The Judgment Seat of Christ
Brian McCallum

Rev. Brian K. McCallum has been an instructor, staff member, and Dean at RHEMA Bible Training Center in Broken Arrow, OK, for the past thirty-one years. Brian has ministered in churches, Bible schools, seminars, and crusades stateside and abroad, and has authored and published eight books. Before attending RHEMA in 1978-79, Brian and his wife, June, operated a ministry for troubled young people in Grass Valley, CA, and were also associate pastors of a local church at that time.

As a pilot and officer during twenty-three years of military service, Brian served in many locations worldwide flying aircraft of all types and sizes. A veteran of service during the Korean and Vietnam wars and the Cold War, his last assignment was as the Commander of the 1st Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron flying the world’s fastest, highest flying jet (2200 mph @ 85,000’), the SR-71 Blackbird.

Brian’s desire and prayer to God for you is, “that we would all find and occupy our place in that army quickly and do our part with all our heart, all our mind, and all our strength until Jesus comes to catch us away to heaven.

If you are interested in ordering information for any of Rev. McCallum’s books, you may contact him by phone at (918) 451-2038, or write to him at 12645 E. 127th St., Broken Arrow, OK  74011.

Our text (1 Corinthians 3:8-15) will expound on the judgment that every child of God will experience in heaven after the church (all born again saints of God) has been caught away from the earth. We refer to this event as the Rapture of the church. The word rapture is defined in Webster’s School Dictionary as, “a deeply moving sense of joy, delight, or love.” When we saints are caught up to meet the Lord Jesus in the air, at that very time we will experience the greatest manifestation of that definition of rapture we have yet known. Though the word rapture does not appear in our Bible, it correctly describes what will supernaturally take place in us as we are caught up to heaven and shall always be with the Lord thereafter.

Right here is a good place to remember that just before that great catching away, we born again Christians will have been changed physically in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. What was changed? Our mortal bodies were made immortal and incorruptible.

1 Corinthians 15:51, 52
Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep (die naturally) but we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye at the last trump…and we shall all be changed.

Notice the two absolutes in the passage above: “we SHALL ALL be changed,” and “we SHALL be changed.” In that moment carnality will end for the saints. Spirit, Soul, and Body will be truly completed in the large sense of the word. However, there is another major event yet to come while we are in heaven. That next event is called in the Word, “THE JUDGMENT SEAT OF CHRIST.” It will be good and helpful to think of this judgment as a work of purification which is necessary at this time, so needful in fact that it is conducted by our Lord and King! But what remains to be purified then? It is our works that will be judged, from the time of our new birth until the end of our time on earth. It is important to realize that our salvation is not the issue at this judgment of Christ concerning his children. Proof of this is that the saints are in heaven! It is not possible for an unsaved person to enter into the heaven of heavens. This judgment is in heaven! Let us look at the passage below.

1 Corinthians 3:8-15
Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor, for we are God’s fellow workers, you are God’s field you are God’s building. According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation and another builds upon it. But let each one take heed HOW he builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid which is Jesus Christ…Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear, for The Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire and the fire will test each one’s work of what sort it is. If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss. But he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.

Now in the midst of the Apostle Paul’s dealing with the Corinthians’ carnality he changes the subject to spiritual growth and maturity (or lack thereof) and speaks of reward or loss at the time of the judgment that we will all face before our Lord and Saviour. Paul makes a clear statement that he had planted the Corinthians’ foundation. He also makes it clear that they are God’s field (He expects a crop, or we could say a harvest). He who wins souls is wise (Proverbs 11:30). Now he turns to warnings about HOW we build on that foundation. We could even say WHAT we build on our foundation. I say ours because it is ours (no matter who helped us to get it). We are therefore responsible for what is built upon it. It is a true statement that no one will build as much on your foundation as You will and do. Your own personal study of God’s Word and your own personal application of it in your lifestyle will result in much gold, silver, and precious stones! Now notice that wood, hay, and straw can be built on your foundation also. That puts me in remembrance of Romans 14:23 which says, “for whatever is not from faith is sin.”

As an example, The Lord leads Pastor A to add a day school to his church. He obeys and blessing after blessing follow and the church grows as many new families join it. In the same town, Pastor B sees all the blessings going on in Pastor A’s church, so he decides to add a day school too. So Pastor B does that. Some new families join with children needing Christian school and those children are even blessed. When both of these pastors stand at the Judgment Seat what will be the outcome? Pastor A will see glistening gold and silver, etc. made by the Holy Ghost fire or reward for obedience. Pastor B will see wood, hay, and straw which disappears in the same fire after all his labor for the school “he” decided to have. He suffers loss. Why? Because it was his idea; not God’s or God’s direction. No faith was involved in Pastor B’s case, just carnal thoughts and actions.

Right here is a fine place to say, if we realize we have acted wrongly or just unwisely, now is the time to repent of that, confess to God that we sinned, turn away from that wrong and return to the Lord (His Word). He will forgive you and cleanse you from all unrighteousness. He will never bring it up to you again. Not in this life or the next. Thank you Lord! It is under the blood of Jesus Christ! Don’t wait for Jesus’ Judgment Seat to get it right when we can deal successfully with sin between you and God now! Many places in scripture exhort us to judge ourselves. One of my favorites is 1 Corinthians 11:27 – 32. Here it is being applied to preparing one’s self to receive the sacrament of communion. It is biblically applied in many more places in God’s Word. Verse 31 of this passage says, “If we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged.” In other words, when we judge ourselves by the only safe standard to use (God’s Word), repentance is at work in us and we are not judged as the world is judged by their own lifestyle or as careless Christians are by their sins of omission or commission.

There is a passage of scripture showing a process of dealing with sin when it happens in our lives. This process or sequence of events can be very helpful to all believers.

2 Timothy 3:16-17
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine (the Word rightly divided), for reproof (showing faults), for correction and for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

This passage teaches us that when we have been reproved (by good doctrine) we can make a correction, usually by the same Word that reproved us. We will grow in our understanding of the very righteousness of Christ in us. This in turn leads us to completion in Christ and equips us for every good work that produces gold, silver, etc., when we stand before Jesus Christ at His Judgment Seat. All glory to God for His unspeakable gift!

Here we come to an important step on our road to perfection in Christ. Please remember that our salvation is not at stake at The Judgment Seat of Christ. We are there (heaven) because we are all God’s children. This is part of the process of purification for all saints forever. No matter what we have failed at in this present life, the knowledge of that failure must pass away as our precious Lord shows us so compassionately.

Revelation 21:4-5
And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes:  there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, For the former things have passed away. And He that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And He said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.

Now having seen that, let us look at the next passage concerning Jesus judging His saints in heaven. Please notice the statement that the Apostle Paul makes in the first verse below.

2 Corinthians 5:8-11
Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent (from the body), To be well pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before The Judgment Seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body according to what he has done whether good or bad. Knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade men, but we are well known to God, and I trust are also well known in your consciences.

Apostle Paul wrote that he and his fellow believes made it their aim or goal to live, speak, and act in a manner that was well pleasing to God (their lifestyle). That brings to mind several places in scripture where the same man was inspired to write the same or very similar thing. In Colossians 2, we see him exhorting that church to walk in the spirit, exhibit the fruit of the spirit, forgive one another freely, and then this great admonishment, “But above all these things put on love, which is the BOND of perfection!” (Colossians 2:14). This verse is worth a great deal of study and mediation; especially the latter. When we walk in love we are bonded to perfection or we could say, bonded to God (The Whole Godhead), Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Bonding could be a little blind to us, so with your patient indulgence, I would like to share with you what I have known, first naturally and now spiritually.

From the year 1966 until 1974, I was assigned to the 9th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing and then to the 1st Strat Recon Squadron as an SR-71 pilot. And later as the CO of the flying squadron. The SR-71, or Blackbird as it is known, flew very high and very fast (above 85,000 ft. and over 2,100 mph). This speed caused the plane to get very hot (435 degrees Celsius/815 degrees Fahrenheit) on or near the leading edges and nose of the plane. It was even hotter in the area around the two large engines. All this required a new metal and a new method of assembly. The metal was an alloy of titanium and the assembly method was bonding. This was bonding, in the true sense of the word, not just a rope fastened around a bunch of sticks to hold them together. Very briefly, two members of the plane, let us say the main wing members and the body or fuselage were placed in position where the bond was to be made, and the heat was increased to close to three times the heat mentioned above. Then after a determined time it was allowed to cool. Now, those two pieces of titanium were one piece or bonded together! What had happened? The greater heat had allowed the molecules of one part to merge with the other part. This bond was stronger than the original pieces that were bonded. In all the thirty years plus of SR-71 program life, not one of those bonds ever failed or separated! If such good work can be done by mere man, how much more can the work of God abide forever for people that trust in Him.

Related to what Jesus Christ did for us in his great work of redemption, he bore for all mankind, and in our place all of the heat (the ultimate of all trials) that Satan could muster against Him. When the time that He was made to be sin for us was up, He arose from the grave victorious over all the works of the enemy. His victory is our victory in Him! He has (past tense) destroyed all the works of the devil. That means that we who believe can put off from ourselves all his lies and attempts to deceive us. Remember Satan is a liar; there is no truth in Him. So now when that old serpent the devil tries to turn up the heat on you with his lies and devices, you just dismiss him using the Word of God and the NAME OF JESUS! All power and authority is in His wonderful NAME. When you are found doing these good works here on earth through the authority of His NAME, you are laying up gold, silver, and precious stones, for that great day in heaven. Jesus will reward you for your faith and obedience sown now on the earth.

Perhaps you who read this are Christians who have not been living for God and you know that is so. Confess your sin(s) to Him. Turn away from that wrong lifestyle and its works of the flesh. Return to the time and place when you drifted away from God and begin to apply what we have been showing you from the Word. Find a lively, active church and become the best active member you can be. Blessings will follow.

Dear reader, if you have never given your life to Christ Jesus, simply speak the following words from your heart expecting to receive Him as your LORD and SAVIOUR!

FATHER IN HEAVEN, I COME TO YOU IN THE NAME OF JESUS. I DO BELIEVE THAT JESUS IS LORD OF ALL. I BELIEVE THAT YOU RAISED JESUS FROM THE DEAD FOR MY SALVATION. BECAUSE I HAVE CONFESSED CHRIST JESUS AND BELIEVED IN MY HEART, I AM NOW A NEW CREATION IN CHRIST. I THANK YOU LORD FOR SAVING ME. I AM NOW A MEMBER OF THE BODY OF CHRIST. I WILL SEEK AND FIND A BIBLE-BELIEVING CHURCH WHERE I CAN SERVE YOU ALL THE DAYS OF MY LIFE. AMEN! So be it for you, dear brother or sister.