Fifty-three years ago today, at the age of 90, former British Prime Minister Winston S. Churchill died.

At the time of his death, the Spectator wrote: “Nothing else weighs in the scale against that one colossal contribution to the cause of freedom everywhere. And again it must be proclaimed. We live as free men, we speak as free men, we walk as free men because a man called Winston Churchill lived.”

History proves that this assessment of Churchill’s impact on the world is no exaggeration.

Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry has written extensively on the role Churchill played in saving the Western world from the Nazi empire during World War ii. He explains that Churchill was used by God in a dramatic, history-altering fashion. In his booklet Winston S. Churchill: The Watchman, Mr. Flurry writes:

Winston Churchill was a voice crying in the wilderness. How could so many of our leaders in the United States and Britain—almost all of them—have been so weak in dealing with Hitler? … God prepared Winston Churchill to help save the nations of America and Britain in World War ii (as well as other nations). … Only Churchill stood in Nazi Germany’s way. He was our watchman who warned all of us what was coming. We were barely awakened before it was too late. …

Churchill once said, “There is a purpose being worked out here below.” He sensed that God was working out His plan. And so He is. God even used Churchill to lead the Western world to victory.

Mr. Flurry has shown that, long before Churchill was born, the Bible prophesied of his history-altering leadership. In our August 2012 issue, he wrote:

Ezekiel 33 contains an amazing prophecy. God sends His prophet with a message about a time when a sword would come against the land, and “the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman.” God explains what will happen if this man warns the people of the approaching danger. Ezekiel’s prophecies are intended most of all for the end time (request our free booklet Ezekiel: The End-Time Prophet for proof)—so this is prophecy primarily for this modern day.

I believe this prophecy was fulfilled by Winston Churchill. There has been no other watchman in this end time of similar stature.

Churchill became an outcast for doing so, but he bravely stood up and warned the world of the approaching danger. If Churchill did that, God must have prepared him in some ways to do that job. He was chosen by the people, but God used him in the political system to save his country and much of the Western world!

This 53rd anniversary of Churchill’s death is an excellent time to better understand the man, the individual to whom we are in debt for our freedom, and the God-ordained watchman: Winston S. Churchill.

It also presents us with an opportunity to consider the alarming absence of such leadership in the Western world today, even as the stage is being set once again for global war. As Mr. Flurry writes:

Where do we see a watchman like Churchill today? Where is there such a man who will stand up and challenge the whole government? And even the entire nation? Where is there a political leader who has the character to boldly proclaim to our people that they have degenerated into the sewer—at a time when the world is filled with unparalleled dangers?

Mr. Flurry’s booklet is available for download or you can request your free print copy here.

And don’t miss our episode of the Trumpet Daily, highlighting the crucial role Churchill played in saving the Western world and expounding on the dangers of the modern world’s failure to learn from that history.