Written by Pastor James Rafferty
An Appeal to Church Members....

"The majority of voices in our church keep assuring us that vaccine mandates are not the dreaded “mark of the beast.” So does that mean that we should not be concerned about these mandates? Is the “mark of the beast” the totality of the third angel's message? So as long as we are not at that “mark of the beast” stage of prophetic development all is well?

It is true that vaccine mandates are not the “mark of the beast,” however they are a very significant assault on liberty of conscience, especially in America. Think about this for a minute if you will. The US government is forcing millions of thinking people to receive into their bodies a substance that:
 

•  is new technology
•  is emergency use only
•  has unlisted ingredients
•  has unknown long term affects
•  does not always prevent infection
•  does not always prevent death
•  does not prevent transmission
•  loses efficiency in months
•  requires booster shots
•  caused adverse affects and even death in hundreds of thousands of people.

At the same time the US government:

•  ignores the well established science of natural immunity
•  dismisses other effective science based treatments
•  discredits those who question the vaccine narrative with proven science as sharing “fake news” and misinformation.”

Additionally we are being asked to comply with this political narrative which is anti-science for the “common good.”

Our church seems so focused on credibility that those who ask science based questions like “what about natural immunity” or “vaccinated break-through infection rates and transmission” must be listening to wack conspiracy theories and ignoring “the science” (there is true and false science - evolution is backed by “the science”).

Then there are the supposedly wise words of conventional wisdom, “Save your credibility for the real ‘mark of the beast’ crisis.” As if to say, “kindly consider saving your exemption letters for the time just before the end of the world when you’ll really need to keep your job to pay your bills.  You certainly don’t want to risk losing your job, career, educational and public access - your ability to buy and sell now.”

If you lose everything now you’ll have nothing to lose when the media and all the institutionally faithful social justice watchmen alert us to the real “mark of the beast” crisis. As if we will be filing religious exemption letters when the “mark of the beast” crisis comes (Daniel and his friends were first tested on what they put into their bodies. They asked for and received religious exemptions for their health crisis, but there were no religious exemptions for the worship tests - the fiery furnace or the den of lions).

Dear friends, please prayerfully consider:

The third angel's message is much more than the “mark of the beast.” The first angel heralds the everlasting gospel of God's love for the entire world which calls us to liberty of conscience. Free choice - to choose God or the devil - is central to the Great Controversy. The third angel's message calls us to fear God and not man. It calls us to glorify God in what we take into our bodies, in eating or drinking or whatsoever we do (1 Corinthians 10:31). It calls us to worship God because we were created in His image and our bodies belong to Him by creation and redemption.

The second angel announces the fall of Babylon, code word for a world-wide religio-political system that has deceived the nations, in part, by her sorceries (Revelation 18:23- “sorceries = pharmakeia- from Strong's G5332; medication - "pharmacy").

The third angel warns against worshiping the beast and the image to the beast. This is, in principle, the action of church/state unity compelling the conscience by economic sanctions in matters that belong solely between the individual and God.

No, the world-wide vaccine mandates are not the final “mark of the beast” crisis, but they certainly portend that event for they bring with them a clear and present danger of liberty of conscience threatened.

The last movements will be rapid ones. The enemy of souls is moving us as close as he can to these final movements, hoping we will not be alerted to our danger.

Read The Great Controversy chapters 35 to 39. Note specifically the order (and content) of these chapters:

 35. Liberty of Conscience Threatened
 36. The Impending Conflict
 37. The Scriptures a Safeguard
 38. The Final Warning
 39. The Time of Trouble

Notice that “liberty of conscience threatened” leads us into the final crisis - it precedes the “mark of the beast” threat. And that only makes sense. The “mark of the beast” cannot gain momentum with liberty of conscience alive and well. That old battle cry from Patrick Henry - “give me liberty or give me death” - must be decimated in the hearts and minds of present-day Americans before the “mark of the beast” can have its way.

Please think prayerfully about your life, your present priorities, how you spend the majority of your time, how you feel about the second coming of Jesus and if you are truly preparing yourself and others for this long looked for event. Ask God to search your heart claiming His promise:
Thank you for taking the time to consider this appeal.
In Jesus' name.
Amen.

Spirit of Prophecy -

“The exercise of force is contrary to the principles of God's government; He desires only the service of love; and love cannot be commanded; it cannot be won by force or authority. Only by love is love awakened” (DA 22).

“Compelling power is found only under Satan's government. The Lord's principles are not of this order. His authority rests upon goodness, mercy, and love; and the presentation of these principles is the means to be used. God's government is moral, and truth and love are to be the prevailing power” (DA 759).

Pastor James Rafferty