The Pope, President, and Prophecy – Religious Liberty Weekend
The Pope and the President: A Colossal Paradigm Shift
By Pastor Ron Kelly
I have a goal. I'm going to tell you what it is. This will not be an inductive sermon. I've entitled this message: The Pope and the President.
The main point I want to get across today is this: what began as a weekend vigil in Rome turned into a public spat between probably the two most powerful people on the face of the planet.
There is now a colossal paradigm shift in the degree of respectability and influence for the pope—because he just stood up to the most powerful person whom many in his own political party will not stand up to.
What you are looking at is a major step in the healing of the wound.
The Great Controversy, Then and Now
Ellen White wrote: "Our people have been regarded as too insignificant to be worthy of notice. But a change will come. The Christian world is now making movements which will necessarily bring the commandment-keeping people of God to notice."
Jesus never gives you a test He didn't plan for—and provide for you to pass. Amen.
The last thing I want to do is make anybody afraid. But if our lives are nominal—well, I don't want a nominal restaurant, a nominal mechanic, or a nominal physician. We are not to be a nominal people.
Many smiled or would not believe us 20 or 30 years ago when we said the Sunday would be urged upon all the world and a law made to compel its observance. We see it being fulfilled. All that God has spoken will surely come to pass.
Confederacies Are Forming
"Protestantism is now reaching hands across the gulf to clasp hands with the papacy, and a confederacy is being formed to trample out the Sabbath of the fourth commandment."
Let this be heeded. If it is unheeded, the Protestant world will learn what the purposes of Rome really are—only when it is too late to escape the snare.
She is silently growing into power. Her doctrines are exerting their influence in legislative halls, in churches, and in the hearts of men.
Would you rather be maligned now for preaching what sounds anti-Roman Catholic? Or would you rather have people reach the end confused and trapped?
It would be better for people to hate us now than to be trying to figure out what's going on when it's too late.
The Shift We Just Witnessed
Since the middle of the 19th century, students of prophecy have presented this testimony: the showdown over the Sabbath is coming. It did in the 1880s—Adventists were jailed, fined. But it didn't become a constitutional amendment.
It's coming again.
"Political corruption, destroying the love of justice and the regard for truth. And even in free America, rulers and legislators, in order to secure public favor, will yield to the popular demand for a law enforcing Sunday observance."
Don't roll past that too quickly. This will become a cultural movement. People are fickle. We are emotional beings. And when security is taken away, people will look for the fastest way to get it back.
The Three-Fold Union
When Protestantism stretches her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of Roman power, and when she reaches over the abyss to clasp hands with spiritualism—under the influence of this three-fold union—our country will repudiate every principle of its constitution.
When I was a kid, spiritualism wasn't everywhere. Now you can't avoid it. Your kids are being indoctrinated. The Lion King? Every crime show? It's in the box and coming out.
Romanism, Protestantism, and spiritualism. Are they coming out of the box? Yes, they are.
Then we may know the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan, and that the end is near. The people of God will then be plunged into the time of Jacob's trouble.
Jacob's Wrestle—And Ours
Jacob was afraid he was going to die. He slipped across the Jabbok River, and in the night, Someone grabbed him. He wrestled through the night, not realizing the hand was there to help him. When he finally realized it was God, he hung on for dear life and said:
"I will not let You go unless You bless me."
We can preach about everything going wrong in this world, and it can make us more sons of the devil—operating out of fear and insecurity than when we walked in these doors.
But God is calling all of us to start our day saying, "I won't let You go unless You bless me."
The easiest way to learn to trust Jesus is with your money. But also with your time. Seek first the kingdom of God.
The Deadly Wound Is Healing
On October 14, 1978, a new era began for the Roman Catholic Church. Malachi Martin—a Jesuit, a professor, a high-ranking insider—wrote in The Keys of This Blood that a global competition began for who would influence the world toward the end. Subtitle: Struggle for World Dominion between the Pope, Gorbachev, and the Secular West.
We know that in 1984, President Reagan established the first U.S. ambassador to the Vatican—a move made possible by Congress lifting a prohibition enacted in 1867.
The original prohibition was a product of widespread anti-Roman Catholic sentiment. That was an element of the first 200 years of this nation's history. This was a Protestant nation by culture, not by law—because of religious oppression in the old countries.
But what I'm showing you is the healing of the deadly wound.
From Reagan to Bush to Trump
Reagan and the Pope conspired to assist Poland's Solidarity movement and hasten the demise of communism.
In 2003, Pope John Paul II sent a high-level envoy to President George W. Bush with a letter opposing the Iraq war. The cardinal told reporters the war would be unjust and illegal. But reaction among Catholics was noticeably cool. Why? Because the American economy was chugging along. People were caught up in their good lives.
The papacy went along with America.
That was then. This is now.
The Gloves Just Came Off
Now we have Pope Leo XIV—the first American-born pope. And he is not timid.
At a Saturday peace vigil at St. Peter's Basilica, Leo prayed for "a kingdom of dignity, understanding, and forgiveness to serve as a bulwark against that delusion of omnipotence that surrounds us and is becoming increasingly unpredictable and aggressive."
He did not mention Trump by name. But his reference to "delusions of omnipotence" was heard clearly.
Then came the image: President Trump dressed in a white robe, with light coming from his hands—posed like Jesus Christ.
Even Trump's religious backers called it blasphemy. Bishop Robert Barron, a member of Trump's own Religious Liberty Commission, said the president owes the pope an apology.
Trump deleted the post and claimed he thought he looked like a doctor. But honest people know: doctors don't have glowing hands.
The Pope's Response
On the airplane with reporters, Pope Leo said: "I have no fear of Trump."
He used Trump's name. That is unusual in Vatican diplomacy.
One commentator wrote: "Even with as many norms and as much protocol as Trump has dispensed with, I certainly had nowhere on my bingo card that President Trump would post a wall of text yelling at the Pope."
This is uncharted territory.
Who Will Be the Last Moral Voice Standing?
Here is the question that keeps me up at night:
If something terrible were to happen—if a colossal series of negative events brought this country to its knees—who would be the last voice standing in regards to God and morality?
Then we would have the momentum. The dominoes would drop. People would say, "It's time to get back to God."
And the only voice willing to take on the most powerful person in the world right now is a Roman pontiff.
Where is the moral voice of Protestantism?
Why have no Protestant figures found their moral voice? They only found it when a picture of Trump dressed as Jesus was called blasphemous. Where was their voice before?
Has the Papacy Changed?
Does the papacy have global ambitions? Has it fundamentally changed from its years of wielding political and religious power to the detriment of personal liberty? Or is the Vatican waiting for the right time to reassert itself as the only legitimate world leader?
Is Berthier's wound continuing to heal?
Ellen White wrote: "The Roman Church now presents a fair front to the world, covering with apologies her record of horrible cruelties. She has clothed herself in Christlike garments, but she is unchanged. Every principle of the papacy that existed in past ages exists today. She possesses the same pride and arrogant assumption that lorded over kings and princes and claimed the prerogatives of God."
The Bottom Line
According to Gallup last summer, the Pope was the most popular national figure tested—viewed positively by a 5:1 margin. Trump, meanwhile, is at a low point with approval ratings in the 30s.
CNN says we could be seeing a clash between Trump and the Pope that actually matters—not a private diplomatic disagreement.
Leo said: "Speaking out about the message of the gospel is what the church works for. This is a battle Trump won't win."
But There Is Another Group
Revelation 13 says: "I saw one of his heads as if it were wounded unto death, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world wandered after the beast."
But Revelation 14:4 speaks of a different group:
They follow the Lamb wherever He goes.
Let us follow Him in our daily lives—so that our religious experience does not defy our religious profession.
The test will surely come. The birth pangs are strengthening. But do not be afraid. The same God who wrestled with Jacob through the night is waiting for you to say:
"I will not let You go unless You bless me."
What do you think? Is the deadly wound healing before our eyes? Share your thoughts in the comments below.