Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Victorious Living
Victorious Living
Holy Living
Defeating Carnal Christianity
Introduction
This book is an edited transcript of sermons by
Rory Dyer during 2002. The title of the series of
sermons was Carnal Christianity, also called
Victorious and Holy Living. Headings have been
added primarily for the purpose of the table of
contents. You may want to skip over them while
reading.
Contents
1: Introduction _________________________10
A Quick Overview _________________________10
1.
2.
3.
Our Lifestyle______________________________12
1.
2.
Conclusion _______________________________17
21
21
22
23
26
27
28
28
29
30
30
31
Summary ________________________________31
Hedonism _______________________________
Legalism ________________________________
Mysticism________________________________
Asceticism _______________________________
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
44
45
46
47
47
48
49
49
50
51
51
52
52
52
53
54
55
57
58
58
59
3.
65
66
67
68
68
68
69
69
69
70
70
70
Conclusion _______________________________70
71
74
76
76
78
80
85
86
88
90
4.
Conclusion ______________________________106
109
111
113
114
120
121
121
122
123
124
128
128
129
129
Conclusion ______________________________131
138
139
140
140
141
141
142
143
144
144
144
146
147
148
148
148
149
149
149
149
150
152
152
153
154
154
154
160
164
165
167
167
Summary _______________________________179
10
1: Introduction
A Quick Overview
Two of the types of statements in the New
Testament are imperative and indicative.
Imperative is about what we do. Indicative is
about stating the thing as a fact, not as a wish. It
gives an indication of where we stand while
imperative is what we do.
The heading of the NIVs Colossians 3 is
Rules for Holy Living. Now, I could give you a
checklist, imperatives (what you have to do). I
could just list. You would become burdened with
guilt and shame and you wouldnt know what to
do. You would say that you could never ever live
up to those standards. Thats why we cant start
in Colossians 3, we need to start in Colossians 1.
We are going to look at how we can please
God and why we should please Godand it is
impossible in the flesh to please God. That is why
he gives us his Holy Spirit, so that we may please
him.
Colossians 3 speaks about the sins of passion
and the sins of pride. I could tell you that if you
are bordering on any of those sins then you are in
big troubleor I can help you and give you the
tools that you need to get through them to live a
victorious life. My task is to help equip you to
break the power of the flesh. There is a word in
the Greek called sarx (flesh) and over this time we
are going to kill sarx and put to death sarxthe
earthly nature and sinful nature. We are going to
learn how to overcome sin and how to put it to
11
12
Our Lifestyle
1. Our Position Enables Us to Live Right
How can an uneducated man go to his wife who
has a degree and say, Wife, submit to me
because the Bible says so!? In this modern era,
with worldly philosophies that have crept into the
Church, people say that its impossible for a
woman of greater intelligence to submit to a
man. It is impossible if you dont understand
Colossians 1 and 2. Ephesians 5, about wives
submitting to their husbands, is impossible for a
wife if she doesnt understand Ephesians 1, 2 and
3. In the same way, it is impossible to live a
sexually pure lifeone cant just take all the
desire that is beating inside and suppress itbut
if we understand our position in Christ and we
understand the power that Christ has given us, we
can put it down and put it to death and we can
start to live victoriously: in our sexual life, our
personal life, our spiritual life and our domestic
life; and that includes the children.
13
14
15
16
Conclusion
Paul is saying, On my knees I am praying that
you will somehow grasp how high and how wide
and how deep and strong and long is the love of
Christ, and the incomparable great power that you
need in order to do this successfully as a
husband, as a single, as an employee. Later I am
going to introduce the subject called the devil and
you need to learn how to stand so that when he
bumps you, you wont fall. The Lord will give us
all the power we need to walk and to stand.
We have to take our churches to another level
of being consumed in the presence, the face and
the works of Jesus Christ; where we dont get
bored, and its not dependent on how we feel as to
whether we worship him or not, but dependent on
his worthiness and that alone. That is the reason
why we go to church meetings: because he is
worthy to receive our worship, and we go to give
him thanks and praise for what he has done for
us. We can never get bored with that.
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
John 15:1-4
The call of Colossians is for you and I, through the
word of God and by the Spirit of God, to root
ourselves in the character of God so that we can
start to produce the fruit of God. Not with a
preacher preaching to you Sunday after Sunday,
or a home-group leader teaching you week after
week, but with you firmly and personally planted in
the character of God so that he can show you
through his Word, which is a gift to you, how to
live.
8. We Live by Gods Power that is Available
The next prayer is for the power that is available to
us. Its not by human power. The same power
that raised Jesus from the dead is available to us.
I hope you all understand thatif you dont then
go and take that scripture and get on your knees
and ask the Spirit of God to reveal it to you. We
dont want to raise up a weak Church that does
not understand that there is power available.
Summary
For he has rescued us from the dominion of
darkness and brought us into the kingdom of
the Son he loves, in whom we have
redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Colossians 1:13-14
In verses 13 to 14 we see these things:
he rescued us;
he brought us out;
32
33
34
35
36
Philosophies of Today
See to it that
through hollow
which depends
basic principles
Christ.
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
John 11:3844
Right now there are people who are like Lazarus
who was in the grave: there are men and women
who stink from sin, from drugs, from sex. Jesus
says, Roll the stone away. Listen to the voice
that says, Lazarus, come out, come out from your
life of sin, come out from your life of captivity,
come out from your life of rules. As you stand
there with your grave clothes, we give the
command in Jesus name, Take those grave
clothes off! You will never have to walk again in
any form of prison. Some people who have been
born again are walking around with forms of grave
clothes wrapped around them. Jesus said, Take
the grave clothes off and let this man go free,
never again to be burdened by the yoke of
slavery.
He is the prince of life. When his word comes
it means life abundantly, life in the full. We need
to find the revelation so that we can live in that.
12. The King (John 12)
The triumphal entry at Jerusalem is in John 12,
and it shows us Jesus as King.
Jesus found a young donkey and sat upon it,
as it is written, Do not be afraid , see, your
king is coming, seated on a donkeys colt.
John 12:1415
13. The Servant (John 12)
Of all the commands in Scripture, many find the
most difficult one to be, Serve. I dont know how
50
51
52
John 16:57
17. The Great Intercessor (John 17)
In John 17 Jesus prays for himself, from verse 6
he prays for his disciples, from verse 20 he prays
for all believers. When we understand that, we
can go to Colossians 3 where it says we must be
holy and live a holy life. How do we understand
this? We understand that the Son is at the right
hand of the Father and he is interceding for us.
He is asking the Father to give us courage. He is
making requests on behalf of us regarding our
singleness, our marriage, our business ventures
and for us in the local church.
18. The Model Sufferer (John 18)
He did not fight or scream. In John 18 he suffered
as a model for us.
19. The Uplifted Saviour (John 19)
Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to
the cross. It read, JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE
KING OF THE JEWS. Many of the Jews read
this sign, for the place where Jesus was
crucified was near the city, and the sign was
written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek.
John 19:1920
Why was it written in those three languages?
They were the language of the culture, the
language of the State and the language of religion.
Jesus Christ was the king of the State, king of
religion and the king of their culture. In verse 30
he says, It is finished. There is nothing more
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
2. We are Justified
When we talk of being justified, its a picture of a
law court. God is the judge. We will be judged for
our sin.
Jesus comes in and breaks that
judgement and we are justified. Justified is, Just
as if Id never sinned.
The opposite is
condemnation. We now stand perfect, legal in his
sight.
Colossians 1:21 speaks of what you once
were: alienated from God. Verse 22 speaks of
where you now stand: holy in his sight, without
blemish and free from accusation. Verse 23
speaks of how you must go on: continue in your
faith.
We cannot preach verse 23 until we have
preached verses 21 and 22, otherwise its
legalism. Once we have preached verse 21 and
verse 22, we can preach verse 23, and we can
preach it hard. But when you understand verse
21, where you were; and verse 22, where you
stand; then verse 23 should become your natural
response to the goodness of God.
If you believe that you have been justified and
you believe that you have been reconciled but you
do not continue on the process of sanctification, I
doubt seriously whether you have been born
again. We cannot say that we have been justified
in the presence of God, we have been forgiven
from all our sins, that the power of sin has been
broken over us, yet continue to sleep around,
continue to drug around, continue to do exactly
the same, except go to a church meeting on a
Sunday. That might make us think we are right
with God, it may appease our consciences, but it
doesnt solve the problem.
63
64
Son or Survivor?
Here are three things that a godly father installs in
his children:
I believe in you.
65
66
67
68
69
70
Conclusion
Before we can preach Colossians 1 verse 23, we
have to live in verses 21 and 22. We used to be
alienated from God but now we have been justified
in his sight. We have white sheets over us. We
have been redeemed from the slave market.
Christ has taken the wrath of God and taken it
upon himself. We have been reconciled to the
Father in heaven. We walk in our inheritance as
sons, never as survivors.
Some of the most successful men and
women are survivors not sons. My God, my God
why have you forsaken me? is the thing that
heals usnot psychologists. They may help, but
the truth has to be that Christ was rejected so that
we can be healed.
5: Holy Living
The Possibility of Holy Living
1. We Have Power Over All Enemies
Since, then, you have been raised with
Christ, set your hearts on things above,
where Christ is seated at the right hand of
God. Set your minds on things above, not on
earthly things. For you died, and your life is
now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ,
who is your life, appears, then you also will
appear with him in glory.
Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs
to your earthly nature: sexual immorality,
impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is
idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God
is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in
the life you once lived.
But now you must rid yourselves of all
such things as these: anger, rage, malice,
slander and filthy language from your lips. Do
not lie to each other, since you have taken off
your old self with its practices and have put
on the new self, which is being renewed in
knowledge in the image of its Creator. Here
there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or
uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or
free, but Christ is all, and is in all.
Therefore, as Gods chosen people, holy
and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with
compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness
and patience. Bear with each other and
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
Conclusion
Live by the Spirit and you will not gratify the
desires of the human nature. Were looking at
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
Ephesians 4:1b
I want you to get out there and walkbetter
yet, run!on the road God called you to
travel.
Ephesians 4:1b, The Message
Walk worthily of the calling.
Ephesians 4:1b, ASV
Not achieved, received.
Walk worthily.
Remember these five positions that apply to us:
I was dead in my transgressions (Ephesians
2).
I am seated in Christ.
I am kneeling (asking God to give us the
power, length, width, height, depth of the full
knowledge of God, a knowledge of his love). I
pray that you would know him better.
I am walking (Ephesians 4).
I am standing (Ephesians 6).
Between every single position is the cross of
Christ. To go from the position of dead to the
position of seated in Christ, the cross of Christ is
necessary. To go from the position of being
seated, which is a permanent position, to being
able to pray, requires the cross of Christ because
it is the cross of Christ that gave us access to the
Father. To go from the position of praying to the
position of walking out a successful Christian life
requires dealing with all the enemies: the enemy
within, the enemy without, the enemy above and
the enemy below. Ephesians 6 helps us defeat
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
Conclusion
The more I see Gods pattern and plan in
Scripture, the more I know that we are going to
have to fight for it. We are going to have to fight
every inch of the way because the one who is
against us is aggressive. But we are committed,
and so is our King, to his Kingdom coming. If you
have to take off some of these things, some of
these old things or practices, please do some
business with God. Some things have got to
come off.
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
Genesis 3:2-7
Young people, God knows your marriage partner,
if you are to have one. For some of you, God has
called you to be single. If you cant settle that in
your hearts then you will fight him. And then the
enemy will come and say, Come on, come on,
you cant find a believer so find an unbeliever .
The enemy will throw that at you, he will cast
doubt on Gods goodness. He will keep throwing it
at you. What happens when you are thirty, forty
and fifty and you are still single? Do you believe
that God is good? Or do you believe the enemy
who says, Pick anybody who walks past your
eyes? Many have done that and fallen short of
the glory of God.
5. Hinder Gods Work with Enemies
For we wanted to come to youcertainly I,
Paul, did, again and againbut Satan
stopped us.
1 Thessalonians 2:18
Satan tries to stop us in our work of God by
putting religious people in the way.
6. Distort or Prevent the Gospel with
Persuasion
He distorts
preaching.
and
prevents
effective
gospel
142
143
144
145
Matthew 16:21-23
You cannot hide in the crowd. This Christian life is
not easy street. This road that we take is a road
with times of suffering, where we have to kill the
very desires and nature of our life. We have got to
kill them, we have got to destroy them, we have
got to put our ambitions aside, we have got to put
our pride aside. It is a road of suffering. It is a
road of sacrifice and it is a road that ultimately
leads to crucifixion, where we get nailed to the
cross. Jesus says that that is the way of God
and any shortcut is a way of Satan.
Many say, Come to the Church and
everything gets easier. In some ways it does but
in other ways everything seems to get harder.
That is the way of the Lord. The Bible says that
many enter through the wide gate and few enter
through the narrow gate. Some have a perception
in their minds that Christianity is easy. The enemy
has tricked them and they will not be able to stand
on the day of evil. One of the things that it says in
1 Peter 4 is that we will have to suffer in our
bodiesthe one who has suffered in his body has
done away with sin. Especially young people,
while you suffer with your sexuality you have to
know that that is the way of God. He designed
your sexuality and he created it for one purpose,
and that is marriage. While you suffer as a
teenager with all those frustrations, you have to
know that that is the way of God and not the devil.
You put your armour on so that you can take your
stand against the devils schemes.
Oh, that the Church would know who the
adversary is, that the Church would wake up in the
146
147
148
149
150
151
Ephesians 4:25-27
Unresolved anger gives the devil a foothold:
husband, wife and children, employer and
employee, whatever it might be. Perhaps you
have an argument at work with your boss and he
corrects you. You go home and tell your wife and
family in anger. You go to bed and you justify
yourself right through the night. In the morning
you just want to explode. The enemy has got you,
born-again believer, when just a few days ago you
were worshiping. The devil is saying, I have got
Gods people because they do not know the
devices that I use.
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
4. Controlling Spending
Like a city whose walls are broken down is a
man who lacks self control.
Proverbs 25:28
In the old days the city walls were there for
protection. How do we control spending? If you
do not have self control over your spending then
youre open to any form of attack. If your wife is
the one who lacks it, build her wall up quickly.
How? By taking her credit away. The feminists
may rant and rave but, my friends, if we allow the
enemy into our city he will wreak havoc there, and
our marriages will pay, and our parenting will pay,
and our homes will pay. The spiritual realm will
pay for the rest of the year if you cannot take
control of spending in Christmas seasons. Build
the walls around your home. The condition of the
home is the responsibility of the husband. If you
are a single person and lack control then make
sure that you get somebody around you that can
help you. Some 18 year old girls go from one
store to the next with seven or eight accounts. If
you lack control then you are open to attack: some
guy comes along and says, Ill cancel that for you,
and then youve got a hook inside of you. Hes
fishing. He pulls you in whenever he wants to.
And these are Gods people! Gods people are
running wild.
5. Avoiding New Debt
First, it is not a good thing to take a deal if you
cant afford it.
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
Summary
We have looked at three pictures: the first is a
sewer versus a stream, the second is a campfire
versus a fire out of control, the third is of an
animal or a human. Our bodies belong to God.
God gives us the power to live a holy life.
Then the Lord said to Cain, Why are you
angry? Why is your face downcast? If you
do what is right, will you not be accepted?
But if you do not do what is right, sin is
crouching at your door; it desires to have you
but you must master it.
Genesis 4:6
Here we think of those stable doors where the top
half can be open and the bottom half closed. We
can see sin crouching at the door there: as you
take that latch off it gets you. Friends, the enemy
180
181
182
183
184
185