Proverbs 2:21-22, For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it. But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it.

Proverbs 3:25-26, Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it cometh. For the Lord shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken.

Proverbs 10:28-30, The hope of the righteous shall be gladness: but the expectation of the wicked shall perish. The way of the Lord is strength to the upright: but destruction shall be to the workers of iniquity. The righteous shall never be removed: but the wicked shall not inhabit the earth.

I. The establishment of the godly and disenfranchisement of the wicked.

A. Proverbs 12:3, A man shall not be established by wickedness: but the root of the righteous shall not be moved.
B. Proverbs 12:7, The wicked are overthrown, and are not: but the house of the righteous shall stand.
C. Proverbs 12:19, The lip of truth shall be established for ever: but a lying tongue is but for a moment.
D. Proverbs 15:25, The Lord will destroy the house of the proud: but he will establish the border of the widow.
E. Psalm 1:3-4, And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.
F. Psalm 46:4-6, There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early. The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted.
G. Psalm 102:28, The children of thy servants shall continue, and their seed shall be established before thee.
H. Haggai 2:6-7, For thus saith the Lord of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land; And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts.
I. Hebrews 12:25-29, See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven: Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: For our God is a consuming fire.

 

II. The providential purposes of shakings.

A. Matthew 7:24-27, 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: 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. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.
B. "Every disaster teaches us the uncertainty and instability of earthly enjoyments and how foolish we are to set our hearts too much on them." John Owen
C. "All other kingdoms have been, or shall be, shaken and overturned; all boastings and expectations to the contrary are but vain. No dominion ever so dreamed of eternity as did the Roman empire; but it hath not only been shaken, but broken to pieces, and scattered like chaff before the wind. No external opposition shall ever be able to shake or move this kingdom of our God. The gates of hell shall not prevail against it. No internal decays shall ruin it. The spring of it is in Him who lives for ever, and who hath the keys of hell and death." John Owen
D. "The things that cannot be moved are to remain and be established against all opposition whatever. Wherefore, as the heavens and the earth of the idolatrous world were of old shaken and removed, so shall those also of the antichristian world, which at present in many places seem to prevail. All things must give way, whatever may be comprised in the names of heaven and earth here below, unto the gospel, and the kingdom of Christ therein." John Owen
E. "It was a mighty work, to introduce the gospel among the nations of the earth, seeing their gods and heavens were to be shaken and removed thereby." John Owen
F. "History is a time of shaking in order to bring down all things whose foundation is not the Rock, Jesus Christ. Clearly, this echoes our Lord's final words in the Sermon on the Mount. He alone is the unshakable foundation which can withstand the earthquakes and the floods of history. Anything without Him as the foundation shall perish." R.J. Rushdoony
G. "That old oak in the forest is one of the noblest works of God. Look at it just now bursting into full leaf, bearing well its verdant honours, and making a picture worthy of the artist’s rarest skill. What are these dry pieces of wood which strew the ground beneath it? What are these large branches which rot under its shade? It is needless to ask, for we all know that they fell from the tree during winter's storms. Is it a cause of regret for the sake of the tree that those rotten branches were broken off? It may be a lamentation as far as concerns the broken boughs, but the tree itself had never been so healthy, and never looked so complete if the rotten branches had been suffered to abide. When the hurricane came howling through the woods, the old tree shivered in the gale, and mourned as it heard the cracking of its boughs, yet now it is thankful because the sound healthy branches with sap and life in them are all there, and the withered ones no longer encumber the trunk." Charles Spurgeon

"Every created thing, so far as it is opposed to the kingdom of God, must be shaken and laid in ruins, that this
kingdom may continue to stand." E.W. Hengstenberg

"The 'things that cannot be moved' are to remain and be established against all opposition whatever. Wherefore, as the heavens and the earth of the idolatrous world were of old shaken and removed, so shall those also of the
antichristian world, which at present in many places seem to prevail. All things must give way, whatever may be comprised in the names of heaven and earth here below, unto the gospel, and the kingdom of Christ herein." John Owen

"Our God is a consuming fire, and will destroy all that is not found built on this immovable foundation. God will unsettle and shake every earthly thing, private and public, that rests not on Himself, and is not identified with His kingdom on earth." T.V. Moore

"Brethren, if a truly godly minister has for six or seven years been teaching a people, and he gives them good solid truth, and they receive it and understand it, I should not like to see the wolf come in, but I do not believe he would do much mischief, for many strong men will be found to slay the intruder. But if there be a ministry which only consists of preaching up vapid moral duties and creating the titillation of excitement, then, if the wolf comes, he may just glut himself with the blood of the flock, for there is no strength in them to resist him. We want sound doctrine to give us stability. May God grant that we may be rooted and grounded in Christ, that we may know the things which are revealed to us of God. Those men who know their God shall be strong and do exploits." Charles Spurgeon