Appropriately at this time of year we are remembering those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom.

As Armistice Day comes round on November 11, the day in 1918 when World War I came to an end, moving ceremonies are being held in London and across the country.

I was personally reminded of the cost of conflict by a visit to the National Civil War Centre in nearby Newark, Nottinghamshire, recording how a complicated set of divisive issues caused British people to turn on each other from 1642-49.

Closer to the present day, the Darkest Hour movie was shown on TV, brilliantly depicting the days in the spring of 1940 when we came so close to being invaded by the Nazis. But thank God, Winston Churchill stepped up to the plate and rallied politicians, generals and the people to believe in victory at all costs.

I guess I hadn’t fully realised, however, how close even he (wonderfully played by Gary Oldman) came to being persuaded to negotiate peace with Hitler via the Italian dictator Mussolini.

But he managed to hold out to Plan A, and his gut feeling, that you couldn’t negotiate with the devil. And I was left with the disturbing realisation that we in the UK – and elsewhere in the West – are today being led astray by leaders of a similar disposition to Lord Halifax and Neville Chamberlain who insisted that we should talk peace with the Fuhrer.

Our present leaders don’t seem to recognise the obvious likeness between the Nazi spirit and the pro-Palestinian flag-waving that has invaded our streets and dragged our country into shameful appeasement with those who insist that Israel is the world’s pariah. It might just as well be swastikas these brainwashed activists are holding as they call for the demise of the Jewish state and intimidate British Jews who have brought such a wealth of blessing to our nation.

The film to which I refer was, however, lacking in one significant respect. It seemed to attribute the miracle of Dunkirk, from whose beaches over 300,000 soldiers were rescued, to resurgent spirits energised by Churchill’s inspirational rhetoric.

No, it was primarily due to a God who clearly answered our collective prayers in response to the call of King George VI. But, yes, Churchill, for all his whisky-drinking, also brought the Almighty into the equation and was mightily used in the process. As it happened, long queues snaked around churches throughout England in a desperate bid to seek God’s help.

With atheists now at the helm of our nation, how we desperately need Churchill figures urging us to call on our God and Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, whose teachings built us up into a great nation in the first place and were spread throughout the world by passionate preachers who themselves were also prepared to pay the ultimate cost for doing so.

We are once again engaged in warfare – certainly of a spiritual nature, though internal conflict and World War III are not beyond the bounds of possibility. Thanks to God, with the help of Churchill and others, the Nazis were denied the invasion of our islands for which they so longed. But I’m afraid the antisemitic Nazi spirit has since infiltrated our culture in a way that would have profoundly shocked the war generation.

The God who saved our soldiers at Dunkirk, and who ultimately led us to victory, is the God of Israel who sent his Son to pay the ultimate price so that our sins could be forgiven, thus enabling us to live at peace with each other and inherit eternal life when our service here on earth is over.

This is no time to make peace with the devil and his henchmen, perhaps to protect our skins in the short term, but ultimately to become enslaved to godlessness.

This is what the Lord says (as the prophet Jeremiah recorded): “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, and where the good way is, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Jeremiah 6:16)

Jesus came later and said: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” (John 14:6) He also says: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they might have life and have it to the full.” (John 10:10) He further urges: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)

And I love the way The Message translates Proverbs 3:6: “Listen to God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he’s the one who will keep you on track.”

And as the Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy: “Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called…” (1 Timothy 6:12)

Charles Gardner is author of Israel the Chosen, available from Amazon; Peace in Jerusalem, available from olivepresspublisher.com; To the Jew First, A Nation Reborn, and King of the Jews, all available from Christian Publications International.