STIRRED NOT SHAKEN – 2 PETER 1:1-10 And Other Passages

Any one who has seen a James Bond movie – that’s “Bond, James Bond” – knows how he likes his vodka martinis: “shaken, not stirred”.

We are going to look at two spiritual truths for the Christian disciple: How we are to be ‘stirred, not shaken’. That is, that we are to be stirred up in the things of God, not settled, stale, stodgy, complacent – but stirred up, alive, having love, zeal and fervency for the LORD and His people!

Likewise, we are not to be shaken – we are not to be influenced or infiltrated, compromised or corrupted, distracted or diverted by this fallen world, by our carnal flesh, by the enemy of the church – Satan, but firmly established by the LORD, on the firm foundation of the ROCK that is Himself.

As we look at these two truths, we realize that we obtain them from the same sources and these have the results that the LORD desires: in other words, the same things that can stir us up and motivate us in Christ are the same things that keep us established solidly on the ROCK – and not shaken!

The Word of God is amazing! It states in:
 
1 THESSALONIANS 2:13
13 For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.

Effectually, from the Greek word energeo: “active, operative, efficient, fervent, to work with supernatural power.” We don’t need the Bible and education, we don’t need the Bible and philosophy of man, we don’t need psychology, theology of man, wealth, health and anything else and the Bible. We just need the Bible: It’s a complete kit to make us into godly saints – “batteries and glue included”!

If ever there is a people that should be excited, overjoyed, energized with Holy Spirit vitality and life, it should be the disciples of Christ! Not because of the latest movement in the church, not because of the most recent best seller by America’s favorite motivational author, not because of our favorite Bible teacher or pastor, or something born of emotionalism or pseudo-spiritual so-called ‘blessing’ but because of CHRIST and HIS WORD and RESURRECTION POWER!

ROMANS 8:11
But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken [to raise up in spiritual life and power] your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you.

Those of us who are born again, think about who you are in Christ:

~ You are indwelt by the eternal, everlasting, almighty Spirit of God (JOHN 14:17; 20:22): the very One who spoke all of creation into existence, with over 400 billion galaxies spinning about in this universe, which He holds in the palm of His nail pierced hand (ISAIAH 40:12)!

~ You have eternal life brimming over from your heart (JOHN 10:28; 17:17), granted by the grace of God – you beloved, are going to outlast the sun, the moon and the stars. Eons after this old universe is folded up and discarded like an old table cloth (ISAIAH 51:6), you will be worshiping at the throne of God in the everlasting glories of heaven!

~ You are a child of God (JOHN 1:12-13; EPH 5:1,6), adopted into His family as His son, as His daughter (EPH 1:5-7) – because of Christ, you only are, among all the people of this world, authorized to call Almighty Creator God, “Abba (Daddy; ROM 8:15; GAL 4:6)”!

~ You have within you the resurrection power of Christ (ROM 1:4; PHIL 3:10) that can and will transform you into the very likeness of JESUS (ROM 12:1-2; 1 JOHN 3:2), a godly example and representative of our LORD, His ambassador (2 COR 5:20), His priest (1 PET 2:9), His prophet (1 COR 14:24,31), His saint of God-breathed holiness (ROM 1:7; 1 PET 1:15)!

~ You are holy warriors of the Almighty (EPH 6:10-18; 2 TIM 2:4), bearing the holy Gospel that’s able to save spiritual P.O.W.s from the enemy’s prison for eternity in glory (1 THESS 1:5)! Armed with heaven’s formidable array of spiritual weapons with which to challenge, overcome and defeat all the power of the enemy (ROM 16:20)! 

~ You have access as priests of Christ, to the Holy Throne Room of God and there make petitions and intercessory prayers for saints and sinners alike, and by such God-centered prayer, move His Hand to action (1 TIM 2:1; REV 8:4)!

Whether young in the LORD or old, we can sometimes lose that excitement, because we have known these truths for so long, and they become so familiar to us, that the astounding power of these truths can lose their impact. We become accustomed to them. Then we begin to forget about them. We lose our focus on spiritual things. The enemy distracts us, and gets our focus on carnal, unspiritual things. We need to be stirred up by the Spirit of God saints, but at the same time, not shaken off the ROCK.

How do we do this?

We first must realize that it can’t happen by our self-effort; when it comes to spiritual matters, we don’t initiate this, God does:

ISAIAH 64:7-8
7 And there is none that calleth upon Thy name, that stirs himself up to take hold of Thee: for Thou hast hid Thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities. 8 But now, O Lord, Thou art our father; we are the clay, and Thou our potter; and we all are the work of Thy hand.

After the Babylonian captivity, when the edict by Cyrus the Persian for the Jews to return home and begin rebuilding came, it was the LORD that had to inspire His people to work:

HAGGAI 1:14
And the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and did work in the house of the Lord of hosts, their God,

And the same God that stirs us up, is the same God that sets us on the unshakable, unassailable, unmoving ROCK of our salvation!

PSALM 40:1-2
1 I waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined unto me and heard my cry.
2 He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.

PSALM 62:1-2, 5-6
1 Truly my soul waits upon God: from him cometh my salvation. 2 He only is my rock and my salvation; he is my defense; I shall not be greatly moved.
5 My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him. 6 He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defense; I shall not be moved.

Once God has instilled in us His Spirit of Life, we then have the choice to either walk in the Spirit or in the flesh (that is to live life like Jesus by God’s power or live according to our own sinful, natural ways). If we walk too long apart from the LORD and find ourselves losing our passion, zeal, and lively love for Him, we can then seek the LORD by prayer and supplication and encourage ourselves in the LORD; to begin stirring up that gift of Life Eternal that is within us. This can even happen through the prayers and admonition of another, just as with Paul in his prayers for Timothy:

2 TIM 1:3,6
3 I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day;
6 Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands.

We may stir up this spiritual life of ours by remembering to get back to basics; to restore our first love, engaging again in the things of God as we did when we first came to faith, and re-discover Him Who is our first love (REV 2:4-5)! The saints in Ephesus were told by the LORD to “remember from where [they] had fallen.”

The apostle Peter also stirred the saints he wrote to, recalling to their remembrance of ‘first things first’ (Be mindful: the enemy wants to afflict us with a kind of ‘spiritual amnesia’ so that we forget these valuable lessons of truth and reality!).

2 PETER 1:13
13 Yea, I think it meet [necessary, important, agreeable], as long as I am in this tabernacle [body], to stir you up by putting you in remembrance;

What was it that the apostle was stirring up their remembrance about? What was he reminding them to do?

The apostle gets a little ‘mathematical’ first of all, and talks about multiplication (vs. 2), and then about addition (vs. 5):

2 PETER 1:1-3
1 Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ: 2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, 3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:

Vs. 2 – “Grace and peace be multiplied” – that is, “to abound, overflow to excess, to be in process of multiplying” – this is how grace and peace is abounding to overflowing far, far more than we could possibly use. Like a sparrow drinking from the ocean. Our resources are unlimited in Christ! Resources to bring us strength, endurance, peace, rest, wisdom, knowledge, holiness, assurance in the love and fellowship with the LORD.

God’s grace brings salvation, the ability of godly living as well as spiritual work for the LORD. God’s grace through the knowledge of the LORD Jesus Christ delivers to us this “divine power” (vs. 3) –

This divine power provides all we need of, through knowledge of God – as contained in God’s Word, regarding our lives as Christians diligently living in godliness (vs. 2), by the calling of Christ to “glory (‘display of the nature of Christ’) and virtue (‘moral virtue’ vs. 3)”.

2 PETER 1:4
4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

We have escaped the horrible influences of this world’s corruptive power, that brings ruin and decay – those very things that would cause our life in Christ to become ineffective, bringing us to a stop in our spiritual advancement. 

Not only did we escape the deadly influences of this fallen world, but even the desires for the things of this world! These desires weaken and shrivel up as we walk farther and further in the Spirit, growing in Christ. We also enter into these “exceeding great and precious promises” and become partakers of the divine nature that is JESUS!

The apostle spoke of multiplying before, now he gets to some addition:

2 PETER 1:5-6
5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith: virtue; and to virtue: knowledge; 6 And to knowledge: temperance; and to temperance: patience; and to patience: godliness;

The apostle spoke of remembrance before – now he speaks of diligence – in adding these things: we nourish ourselves spiritually, furnishing/equipping our lives with all the equipment, resources, instruction and helps necessary to live a victorious Christian life! This is exactly what Paul admonished young Timothy:

2 TIMOTHY 3:14-17
14 But continue [be diligent] in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; 15 And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17 That the man of God may be perfect [complete, mature], thoroughly furnished (equipped) unto all good works.

Diligently we are to add faith – which comes by the WORD of GOD (ROM 10:17); virtue – which is moral excellence – the fruit of the Spirit which produces Christ-like character (GAL 5:22-23); knowledge which we have seen is through the WORD just as faith is. Adding temperance to the mix: patience – through trials and tribulations (ROM 5:3); godliness is likewise a fruit of the Holy Spirit and God’s Word of Truth (TITUS 1:1).

2 PETER 1:7-8
And to godliness: brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness: love. 8 For if these things are in you, and abound, you shall be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Kindness and love are of course more of the fruit of the Holy Spirit – such fruit that abounds in plenty when we plant the Word of God in plenty in our hearts and minds.

You shall never be barren or unfruitful in the knowledge of the LORD! That’s quite a promise! That same knowledge as found in the WORD that equips and enables us, empowered by the Spirit of grace.

2 PETER 1:9
But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.

And note this! The one who lacks these things, has not remembered, but forgotten – you see here that spiritual amnesia that the enemy inflicts on such a one as this, and they become blind – lacking understanding, lacking the foundation, lacking the stirred-up power of the Spirit and the sure word of Scripture!

Such as these didn’t heed the admonition that Paul gave to the church of Colosse:

COLOSSIANS 1:23
If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;

Here we read about being settled – settled in the hope of the Gospel – which isn’t just about the Gospel message, but about the entirety of our salvation – redemption in Christ for the forgiveness of sins, growing in holiness by the work of sanctification, looking forward by faith to the glorification of the saints, when we go Home in a Victory parade, to be with the LORD!

How can we be stirred up and settled at the same time?
Think about your house – you want this building to be firmly settled and sturdy, on that solid foundation, but within that house, you want life happening, lively, loving, fervent, joyful life – not deadness, coldness and inactivity, much less strife and contention.

Likewise, we want that firm foundation of Gospel truth, faith in Christ and Christ alone – our ROCK of salvation.

But inside us – we who are ‘spiritual houses’ of the LORD, we desire the stirring life and power of Christ to be ever active in our hearts and lives.

2 PETER 1:10
Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:

Let us make certain that our foundation is on Christ, that we’re attentive to our life and what fruit we’re producing – are we growing in Christ-likeness and holiness? Make certain of your salvation (2 COR 13:5). Make certain you are founded solidly on Christ. And remember to seek God to stir you up while standing firm on the ROCK!

MATTHEW 7:24-29, note: vs. 24-25
24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: 25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.

HEBREWS 12:28 
Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: