Who did William Branham say we should follow?
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The Pope is bad. Don't follow him.
Pointing clearly at the Pope and his papal crown, William Branham called the first rider a Nicolaitan spirit, which means "to conquer the laity" and occurs when you:
- “take the Holy Spirit out of the church and give it all to one holy man, let him be the boss of all of it...See, he first started an antichrist, the spirit; then he become a false prophet. Then later, when the devil is cast out, he's incarnate then with the devil. “Three stages: the first he's a devil to begin with, a spirit of the devil; then he becomes a false prophet, teacher of a false doctrine; next thing he comes as the very devil himself incarnate.” (William Branham, the First Seal)
Elijah is good. Follow me.
While accusing the Catholics of following one man, William Branham then talks about his own role as Elijah because:
- He is a prophet;
- He hates women;
- He fulfills Malachi 4; and
- He fulfills Revelation 10:7 by wrapping up the loose ends for the rapture.
In summary, this was a very tame warm-up sermon in preparation of more radical sermons to come. What he does not seem to realize is that everything he says about not following a man (the Pope) can equally be applied to the church following his own leadership.
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