Christendom is a word I view as designed by secularists of the world to encompass their misunderstood view of what comprises True Christianity. Under this misunderstanding, all who claim to be Christians are, according to this worldly definition, Christians. All fall under the term Christendom.

There are many sects, faiths, and religious systems that the secularists include within their favored term to encapsulate, to one degree or the other, religious belief in and spiritual embrace of the figure called Jesus Christ. These are each and every one false.

In my own view of what it means to be a Christian, there is but one system of faith. There is no other person, method, or anything else that can make a person a Christian. That Faith system, the Bible –God’s Word—tells us that Jesus Christ alone is the Savior of mankind. The person is a Christian who accepts without question what Jesus said: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father but by me” (John 14:6).

There is nothing that stands between God and the human being other than Jesus Christ, God’s only begotten (born in the flesh) Son.

It is with this Truth from God’s Word –the Bible—that I must somewhat qualify, or perhaps explain, the title of this article.

Pope’s defection – a key end times signal

The Catholic system of belief –of which there are several versions—often is separated by those commentating on the Catholic faith as differing from mere Christianity. This is, presumably, because those devotees to that system consider their Catholic Church as the only True Church to the exclusion of others that left as part of the Reformation and since have divided into multiple factions of Protestantism.

Catholicism says there are layers of mediators between God and mankind, i.e., one must confess to a priest, who might take the confession to the Mother of God (Mary), who, again, presumably might take the confession to the Son (Jesus) Who then, presumably takes the confession and obtains the forgiveness necessary from God the Father. At least, this is my –a neophyte in comprehension of the Catholic system— cursory understanding of how the Catholic system of mediation works.

I cannot even begin to accept this for many reasons, but to name just one reason, I offer this Truth from God’s Holy Word.

“For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Tim 2:5).

Now, I write all of the above in order to try to explain how the Catholic pope –Pope Francis—has “defected” and why this “defection” is a key end times signal.

My belief in Christ alone for salvation precludes my counting the pope as within Christianity, but rather under the Christendom umbrella posited by the secularists, as I’ve tried to show above. So, when I say that Pope Francis has “defected,” I don’t mean that he has, in my view, defected from the True Christian Faith.

In my view, because of the Catholic Church’s declaration that there are a number of mediators between God and Man (as just one reason in this regard), this pope –or any other pope—can’t defect from a faith system under which they’ve never been.

This said, this pope, Pope Francis, has defected from that faith system –Catholicism—which has in common with True Christianity the belief that God finds homosexuality to be an egregious sin of an abominable sort. This agreement between the True Christian Faith and the Catholic faith does point starkly to the defection that this pope champions.

The following helps make understandable the end times apostasy at this late hour of the Church Age (Age of Grace).

Pope Francis is now accusing opponents of priestly gay-couple blessings of being hypocrites when, in fact, his blessing of homosexual relations and calling it good is hypocrisy. According to Francis, all the holy popes, bishops, and saints of Church history were hypocrites because they denied blessings to gay couples and barred them from the Church.

In a recent interview, Francis expressed his strongest words thus far concerning his decision to bless homosexual couples. He told NBC: “Nobody gets scandalized if I give my blessings to a businessman who perhaps *exploits people, and this is a very grave sin. But they get scandalized if I give them to a homosexual, Pope Francis, via ‘Credere.’ This is Hypocrisy.”

This is a highly inappropriate comparison and reflects an obstinate attempt to continue his blessing of homosexual unions. His argument holds no water. Comparing a businessman to a homosexual makes as much sense as comparing a carpenter to a rapist. A carpenter, by definition, is a responsible working man, whereas a homosexual, by definition, is a sex offender on the path to perdition. Businessmen generally are responsible people working to support their families, unlike homosexuals whose criminal lives “cry to heaven for vengeance.”

If a businessman comes to a priest for a blessing, it means he truly wants this blessing for his soul and for success in his work, so the priest should bless him. And while he might commit some sins or faults in his work, that’s not a reason to deny him a blessing. “A just man shall fall seven times” (Proverbs 24:16) and then rises.

Whereas, if a homosexual couple comes to a priest for a blessing, it’s because they want their shameful relationship blessed. Were it otherwise, they wouldn’t dare to approach the priest ‘holding hands’ together. They want their gay union blessed, so Francis blesses it because he is a gay sympathizer. He is blessing their homosexual aspirations, not their souls, thereby working their eternal ruin, and then he calls it “good.” That is hypocrisy! [Source: Francis: Opponents of Clerical Gay Couple Blessings are ‘Hypocrites,’ by David Martin, Canada Free Press, February 8, 2024]

My writing of late has been on the likeness of our present time to being like that of Lot’s day in Sodom. This pope and his declarations –the latest being on the matter of sodomy and his opposition to his Catholic faith system, highlight, I think, just how near is that moment when Jesus foretold He will next be “revealed” and God’s judgment would fall on a Sodom and Gomorrah-like people.

There are today pronounced instances of falling away within major denominations from the True Faith found in God’s Holy Word. Homosexuality is at the heart of much of this defection. This “defection” by this pope from his own false system also smacks of Paul’s forewarning found in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 about the falling away (the apostasy) that will occur just before Antichrist comes onto the scene following the Rapture of the True Church –all born-again believers.

“Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition” (2 Thes 2:3).

Despite God’s dire forewarning about those who fall under what He calls the abomination of homosexuality, He desires to forgive and bring into His family all who repent and believe in His Son, Jesus Christ, for salvation. And I must say here that those who are Catholics who believe in Jesus Christ alone for the salvation of their souls are “in Christ” forever. But they are saved in spite of, not because of, their Catholicism. God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. Here is how to receive God’s Forgiveness and be part of God’s Heavenly Family forever.

“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:9-10).

 

My contention continues to be that the answer to this question can be found within one verse. It is a statement by the ascended Lord Jesus Christ to John, the disciple Jesus called “beloved.”

I believe there is a singular word to describe the reason for the Rapture. We will, I hope, get to both the Scripture passage and the word that I believe answers the question, “Why the Rapture?”

First, we need, for those not familiar with the term “Rapture,” to provide a definition.

The word “rapture” isn’t expressed as that term in the Bible, at least not in the English versions. It is given in the Latin Vulgate, however, as rapturo—translated from the Greek language in which the New Testament was mostly written. The Greek word for the great snatching away (being “caught up”) is harpazo, and it eventually became called the “Rapture” by most in the English-speaking world.

It is the “twinkling of an eye” moment the Apostle Paul prophesied will take place at some unknown time, a time only God the Father knows. Here is the Scripture passage encompassing that stupendous event:

“For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words” (1 Thessalonians 4:16–18).

So, what is the purpose of this event Paul tells believers to “comfort” ourselves in, considering that it will take place at some unknown instant? Certainly, the great apostle spent much writing time telling of this call of Christ into the clouds of glory. Read 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 and 1 Corinthians 15:51-55, for example.

Paul himself looked for this event to happen during his time on Earth. He preached and taught, assuring the believers in Thessalonica that this event hadn’t yet occurred—because many of them feared it had happened and they had missed it somehow. Paul went to great lengths to explain the truth of the Rapture—the harpazo. (Read 2 Thessalonians chapter 2.)

So, again, why the Rapture? To be given so much ink by the most prolific writer of the New Testament and by one of God’s most prominent prophets, the Rapture must have monumental significance.

The Rapture is indeed one of the most significant events that will play out in human history. This is because it is a rescue from the most horrific time in all of human history. Jesus, the Creator of all things, said the time to come will be the worst to ever occur, even until His return at Armageddon (Revelation 19:11).

Here, again, is what the Lord said of that ultimately evil time that is about, at this very moment, to burst upon a judgment-bound world.

“For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be” (Matthew 24:21).

God is about to pour His righteous judgment and wrath upon a world of rebels–those who have totally turned their backs on Him. Planet Earth is about to endure global warming and climate change–and, much worse, the wicked Ephesians 6:12 sorts are constantly and falsely declaring. The Lord of Heaven–Creator of all that is—is about to demonstrate who is in total charge.

He is a righteous God and cannot allow the rebellion to continue beyond the point He has determined.

But “righteous” is the key word here. God is righteous. And His righteous judgment and wrath are not for those who are righteous but for those who are unrighteous.

Now, to get to the Scripture and the word promised at the beginning of this article.

The Scripture that encapsulates the reason for the Rapture in one verse is the following:

“Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth” (Revelation 3:10).

Jesus’ words of comfort were to all believers in Him for salvation down through the ages, as well as for the church at Philadelphia. It is a promise to keep all believers of the Church Age (Age of Grace) out of the Great Tribulation He told of in Matthew 24:21.

And that brings us to the single word that encapsulates that salvation. It is the word “righteous.”

All who are righteous will be kept from the Tribulation. This is because God the Father sees all who have believed in His Son Jesus for salvation as being “in Christ.” That is, all born again are seen through God’s holy eyes as being covered by the precious, holy blood of the Savior, Jesus Christ. This means that we who accept Jesus as Savior are clothed in the righteousness of the Son of God, the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, in order to bring all who will accept His sacrifice to redemption and reconciliation with God the Father.

To miss accepting this truth is to die in sin and go to the lake of fire, or to go through that horrific time called the Tribulation, if still alive when it begins. To accept God’s free grace offer of salvation is to go to the Savior, Jesus, when He calls, as the Apostle Paul has prophesied.

The Rapture is to spare you terrible anguish and separation from God forever. Here is how to make sure you go in the Rapture, and to Heaven–and not into eternal torment.

“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:9-10).