Don't Play Games

Losing a battle can make you ask the right question and still make the wrong move. We open 1 Samuel 4 with Israel stunned by defeat, and we slow down on the moment that exposes the real issue: they recognize God’s hand is not with them, but instead of repentance and patience, they reach for a shortcut.

We talk about what it looks like to “play church” and why it never delivers real victory. Israel brings the Ark of the Covenant into the center of the fight, hoping God will bail them out, and the result is even more devastating. That story confronts a mindset many of us slip into: checking boxes, getting loud in worship, quoting verses, then expecting God to fix what our disobedience keeps breaking. We unpack the difference between believing in God and walking with God, and why you can’t chase the fruit of a godly life without living one.

We also speak plainly about spiritual warfare. When you start getting serious about prayer, church, and leaving old habits behind, the enemy notices. That’s why the call is not to perform faith, but to be transformed, to be born again, and to live by the power of the Holy Spirit with a real relationship with God. We close with a clear invitation to surrender to Jesus and trust Him not just to save your day, but to save your life.

If this challenged you, share it with a friend, subscribe for more Beyond Sunday, and leave a review that helps someone else stop playing games and start following Jesus.

Transcript

Don’t Play Games Setup

SPEAKER_00 0:08

Hey, what's going on, everybody? I am Lee Day. I pastor Christ Family Outreach Church, and I want to say thank you for tuning in to another episode of Beyond Sunday. This episode I am going to title Don't Play Games. And we're coming from the text in 1 Samuel chapter 4. So if you got your Bibles, go ahead and turn there with me if you will. 1 Samuel chapter 4. I'm going to begin by reading to you the first few verses. We'll take a timeout. We'll talk about it. We'll jump back into the text in just a few moments. But diving straight into it, here we go. 1 Samuel chapter 4, verses 1 through 3. And this is what it says, my good friends. And the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went out to battle against the Philistines. They encamped at Ebenezer, and the Philistines encamped at Aphak. The Philistines drew up in line against Israel, and when the battle spread, Israel was defeated before the Philistines, who killed about 4,000 men on the field of battle. And when the people came to the camp, the elders of Israel said, Why has the Lord God defeated us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord here from Shiloh, that it may come among us and save us from the power of our enemies. Let's stop right there. Let's talk

Losing Battles Through Disobedience

SPEAKER_00 1:37

about that. The Philistines defeated Israel in this particular conflict simply because Israel had been disobedient to God's law. And you say, Yeah, Pastor, I hear you. All the time we see that Israel's messing up, and because they're living and walking in disobedience, they're walking outside the will of God and they're losing another battle. They're losing another battle. But let's just kind of relate that. Let's parallel that. Let's run that next to our lives right now. How many times do we see ourselves losing a battle in life, but yet we're not coming to the realization that maybe it's simply because we're outside the will of God for our lives? I want you to consider that today. Again, we're we're calling this one here, don't play games. You see, listen to me for a moment. They were chosen by God, but they chose not to follow God. And look, we've all walked in those shoes before, haven't we? Chosen by God, but we chose not to follow God. You see, the Israelites, they needed to do more than just believe in God, and so do we. We need to do more than just believe in God. Simply knowing God is not good enough. But they needed to walk with God in their everyday lives if they wanted to see everyday victories. And the same holds true with you and I right now. We two have been chosen, but believing in God is simply not enough. God wants us walking with him every day of our lives. Jesus Christ, he doesn't just call us to be a believer, he calls us to be a follower. Can somebody say amen to that? Now, the second verse,

The Right Question Without Patience

SPEAKER_00 3:20

I want you to pay attention to it here. The second verse tells us that the Philistines killed about 4,000 men in battle. And then the elders of Israel, they asked the right question in the third verse. They asked the right question. They say in the third verse, why has the Lord God defeated us today before the Philistines? They knew it wasn't really the Philistines that won that battle. They knew that God's hand had been removed from them, God's hand of favor, divine protection had been removed from them. They knew it wasn't the Philistines that truly beat them on the outside, yes, but they knew something else was taking place. So rather than say, How was it that the Philistines destroyed us? How did the Philistines win this battle? They're saying, Why has the Lord God defeated us today before the Philistines? So they're asking the right question. But here's the problem: they did not wait for the right answer. Instead of waiting for God to answer, they went, and we've read it in the text just a moment ago, they went and they got the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord to bring it into battle with them. And I've been there before, and I know that all of you listening have as well, that oftentimes, many times, we've asked God the Father the right question. But oh, aren't we guilty at times of not waiting for the right answer? We ask God the right question, but we're not willing to be patient enough to wait for the right answer. Isn't that something though? We want to talk, we want to say what we want to say, we want to get our thought, our opinion, our mindset. We want to get what we have to say off our chest. We want to ask the right question, but it's a lot harder waiting for the right answer. God had directed the people how to fight their battles. If you're taking notes, I want you to jot this down in Deuteronomy chapter 20. Because in Deuteronomy chapter 20, God has directed the people how to fight these battles. However, here's the problem: the people took matters into their own hands. And I've done that before, and I'm sure you have as well. They refused to inventory

Using God For Quick Wins

SPEAKER_00 5:24

their own hearts and confess the sin that they were committing. And my friends, that's a problem when we are unwilling to take a spiritual inventory of our own hearts. When we're unwilling to take a spiritual inventory and look at the sin that we're committing in our own lives. So rather than get right with God, they chose to imitate Moses and Joshua and take the Ark of the Covenant into battle with them, hoping God would give them immediate victory. So this is basically what they're saying. If we're not gonna live godly lives, then maybe we can imitate two men, Moses and Joshua, who are living godly lives. Only they weren't wanting to imitate them in their righteous living. They were wanting to imitate them by doing what they did, and they're gonna go take the Ark of the Covenant into battle with them, hoping that this was gonna bring immediate victory for Israel. But there's two things, if you're taking notes, there's two things that I want you to just take note of here. Number one, you cannot get the fruit of a godly person unless you yourself are gonna live a godly life. And the issue is that they wanted the outcome of Moses and Joshua, but they weren't willing to live like them. Not in that moment anyway. Point number two that I want you to take away from the text. They expected God to just bail them out simply because they said, okay, okay, God, we lost. Now you do it. You do it. We're gonna go get the Ark of the Covenant. We're gonna bring you right here onto the battlefield. We're bringing you into the lines of battles with us. We lost, but we need you to bail us out. And I know that there's people that play church like that. There's people that play games like that. I'm just telling you, God don't play games. Playing church does not equal a life of victory. Just going to church is not gonna fix your problems. If anything, that type of lifestyle is gonna place even more pressure on your life. Just going to check a box thinking that it's enough to give you immediate victory. And that's not how it works. You've got to become part of the family of God. You've got to, you've got to begin to serve in the family of God. We cannot pray to God and then take matters into our own hands. If you're gonna have enough faith to pray to God, then you gotta have enough faith to have God answer your prayers as well. Can somebody out there say amen to that? I mean, think about that. If you're gonna have enough faith to pray to him, then certainly you should have enough faith to wait on him, to wait for him to come in his perfect timing. Now, I told you earlier we're gonna jump back into text,

The Ark Arrives And Still Loss

SPEAKER_00 8:08

and we are. Okay. So back at the fourth verse, where we left off is where we're picking up. So the people sent to Shiloh and brought from there the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts, who was enthroned on the cherubim, and the two sons of Eli, Hapni and Phineas, were there with the Ark of the Covenant of God. As soon as the ark of the covenant of the Lord God came into the camp, all Israel gave a mighty shout, so that all the earth resounded. And when the Philistines heard the noise of the shouting, they said, What does this great shouting in the camp of the Hebrews mean? And when they learned that the ark of the Lord had come to the camp, the Philistines were afraid, for they said, A God is coming to the camp. And they said, Woe to us, for nothing like this has happened before. Woe to us, who can deliver us from the power of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with every sort of plague in the wilderness. Take courage and be men, O Philistines, lest you become slaves to the Hebrews, as they have been to you. Be men and fight. So the Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, and they fled, every man to his home, and there was a very great slaughter, for thirty thousand foot soldiers of Israel fell, and the Ark of God was captured, and the two sons of Eli, Hafni and Phinehas, died. And there's a lot happening in that part of the text right there, my friends. You see, Israel has been defeated yet again. Only this time they've been defeated with the Ark of the Covenant in the center of the battle. So let's talk about that. The people's hearts were still not where they needed to be. They've called on God for help, kind of the shotgun prayer, but but their hearts weren't lined up where they needed to be. They're simply trying to use God in order to get out of trouble. Maybe you've been there before. Maybe you know some people who are there right now. Maybe you know some people that have been there before. They're just calling

Playing Church Without Real Change

SPEAKER_00 10:16

on the name of the Lord because they're in trouble. It's they're not they're not wanting to follow the Lord. They're not wanting to take up the cross daily and follow him. They're just asking God to save them from the turmoil that they found themselves in, oftentimes that they placed themselves in. And Hofney and Phineas, they're carrying the holy ark of God. And these two men had turned bad and had already been consigned to judgment. Jot this down if you're taking notes, 1 Samuel chapter 2. You can read about it right there. But when they show up in the camp, the people shout, and the earth, the Bible says, the earth resounded. Now, they may have been excited, but there was still no victory. Maybe you know some people like that. Oh, they know how to shout, they they know how to sing, they sound good, they know their scriptures, but you don't see much victory in their life, if any at all. They come to church, they attend Bible study, but you don't see them growing from faith to faith and glory to glory. You see, you can enter into the very presence of God. You can sing the songs, you can shout amen and scream hallelujah. You can, you can read the word of God all day long, you can look depart and you can play the role. But if you're not gonna make the decision to live like it and follow Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior, then you're not gonna have any victory in your life. Not victory from God anyway. God's not here just to save our day. I want to throw that out there. God is not here just to save our day. God is here to save our life through his son Jesus Christ. Can somebody out there shout, Amen, to that right there? He's not here just to save your day. He's here to save your life. And because he sent Jesus Christ to save your life, the decision to follow Jesus should have an impact on your entire life, not just part of it. You see, when you're a Christian, that old you has to die. That old person, that old way of living, that old lifestyle has to die. And this is why Jesus says that we must become born again. Write those words down if you're taking notes, my good friends. Born again. This is what we need to be. We need to recognize that the Holy Spirit of God has placed his power inside of us. He's living on the inside of us, right where we are in this very moment. And we need to begin talking and speaking, having personal relationship with God Almighty. We've got to take great joy, my friends, that today as Christians, as followers of Jesus Christ, we don't have to run and find God. His Spirit, as followers of Christ, His Holy Spirit is already living on the inside of you right where you are. Now, the people shouted, the Bible lets us know that. They played the role, they got excited. Let me just say this. Just because you play church doesn't mean you're gonna see the victory of God if your heart is not in it. They they shouted, they got excited, they played the role. But again, I'm gonna say it. You can play church, but it doesn't mean that you're gonna see the victory if you're not living like the church is supposed to live. I want you to consider something. I want you to think about this. Truly think about it. The Israelites expected God to save the day. I don't know about you, but I expect God to save my day. I want the Lord to come in and save my day. Every day I want to live closer to Him than I did the day before. I want I want to walk with Him. The Bible says that I'm to be in step with the Holy Spirit of God, and you are as well. I want God to save my day. The Israelites, they wanted God to save their day. And all their shouting did, listen to this now, all their shouting did was motivate the Philistine men even more. And it led them to kill 30,000 Jewish soldiers. Let me say this. You can come to church and you can play games if you want to play. But know this you need to start acting and living like a true follower of Christ because the enemy is going to eventually hit you hard and try to knock you off track. The shouting, the praising, the jubilee, it

God Will Not Be Used

SPEAKER_00 14:48

aroused the enemy. It aroused the Philistine army. Have you ever considered this? It aroused the Philistine army and they came for a fight. Let me just say this. The devil's not gonna be happy when you start coming to church. So you need to be serious about coming to church. The devil ain't gonna be happy when you start singing those Christian songs, praising the Lord. So you better be serious about singing those Christian songs and praising the Lord. The devil ain't gonna be happy when you start getting quiet time and spending time in prayer with God. So you better take it serious. You better take it serious. God will fight your battles, but you better make sure that you're on God's side. The people got excited about the presence of God and Satan got angry. I'm gonna say that again. The people got excited about the presence of God. The Ark of the Covenant was gonna, they were taking it with them. The people are excited about the presence of God. Satan got angry. God, write this down if you're taking notes. God will not be used. He's not gonna be played. Again, I'm gonna say, don't play games with God. God will not be used in order to make sinful people get what they want. However, God does tell us, this is one of my favorite verses in all of the Word of God. God does tell us in 1 Samuel chapter 2, verse 30, God says, Those who honor me, I will honor in return. So I want you to consider the things that we've gone over. Just quickly today. We've we've we've gone over it pretty pretty fast in today's episode. But I want you to consider these things. Don't play games with God. Be serious. Because when you get in there, and whether you're checking boxes or not, the enemy knows it. The enemy knows. He knows if you really want to get in there and get yourself right. He he sees that you're not hanging out with the old friends, that the enemy's taking notes. The demonic warfare is going on, it's raging at all times. The enemy knows when you're no longer hanging out down at the bar, but you're going to Bible study. The enemy knows. So if you're gonna take the time to do these things, my good friends, go all in, go all out and be serious about it. Jump in the deep end for Jesus. Be serious, and God will give you the victory through his son, Jesus Christ.

Salvation Prayer And Sendoff

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Let's pray. Father, in the name of the blood of Jesus, I lift up every listener today. That they would take serious this call to not play games. Father, that we would understand that if we want godly results, we've got to live godly lives. I pray if there be anyone out there today that does not know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and you're ready to surrender to him, that you would say a prayer like this, Lord Jesus, I am a sinner. And I ask you, Lord, to come into my life. I recognize, Lord Jesus, that you died on the cross so that I could be forgiven of my sins. And I ask that you come into my life, forgive me of my sins and save my soul in Jesus Christ's name and blood. Fill me with the power of your Holy Spirit. And all God's people said, Amen. Until next time on Beyond Sunday, stay in the Word of God.