Dr. Peter S. Ruckman - The Judgment Seat of Christ

The

Judgment Seat

Of Christ

Dr. Peter S. Ruckman

President, Pensacola Bible Institute

B.A., B.D., M.A., Th.M., Ph.D.

COPYRIGHT 1988 by Peter S. Ruckman

All Rights Reserved

(PRINT) ISBN 1-58026-240-6

BB BOOKSTORE

P.O. Box 7135 Pensacola, FL 32534

www.kjv1611.org

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THE JUDGMENT SEAT

OF CHRIST

For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ, (Rom. 14:10). For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad (2 Cor. 5:10).

Those references are talking to a Christian. The Bible says, And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment (Heb. 9:27). Even a saved person doesnt get out of judgment. If you are unsaved, you will die and face the White Throne Judgment; if you are saved, you will die and face the Judgment Seat of Christ. The judgment in 1 Corinthians 3 is for Christians, so, if you are saveda child of Godthis is where you are headed.

If you see me do some things sometimes that you think are crazy and that dont make sense, nine times out of ten, I will have in the back of my mind somewhere the fact that Im going to give account of myself to God and have to give account for how I handle what God has given me. That is what I am headed for. I dont have time to particularly keep my eye on you; I have to keep my eye on the judgment. Ill give account of myself.

For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every mans work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every mans work of what sort it is. If any mans work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any mans work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire (1Cor. 3:11-15).

Notice in the passage that the man doesnt burn; the works burn. Notice also in that passage that the fire is going to try every mans work of what sort it is. What the Lord is interested in is qualitywhat sort it is.

Lets get something clear on the Judgment Seat of Christ. First of all, if you are a child of God, youve trusted Jesus Christ as your Saviour. You are saved if you are trusting nothing but the shed blood of Christ to get you to heavenand I want to make myself clear. The term Christian, these days, can mean just about anything. Jack Van Impe wrote an article for American Review and apologized to the body of Christ. Van Impes point (and I think he is a fine fellow personally, and I appreciate him) was that Christians had no business fighting among themselves. He felt that every Christian should abandon the term Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, Fundamentalist, or Neo-Orthodox, and just call himself Christian. That would be fine except that the term doesnt mean anything. The term Christian is what you call the editor of pornographic magazines, Larry Flynt. Jimmy Carters mother was a Christian. Michael Luther King Jr. was a Christian. H. Rap Brown and Stokely Carmichael were Christians. The greatest Communists in America are Christians. They called Gandhi a Christian, when he was a practical atheist. The reason that you very rarely hear me call myself a Christian is because the term doesnt mean anything. I dont call myself a Baptist. I call myself a Bible-believing Baptist. Thats why we have that Book stuck in everything around this ministry. We have the Pensacola Bible Institute. We have the Bible Baptist Bookstore. We have the Bible Baptist Church. We have the Bible Believers Bulletin. We are not going to let them forget that Book. When you say Christian, it doesnt mean much any more.

When I say Christian in the context of our study, I mean a sinner who is trusting nothing but the merits of Jesus Christ to get him to heaven. Thats what I am talking about. Did you notice that I didnt mention church membership? Did you notice that I didnt mention baptism? Im not even interested. A Christian in that Book is someone who has trusted what Jesus Christ did for themdying on the cross. To be technical, it is a saved sinner who has forsaken all to follow Christ as a disciple. Now, when I say Christian, I mean this: If you dropped dead right this minute, what are you counting on to justify you and get you to heaven? You say, My good life. Well, then, this message isnt for you. This message is for those of you who are trusting the blood of Christ to get you to heaven.

If you are saved, a child of God, there is one thing that is not going to happen to you. There are all kinds of things that can happen to you, but there is one thing that will never happen to you. You will never burn in hell . Now, you may have a rough time going: you may lose your wife; you may lose your children; your home could break up just like the home of any unsaved person; you could wind up in jail just like any unsaved person. I have known of Christians who were guilty of everything that I ever heard of unsaved people committing. Incest? Drugs? Adultery? Fornication? You say, They werent saved! Yes, they were. I examined them real close. They were just as saved as any of you. Anything can happen to a child of God if he doesnt watch his step, but there is one thing he doesnt have to worry about. He never has to worry about going to hell. Once you trust Jesus Christ, you are safe and secure, and God is going to get you home, if He has to boot you all of the way. That is called the eternal security of the believer. It simply means that although God may burn your works , you are never going to burn.

Dont you know of a man in the Bible whose works all burned up in a fire, yet he didnt burn? It was Lot. Lot lost all that he had in a fire. Everything that he had was burned up, but the fire didnt touch him. The smell of smoke never even passed on him. That is a picture of a carnal Christian at the Judgment Seat of Christ.

Did you ever stop to think how hypocritical the average church isstanding up and singing songs about folks going to heaven, and they dont even know they, themselves, are going to heaven? Why, you take the American people: they are some of the dumbest people on the face of the earth. Every Sunday across this country, there are probably thirty thousand churches where people are going in, passing a collection plate, and putting money in that plate just to hear a preacher tell them how to get to heaven, and the rascal doesnt even know where he is going! Ill bet some of you do that. Ill bet some of you actually pay the priest to tell you how to get to heaven. If you sat that priest down in your living room, he couldnt tell you for sure where he is going when he dies. Arent you a bright one? You have the brains, dont you, boy? There are people in this country who make sixty thousand dollars a year, and they dont have the spiritual sense that God gave to a blind mosquito.

You dont have to worry about losing salvation. You may have to worry about losing your life. You may have to worry about losing your health. But you do not have to worry about losing your salvation, because it isnt yoursits His. I am eternally secure in Christ. What could be more hypocritical than a Salt Lake City Mormon Tabernacle Choir standing and singing, We shall sing on that beautiful shore, the melodious songs of the blessed? Why, they dont even know where theyre going when they die. What could be more hypocritical than a bunch of Campbellites (Church of Christ) singing, Life is so sweet, and my joy is complete for I think Im saved, I hope Im saved, I guess Im saved? Why dont they sing, We have heard the joyful sound, water saves, water saves ? I mean, they do believe that water saves, dont they? Do you think that Im being hard on people? If you do, its because you are narrow-minded and stupid. That is what they profess. You dont believe it? Go talk to them. The trouble with some of you folks is that you dont get around. You hide like a little bunny in your burrow, and when something comes up, you say, Whats that? Its what you miss when you sleep in front of the television. I know what Campbellites believe. They believe that water saves.