Ron Dunn Podcast - The Law of Lordship

Episode Date: February 19, 2025

A person who ignores the laws laid down in the Bible does so at his own peril. We should have reverance for God.

Would you open your Bibles now to 1 Peter chapter 3, and I'm going to read verses 14, 15, and 16. 1 Peter, the third chapter. We'll begin reading with verse 14 and read through the 16th verse. But, and if you suffer for a righteous mistake, happy are ye, and be not always to give an answer to every man that asks of you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear. Having a good conscience that whereas they speak evil of you as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good behavior in Christ. Now let me read the 15th verse again. The King James reads like this,

But sanctify the Lord God in your heart. The Greek text reads this way, and I think most of your other translations read it this way, But sanctify Christ as Lord in your heart and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asks of you a reason of a hope that is in you with meekness and fear. But sanctify Christ as Lord in your heart. When you buy a new automobile, a new television set, a new washing machine, a dryer, a refrigerator,

the manufacturer, because he knows more about it than anyone else, includes with that a little booklet, a little pamphlet, called owner's manual or operating instructions. And a great many of us have at times launched out with some new piece of equipment thinking we knew more than the manufacturer did, thought we would just not humble ourselves and we don't want to admit that we don't know anything. And we tried to operate some of these things and had to go back to the operator's manual and admit that sure enough the fellow that made this machine knows the best way to operate it and to run it. I hold in my hands operating instructions provided by the manufacturer of your life.

And I can assure you that when you have tried to operate your life without following the manufacturer's instructions, you've always ended up in a dead end. And time and time again, it has been proven to me that the only time my life is ever derailed is when I get away from the operating instructions found in this book. And there are certain laws and principles and rules for operation that God lays down in this book and a person ignores and violates these operating instructions to his own peril and to his own disaster the Bible says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of all wisdom that word fear does not mean a cringing slavish fear it doesn't mean you're scared to death of the Lord, but it means that you have

a high and holy reverence for God. And the beginning, the very ABCs of being smart and being wise is to recognize that God is God and to have a reverential awe for Him, to reverence him. And that person who takes his life in his own hands and says, I can do with it as I please and I will lean on my own understanding, that is a person who does not have any reverence for God.

When I come to the place, I reverence God. I respect him. I know that he is the creator of life. He is the Lord of heaven and earth. And so I say, Lord, I reverence You. I respect You. And I know that You understand all about me. You have made me.

You know my thoughts even before I speak them. You hear my words even before I speak them. And so I'm going to bow and submit to you and I'm going to take your instructions and operate my life according to that. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of all these things. And the person who takes the word of God, those operating instructions, and lives his life accordingly is a wise man. But that person who ignores the laws and the word of God that

makes not every time any college degrees he has, it makes not even how smart and intelligent he is, that man, the Bible says, is a fool. Now we've been talking on these Sunday mornings about some of heaven's six laws. And I'm going to speak to you this morning on what I consider to be the basic law of all human life. This law is woven into the fabric of every part of human existence. To me, it is the foundation of all that God is and of all that God does and of all that God wants to do in your life.

The person who gets right on this one area will be right clean across the board. The person who misses this one area will fail utterly in every area of his life. Heaven's sixth law is a law of lordship. The law of lordship. And that law is, as I said a moment ago, woven into the fabric of every part of our life. And this is what God was trying to say to Adam and Eve at the very beginning of human history.

As he said, all of the trees in the garden you may eat they're yours you take care of them you kill the ground you replace the earth I've made abundant provision for everything in your life but that one tree thou shalt not eat of it now what was God saying God was saying that tree is a symbol of my sovereignty and Adam as long as you acknowledge my lordship over your life and over this garden everything will be alright but the day in which you eat of that tree

the day in which you violate the law of lordship and sovereignty that's the day you will die and that very day when Adam and Eve violated that basic law of lordship, they died spiritually, and as a result of that, physical death came upon them. God has planned that every part of our lives be built around this law of lordship. Where this law is not present,

you have anarchy and chaos. Can you imagine what government would be like if there was not the principle of lordship? If there was not the principle of sovereignty in government, can you imagine what it would be like? If every man could do as he pleased? If every man was able to do what was right in his own eyes, there was not a one of us that would be safe. We're not very safe as it is. But can you imagine what would happen if everybody was free to drive like they wanted to? And they could drive up MacArthur Boulevard as fast as they wanted to. Nobody would say a word. If somebody wanted to break into your home and take your possessions, beat you up, kill you, nobody would say a word. If somebody wanted to break into your home and take your possessions, beat you up, kill

you, nobody could say a word because the law of lordship has been violated. And if a government does not acknowledge the law of sovereignty and the law of authority, you'll have anarchy. What about in the home? If the law of lordship is not found in the home, you're going to have chaos and rebellion. God said, the man, the husband, is the head

and the parents are the head. I mentioned to someone the other day that nowadays it's the children who are bringing up the parents and they're not doing a very good job of it either. I've seen some of these parents whose children have raised and they're not very fine specimens. They're not doing any better of raising the parents than the parents have done raising the children. But in a home where the law of lordship

is not observed and yielded to, that home is going to be a breeding place of chaos and rebellion. God has ordered it so. He has woven lordship into the fabric of government. He has woven lordship into the fabric of home life. And I want you to know the only way that your home can be as God intended it to be, to be blessed and to be happy and to be fruitful in all ways,

is for that home to be blessed and to be happy and to be fruitful and always is for that home to be acknowledging the law and the principle of authority and lordship. What about in the school? You still have the principle of lordship there. How much studying would you think would be done? How much would the grades be if the teacher said, now we're not going to tell you what to do. We're not going to ever grade you.

We're not going to, we're just going to let you do what you want to. If you want to come up here every day and color cartoons, that's all right. Or if you want to stand up and throw spitballs to each other, that's all right. Or if you don't even want to come to school, if you want to do your own thing, can you imagine what would happen in a classroom, in a high school classroom, a college classroom, if everybody did what was happen in a classroom, in a high school classroom, a college classroom, if everybody did what was right in their own eyes? The law of lordship must be present in the schools if it's going to be successful.

And I'll tell you why we're having so much problems in the government and so many problems in homes and so many problems in universities. It's because people are rebelling against authority. The one key characteristic of Satan is rebellion against authority. He said, I want to be like the Most High God. That meant he didn't want to be answerable to anyone except himself. And I want you to know that

is the distinguishing mark of our age. I don't want to be answerable to anybody but myself. I don't want to answer to the government. I don't want to answer to mom and dad. I don't want to answer to the teacher. I don't want to answer to anybody but to myself. And the widespread rebellion that is sweeping across our country today is nothing more than a satanic attack upon the laws of God.

And this is setting everything up for the Antichrist to come in because he will set up a reign of lawlessness. What about your business? Some of you men own business and you have employees. The principle of lordship and authority must obtain in a business. What if you said to your employers, you do whatever you want to. If you want to work, that's all right. If you want to work on this, that's okay.

I'm not going to tell you what to do. We're going to get rid of all the foremen. We're not going to have a work schedule. Nothing. You do anything you want to. You'd be out of business before long. You see, there is no possibility of success in any realm of life as long as the principle of lordship and authority is violated. You need it in the government.

You need it in the home. You need it in business. You need it in the schools. You need it in the military. But most of all, you need it in your heart. Most of all, you must have this law of lordship in effect in your heart and this is what peter is writing in verse 15 but sanctify christ as lord in your heart of all the places that jesus needs to be lord in the heart is the most important place because the bible says out of the heart are the issues of life.

Now when the Bible speaks of the heart, it doesn't refer to this little muscle inside here that pumps blood. It doesn't refer to that at all. If you will read carefully the Word of God, you'll discover that a man feels with his heart, a man thinks with his heart, a man wheels with his heart, a man chooses with his heart.

Jesus said out of a man's heart are the issues of life. Everything you are, everything you think, everything about you issues from your heart. That is the fountain. Your conduct, your language, your attitude, your philosophy, that is merely the stream that flows from the mountain of your heart. As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. You see, the heart is the control center of a man's life. The heart is the steering wheel of a man's life.

And that heart dictates to him. That heart controls him. And so this is why the Bible says sanctify Christ as Lord in your heart. This is why in the Old Testament God said, when I bring salvation to you, this is the nature of that salvation. I will put within you a new heart. I will put within you a new heart.

The basic problem of man is his heart the heart the Bible says is deceitful and desperately wicked and who can know it that's why you need to have Jesus as Lord in your heart because you don't know your own heart every once in a while somebody says

well I believe you just need to follow your own heart whatever your heart tells you to do then you do it well that's alright if you have sanctified Christ as Lord in your heart. But if you haven't, then you're in danger of trouble because the heart is deceitful. The heart is a sick thing. You know who your own worst enemy is? Your heart. The Bible says there is a way that seemeth right unto man, but the end

thereof is the way of death. And that man who just follows his heart, and that heart is unregenerated, and Jesus is not Lord in that heart, and that fellow says, I'm just going to follow my heart, and whatever my heart tells me to do, that's what I'll do. He'll always end up in trouble because the heart is deceitful and desperately wicked and he can know it.

So Peter says, I want you to sanctify Christ as Lord in your heart. What does it mean to sanctify Christ as Lord in your heart? What does that word sanctify mean? It simply means to set him apart, to treat him as he ought to be treated. You know, we've been talking quite a bit the last couple of years about this matter of lordship. to set him apart, to treat him as he ought to be treated. You know, we've been talking quite a bit the last couple of years about this matter of lordship, making Jesus Christ Lord. What does it really mean to sanctify, to treat Christ as Lord in your heart? As I was reading through the New Testament this week,

I again saw a very clear picture of what it really means for me to sanctify Christ as Lord in my heart. The word sanctify means that I am to treat as holy or I am to set apart. I am no longer to be Lord in my own heart. I am to no longer sit on the throne of my own heart. I'm to take my hands off the steering wheel of my life, and in my place, I am to set Jesus Christ, and I am to let him put his hands on the steering wheel of my life, direct my life, control my life, and dictate to my life. Absolute Lord and Master. Undisputable Lord. Unrivaled Lord. That means what he says I do. That means where he sends I go. That means I never question

him. I give unhesitating and unquestioning obedience to him. He is Lord. To sanctify him as Lord means to treat him as he ought to be treated. And to enthrone Jesus Christ as Lord means simply this. It means to treat Jesus the same way heaven treats him. You know, we talk about, man, I wish we could have a heaven on earth. I wish we could have a heaven on earth. I wish we could have a heaven on earth. Wouldn't that be great? How would you like to have a heaven on earth this month?

Why do you suppose heaven is like heaven? What is it that makes heaven so great? I mean, it's just another place, isn't it? The Garden of Eden was heaven on earth, and look what happened to it. What is to ensure heaven, that it won't turn into another Garden of Eden was heaven on earth, but look what happened to it. What is to ensure heaven, that it won't turn into another Garden of Eden? What's so great about heaven? What makes heaven heaven? I'll tell you what makes heaven heaven.

It's the way they speak to Lord Jesus. I read over in Revelation chapter 5 that the Lamb sits upon the throne and that all the creatures bow down and worship and praise him and honor him. That's what makes heaven heaven. It's because in heaven Jesus is on the throne and he is worshipped as Lord.

And for me to make Jesus Lord is to treat him on earth as he's seated in heaven. I believe this is what Jesus meant when he was telling his disciples how to pray. He said, this is the way to pray. I, Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. How can I create a heaven on earth for my own life? It is to treat Jesus in my life as he is treated in heaven. This is what it means to make Jesus Lord, to treat him as the heavenly Father treated him. You remember when Peter stood on the day of Pentecost and preached that first sermon? And he said, you folks have taken Jesus

and with your wicked hands you have slain him and crucified him and notice what he says in acts chapter 2 and verse 36 therefore let all the house of israel know assuredly that god has made that same jesus whom you have crucified both lord and christ how did the Father treat Jesus? The world treated him like this. The world had a trial. The jury brought in the verdict. They said, what do you think about Jesus? What do you think we ought to do with him? Should we

enthrone him? Should we worship him? They said, well, we have analyzed Jesus. We've investigated him. This is our decision. This is what we think of Jesus. We don't think he's fit to live. And so the best thing we can do with Jesus is just to get think of Jesus. We don't think he's fit to live. And so the best thing we can do with Jesus is just to get rid of him. And that's what

we did. That's what the world thinks of Jesus. But what did God think of Jesus? Peter says this same Jesus knew you crucified. Your verdict was he's worthy of death. But I want you to know a high court has overruled your

decision and this God has made him both Lord and Christ and they said what must we do and Peter said repent and what the word repent means it means to change your mind to change your attitude he says your attitude about Jesus has been this he's not worthy to live he's not worthy to be worshiped he's not worthy to be Lord Peter says not worthy to be worshipped. He's not worthy to be Lord. Peter says, you change your attitude about Jesus and you make him both Lord and Christ in your life. So for me to make Jesus Christ Lord is to treat him in this life, in this earth,

in my home, in my school, in government. It is to treat Jesus in this earth as he is treated in heaven. And that's what makes heaven heaven. Now that's the introduction to the message. Now why is it so important that we sanctify Christ as Lord in our heart? What happens when we sanctify Christ as Lord in our heart? Well, there are three

things in this passage that Peter reveals to us that will come when we set Christ up as Lord in our heart. Have you ever done that? Have you ever sanctified Christ as Lord in your heart? Have you had a coronation service and you brought the crown and placed it on the head of Jesus and said, Jesus, I crown you Lord of all. Have you ever done that? You need to do that. You need to have a coronation service in your own heart and sanctify him as Lord.

And when you do that, the first thing that will happen is God will give you a courageous calmness in the face of intimidation. There will be a courageous calmness, a peace, a restfulness in the face of intimidation and in the face of fear. Now look what Peter says in verses 14 and 15. He says, But, and if you suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are you, and be not afraid of their terror. That word means intimidation. Don't let the world intimidate you, neither be troubled. But, and that word but means it has the idea of a conquest.

Instead of being intimidated by the world, instead of being afraid of the things in this world, on the other hand, you sanctify Christ as Lord in your heart. Here's what the apostle is saying. The apostle is saying the only alternative to intimidation and fear is Christ as Lord in your life. The only alternative to Christ being Lord in your heart is fear and intimidation. Several years ago, I was teaching a Christian class on how to live a Christian life.

And I asked that class, what is the biggest problem? What is the main thing that keeps you from witnessing and testifying and living as you know you ought to live out in the world? I'm not talking about acting like you ought to in church or in your home, but I mean when you're through, when you're working on the job,

as you move in and out this world, what is the one thing that keeps you from being what you ought to be? And the consensus of opinion in that class was fear. Fear. What is it that keeps you from witnessing I'm afraid? What is it that keeps you when you're having lunch with some of your business associates and all of a sudden there's an opportunity there to make a witness for Jesus or to let them know of your conviction. What is it that keeps you silent in a situation like that?

In your school life, what is it that makes you keep your mouth closed in that circle of friends when you ought to be speaking and standing for Christ? It is intimidation, fear. For most of us, the world has flat scared us out of living to Jesus. And I promise you, many of you this morning are compromising your convictions

in your home and in your school and in your business life and in your social life simply because you are intimidated by the world. You are intimidated by the world. And Peter says,

don't let the world intimidate you and the only way you can ever be delivered from the fear of men which the Bible says in this is to sanctify Christ as Lord in your heart just as Jesus stood on that ship when the storm was raging and he said

please be still and he quieted down those waters when jesus christ takes the throne of a person's heart he can say to that person's heart please be still and he can quiet the troubled heart and erase all that intimidation he feels and sometimes we're not intimidated simply by people but we're intimidated by circumstances. And you know why? Because, you see, if Jesus Christ is not Lord in your heart, then something else is Lord in your heart. If you are Lord in your heart, then you're vulnerable because you're all the time worrying if people are going to treat you

as you feel like you ought to be treated. And maybe in your business you're not going to get ahead, and maybe in school you're not going to be as popular as you want to be. Maybe in this area of life you feel like you're going to be slighted. If you are living for yourself, then you're vulnerable. If possessions, worldly treasures, worldly comforts, worldly ease are the things of this world, if they're sitting on the throne of your heart, you're vulnerable. You're vulnerable because you never know at what moment the feet may break through and

steal and rust may corrupt and moth may eat it up. And that person who is living with all soil in his life and no sky, that person whose life is bounded only by the things that happen in this material world and he knows nothing of the Lordship of Jesus Christ, that person is absolutely vulnerable to all the chances and changes of life. But when I come to the place, I say, self, you're getting out of the life running business.

I'm putting you out of business. And I am dethroning you. And all of these things, material things that I have dressed for and I have loved and I have sought, I am dethroning them from the heart of my life. And Jesus, I am putting you on the throne of my heart. My heart now centers on you. You are the center of my life and Jesus I am putting you on the throne of my heart. My heart now centers on you. You are the center of my life. You've got a treasure that saves you from all the chances and changes of life. You're no longer vulnerable because no matter what the world does to you and this is what

Peter is saying in this passage. No matter what the world does to you they can in no way rob you of that treasure that is sitting on the throne of your house. And I discovered something, that when the devil does his worst, God does his best. When the devil does his worst, God is doing his best. And the devil did his very worst

when he slew Jesus on the cross, and at that moment, God was doing his best. And when the world does its worst in intimidating me, God was doing his best. And when the world does its worst in intimidating me, God is doing his best in making Jesus more precious and more real to me. And there's only one way you're going to be able to live your life this past, this next week without fear and intimidation, and that is as you sanctify Christ as Lord in your heart. All right? Not only will he give you promise in the face of intimidation,

he'll also give you a confident confession in the face of interrogation. He'll give you something to say. He'll give you something to say. Notice what Peter says. And be ready always to give an answer to every man that asks of you, and sooner or later they are, asks of you a reason

of the hope that is in you with meekness and in fear. Peter says you ought to always be ready to give a confession in the face of interrogation. When somebody comes along, and he's using a courtroom language here, and he says, when somebody comes along and demands an accounting of the whole,

why do you believe like you believe? And what's the change that's been wrought in your life? Why do you feel this way? Hey, tell me about this. Give me a reason. Give me a reason. He says, you ought to always be ready to give an answer. To give an answer. Now I cannot explain this this morning, so don't ask me to. But when Jesus becomes Lord in a person's life, all of a sudden their tongue is loose. And all of a sudden, people who before could not make a logical

statement of what Jesus meant to them find themselves going everywhere gossiping about Jesus. Now I cannot explain that but I think I can. When Jesus takes over as Lord of the hearts, he has hold of the steering wheel of your life. Now he's in control of every part of your life, and he can loosen your mouth and loosen your trunk.

He can push in your mind. He can give you an answer for the hope that is within you. And one of the marvelous miracles that God works in the life of that Christian when he has that coronation service and kneels at the feet of Jesus and tells him, Lord of all, is suddenly to find the ability

to speak, to answer, and to witness, and to testify, even though he's never had the course, even though he's never had the course, even though he's never had any training, even though he's never gone to a lay institute on how to win people to Jesus. Suddenly, I'll tell you, the best lay institute for evangelism

is the Lordship of Jesus Christ. And when Jesus takes over as Lord in a person's life, suddenly something happens, the Spirit of God then fills him and that person is able to give an answer. That person is able to give an answer. But then, it also gives you a clear conscience in the face of accusation and insinuation.

I suppose that what people want more than anything else, they have a clear conscience. and insinuation. I suppose that what people want more than anything else is a clear conscience. The taxes would be out of business if everybody had a clear conscience. Manufacturers and tranquilizers would be out of business if everybody had a clear conscience.

And here again is something that I cannot really explain to you in a test formula explanation. But when anybody comes and sanctifies Christ as Lord in their heart, it produces within them a clear conscience. And this is what Peter says in verse 16. Having a good conscience,

that whereas they speak evil of you as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good behavior in Christ. When you sanctify Christ as Lord in your heart, the result is a clear conscience. And I say I cannot really explain that, except in this way. That that's what God wanted us to have all along. What God wanted us to have all along was peace instead of fear. What God wanted us to have all along was a reason instead of doubt.

What God wanted us to have all along was a clear conscience instead of being plagued by guilt. What God has wanted us to have all along is love and joy and peace and meekness and longsuffering and goodness and gentleness. This is what God has wanted all along. This is why he gave to us the operating instructions in this book. This is why he instituted the six laws of heaven because all along he wanted to do this. But when I turn my back on the lonely lordship of Jesus and I set myself up as my own lord and my own boss, then God is unable to give me all his blessings and what he wants to give me. So when I come and

allow Jesus Christ to be enthroned as lord and he takes over and becomes not only owner of my life but operator of my life, then he's able to do what he wanted to do all along then he's able to do what he wanted to do all along. He's able to do what he wanted to do all along. The indispensable condition for fullness of life is acknowledgement to and submission to his Lordship. Now let me ask you a question. Do you have a clear conscience this morning?

Do you? Do you have a clear conscience? Only Jesus Christ, the Lord, can give you a clear conscience. Are you intimidated by the world. They tell us that the one, one of the characteristics that everybody has in common is fear and intimidation. That's the reason some of us are extroverts because we're trying to cover up the intimidation. Some of us are introverts because we wield it here. But the one thing that every man has in common is fear. Do you know where fear came from?

Do you know what the first mention of fear is in the Bible? The first time you'll find fear in the Bible is after Adam and Eve sinned. Up to that time, there was no fear. There was no intimidation. There was no anxiety. But then they sinned against God. They violated the law of lordship. And God came looking for them, and they hid themselves.

And God said, why are you hiding? They said, we heard thy voice, and we were afraid. The first time fear is ever mentioned in the book. And it's a result of violating the law of lordship you're intimidated by circumstances by the world you need to sanctify christ as lord in your heart have you ever had a coronation service like that have you you need to obey the book that says

to do it. Some of you have never been saved, and so therefore Jesus Christ isn't even in your heart, much less Lord of your heart. And the first thing you need to do this morning is to say, I yield myself to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and I'll receive him into my life to save me, to forgive me of my sins, to cleanse me,

and to set him up as Lord in my life. Some of you have been saved, but you've never yielded yourself to the Lordship of Jesus. You need to do that this morning. You need to do it. I ask God to speak to you about this church membership. If you believe it's God's will

for you to get out of the fellowship of this church, then you're going to do the same. But the only thing that we're really interested in right now is that Jesus Christ be Lord in your heart. And if he's Lord in your heart, then he'll be Lord in the pursuit of your every need. Thank you for listening to this message by Ron Dunn. Ron Dunn's messages are for personal edification, not to be duplicated, uploaded to the web, or resold without prior written permission. Thank you.