleep just a few feet away. His men whispered, "This is your moment—kill him." David refused. He would not touch the Lord's anointed, even a king who had turned wicked, because David's worship of God was bigger than his desire for vindication.
A rich young man came to Jesus asking how to inherit eternal life. Jesus told him to sell everything and follow Him. The man walked away sad, because his possessions had quietly become his god.
And in the early church, Ananias and Sapphira sold a piece of land and lied about how much they gave, wanting the appearance of sacrifice without the cost of full surrender to God. It cost them their lives.
Every one of these stories asks the same question Elijah asked Israel on that mountain: , “How long are you going to struggle with the two choices? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” This still is happening today.
People who spent years chasing a promotion, certain that once they reached the top, they would finally have peace. Got the corner office. Got the title. And one night, sitting alone in that empty office long after everyone else had gone home, they realized they had traded their marriage, health, and their walk with God for something that couldn't answer when they called out to it, just like the prophets of Baal screaming into silence. That job was never going to send fire from heaven. Only God does that.
A woman I once read about, who buried her husband far too young, and in her grief, people expected her to fall apart. Instead, she told me, "I don't understand why God allowed this, but I know who God is. And that hasn't changed." She didn't get answers. She got worship—the kind that doesn't wait for fire to fall before it bows down.
That's only one difference between Baal and Yahweh. Baal requires a show. God only asks for a surrendered heart.
The Response
Church, we cannot manufacture worthiness for God—He already has it, fully and forever. Revelation 4:11 declares it: "Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created."
The question was never whether God is worthy. The question is whether we will bow. Will we keep limping between two opinions, serving God just on Sunday—serving Baal—money, comfort, reputation, control—every other day of the week? Or will we, like Israel on that mountain, fall on our faces and say, "The Lord, He is God"? Scripture tells us, like or not, believe it or not, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
This week, I want you to name your Baal. What has quietly taken the seat that belongs only to God? Is it your career? Your relationships? Your need to be right? Your fear of what people think? Whatever it is, bring it to the altar today. Not because God needs your sacrifice, but because He deserves your obedience.
Eight weeks ago we began by declaring who God is. Today we end the same way we started—not with information, but with surrender. God cannot be unworthy of worship. The only remaining question is whether you will worship Him with your whole life, starting now.
Listen to Gods word "You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands." (Isaiah 55:12)
Jesus Himself told us "I tell you," he replied, "if they keep quiet [the people], the stones will cry out." (Luke 19:40)
All creation will worship and Honor God even if you and I do not! The antidote is what Jesus modeled: ruthless, unwavering worship of God alone. Not because it feels good, but because God is worthy and we are made in His image alone. Not because it works out the way we want, but because obedience to Him is the only sane response to His worthiness.