What does First B Jackson teach about standing firm?
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 standing firm begins with the conviction that the strength required is not our own. When Pastor Ray worked through Ephesians 6:10-20, he was careful to point out that Paul's opening command points immediately to the source: 'in the strength of his might.' The implication is that believers are not meant to identify primarily as people who keep failing, but as people who have access to God's power. The armor of God is not a personal checklist, either. Every 'you' in the passage is plural, a communal calling to a church that has a cosmic assignment, showing the multifaceted wisdom of God to the spiritual powers of this world.
Pastor Ray was equally direct about who the real opposition is. The people who oppose or frustrate you are not the enemy. As he put it, 'Our struggle is not against flesh and blood. Those are people that Jesus wants to save.' The actual forces arrayed against the church operate within a designated jurisdiction and no further, and he noted that 'the victory has already been won, but we're living in the midst of a day where a defeated foe is still making all kinds of racket.' That settled confidence is meant to shape how believers hold their ground.
Pastor Carl, working through 1 Corinthians 16:13-14, showed that standing fast is always tied to something specific: 'the faith,' meaning what God has clearly revealed in Scripture, not a vague spiritual posture. He used concrete historical examples to make the point that drift happens when someone stops holding that line. And in Philippians 1:27-30, Pastor Ray traced the call to stand firm as something that happens together, side by side, striving with others rather than standing alone, all of it in service of the advance of the gospel.
Taught from Ephesians 6:10-20 · Philippians 1:27-30 · 1 Corinthians 16:13-14 · 1 Corinthians 15:57-58 · Ephesians 3:8-10
“Our struggle is not against flesh and blood. Those are people that Jesus wants to save.”
From Strong in the Lord and the Strength of His Might
The passage taught · Ephesians 2:1-6
1 You were made alive when you were dead in transgressions and sins,
2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the children of disobedience;
3 among whom we also all once lived in the lusts of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.
4 But God, being rich in mercy, for his great love with which he loved us,
World English Bible
The messages that teach on it
- June 14, 2026 Strong in the Lord and the Strength of His Might Ephesians 6 sermon on the armor of God, spiritual warfare, communion, and what it means to stand firm not by your own strength but in the Lord's.
- November 26, 2017 Philippians 1.27.2.2 Contemporary Servcie (3) Pastor Ray walks through Philippians 1:27-30, calling Christians to stand firm together in one spirit, striving fearlessly for the gospel rather than settling for an individual faith.
- March 22, 2015 Stand Fast in the Faith A Wyoming pastor works through 1 Corinthians 16, calling his congregation to stand firm in biblical faith, act with maturity, and let love govern every godly action.
Mentioned along the way
- August 24, 2025 Be Courageous: You Must Also Testify in Rome Paul is beaten, chained, and nearly torn apart, yet stands boldly on the temple stairs proclaiming Christ. God promises him: you will reach Rome.
- November 25, 2018 Stand Firm in the True Grace of God Peter closes his letter urging Christians to stand firm in God's true grace, resist the devil, and live humbly as a chosen people redeemed by Christ's blood.
- January 25, 2015 Christ Is Risen: Stand Firm on the Gospel Pastor Carl walks through 1 Corinthians 15 to show why the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus is the firm foundation on which Christians can stand firm in any circumstance.
- June 22, 2014 The Interesting and the Important A Wyoming pastor walks through 2 Thessalonians 2, separating the Bible's vague end-times passages from its clear, firm gospel: Christ died, was buried, and rose again.