What does First B Jackson teach about judgment?
Drawn from the messages where it was actually addressed: the words said from the front, the passages taught, and where to hear the whole thing.
At First B Jackson, the teaching on judgment begins with a simple and serious premise: it is coming, and it is certain. Pastor Ray, working through Hebrews 10, set the whole question in terms of two covenants. Under the old covenant, the weight of sin falls on the person, and that person will fail. Under the new covenant, it falls on Christ, and he succeeds. The warning in Hebrews 10 is not a scare tactic but a solemn exhortation aimed at a specific kind of failure: willful, defiant, ongoing sin after someone has received the knowledge of the truth. Ray drew the line back to Numbers 15, where the old covenant itself distinguished sharply between sins of ignorance and open rebellion, for which no sacrifice existed. If someone sets aside the sacrifice of Christ, there is simply nothing left to offer. What remains, the text says, is a terrifying expectation of judgment. He used the analogy of an OSHA willful violation, which carries ten times the fine of an ordinary one, to press the point that knowledge changes everything. James 4:17 widened the frame further: knowing the right thing to do and refusing to do it is sin, and that reaches everyone.
Pastor Scott, preaching from 2 Peter 3, pressed on the same certainty from a different angle. The reason judgment has not yet arrived is not that God has forgotten or failed. God is patient, not willing that anyone should perish, but wanting everyone to come to repentance. That patience has a limit, though, and the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. The sudden-arrival picture runs through Jesus, Paul in 1 Thessalonians, and Revelation, and the point is the same in each place: when people are saying peace and security, destruction comes. The question Peter asks directly in the text is treated as a real and pressing one: since everything here will be destroyed, what kind of people ought you to be? The right response is holy and godly living while the door is still open, and work built on the foundation of Christ will survive the fire of that day, while wood, hay, and stubble will not.
The two options the teaching keeps returning to are simply Christ or judgment. For those who have genuinely trusted Christ, the day ahead is something to look forward to rather than dread. For those who are still minimizing their guilt, measuring themselves against someone worse and feeling comfortable enough, the teaching at First B is consistent: any guilt is enough guilt to be separating a person from God, and the comparison does not help. The door is open now, and God's patience is the only reason it remains so.
Taught from Hebrews 10:26 · Hebrews 10:31 · 2 Peter 3:9 · 2 Peter 3:10 · James 4:17
The passage taught · 1 Corinthians 1:9
9 God is faithful, through whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.
World English Bible
The messages that teach on it
- November 17, 2019 It Is a Terrifying Thing A verse-by-verse walk through Hebrews 10 on the weight of willful sin, the faithfulness of God's promises, and what it means to say yes to Christ as Lord.
- November 17, 2019 Christ or Judgment: Those Are the Two Options Hebrews 10 calls us to draw near, hold fast, and stir one another toward love, but also warns that willful sin leaves only a terrifying expectation of judgment.
- June 9, 2019 The Lord Is Not Slow in Keeping His Promise Peter warns that judgment is coming, but God is patient. The pastor walks through 2 Peter to show why repentance is urgent and what holy living looks like while we wait.
- June 9, 2019 Not Slow, But Patient A Wyoming pastor walks through 2 Peter 3 on God's patience, coming judgment, and the call to live holy lives while waiting for Christ's return.
Mentioned along the way
- May 8, 2022 The One Who Has Ears, Let Him Hear Pastor Ray walks through two parables of the kingdom in Matthew and Mark, exploring how God grows His church and what the harvest means for wheat and weeds.
- June 30, 2019 Psalms 1 & 2 - Traditional Psalm 1 and Psalm 2 together: what it means to be rooted in God's instruction, why the nations rage against His anointed King, and how to take refuge in Him.
- May 26, 2019 Springs Without Water Pastor Ray works through 2 Peter 2, warning about false teachers who twist Scripture, promise freedom while enslaved to sin, and lead unstable believers astray.
- May 5, 2019 Light Shining in a Dark Place The pastor walks through 2 Peter 1-2, warning against false teaching and the popular idea that sincerity matters more than what you actually believe.
- May 5, 2019 Light Shining in a Dark Place Peter warns that false teachers distort God's reliable Word for personal gain. A study of 2 Peter 2 on judgment, rescue, and staying grounded in Scripture.
- February 24, 2019 Preach the Word: In Season and Out of Season Pastor Nathan preaches 2 Timothy 4:1-8, calling the church to proclaim God's Word faithfully in every season, with patience, courage and hope in Christ's return.
- October 21, 2018 Entrusting Your Soul to a Faithful Creator When suffering comes for following Christ, Pastor James shows from 1 Peter how God uses that fire to refine us and calls us to keep entrusting our souls to a faithful Creator.
- October 7, 2018 Done with Sin Peter calls believers to be done with sin. The pastor walks through 1 Peter 4:1-6, Christ's suffering, holy living, and the hope that grounds it all.
- October 7, 2018 Done With Sin Peter calls believers to be done with sin, armed with Christ's purpose, ready to suffer for righteousness, and assured that God will judge the living and the dead.
- March 13, 2016 All Other Ground Is Sinking Sand Romans 2 lays out hard truth: God shows no partiality, and religious pride offers no cover. The pastor walks through the bad news that makes the gospel good news.
- January 20, 2013 Attitude Is Everything John 8: a woman caught in adultery, a crowd ready to stone her, and Jesus responding with understanding, compassion, and forgiveness, plus a challenge that changes everything.