Disclaimer: I need to start off by reiterating that America and Britain or any other Western nation is not Nazi Germany.

Image description: Hitler arriving at a Nazi Party rally in Nuremberg in 1934. This photo was prominently displayed at the Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem for many years. One person commented that it looked to him like “Satan rising from Hell.”

The Bible says prophecies should be constructive, up-building, stimulating and encouraging (1 Corinthians 14:3). But this is not a prophecy or a warning, and it’s not a way for the writer to gain some sort of recognition. I believe we can only advance our knowledge and understanding of the world we live in by studying and learning some valuable lessons from history.

Many people rightly condemn the Nazis because their brutal extermination of millions of Jews and others they considered undesirables, but the spirit of Nazism was much more than killing Jews. It was because men had forgotten God, His commandments and the Church forgot to preach the whole truth of the Gospel message which opened the Church to spiritual deception.

Our Lord Jesus Christ and the Apostle Paul warned that the last days will be of great deception. It was this spirit of deception and delusion that affected the German Church in the 1930s as the National Socialists came to power. That is why these things happened in Germany.

What worries many observers today are the growing parallels between the West and Nazi Germany. Many historians are concluding that there are similarities to what happened in Nazi Germany and what is happening in the West today.

They are warning that every day the West is moving closer to Nazi-style totalitarianism. For instance, Von Campe an ex-Hitler youth’s says that “every day brings the American nation closer to Nazi-style totalitarian abyss.” He is seeing spiritual parallels among Americans and his childhood Germany. He further explains that:

The silence from our pulpits regarding the moral collapse of American society from within is not very different from the silence that echoed from the pulpits in Germany toward Nazi policies.

Our family lived through the Nazi years in Germany, an experience typical of millions of Europeans regardless of what side they were on. We paid a high price for the moral perversions of a German government, which excluded God and His Commandments from their policies. America must not continue following the same path to destruction, but instead heed the lessons of history and the warning I am giving…. Christians don’t understand their mission.

There are many other examples of what prophets have been saying to America or the West in general but I would point you to two sources in particular. One is a book entitled “Storm Warning, The Coming Persecution of Christians and Traditionalists, in America” published in 1999 and its authored by Don McAlvany. The second is an outstanding book authored by Dr Erwin W. Lutzer that was published in 2010. It is titled, “When a Nation Forgets God: 7 Lessons We Must Learn From Nazi Germany.”

In this article, we’ll skimp through McAlvans’ book and see what history might be teaching us. During his years of research, McAlvany has uncovered a number of ominous parallels between Nazi Germany and the West (America) which should be contemplated.

But before we look at his research; I need to make this very clear, I am not saying that the American government or other Western governments have become like Hitler and I am not comparing any institution in America or Britain with the Third Reich and I am not “anti-government.” In fact, I believe that you don’t have a right to criticize the government if you cannot pray for it. The apostle Paul admonishes us to:

First of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savoir (1Timothy 2:1-3).

History proves again and again that once a country is in a moral, cultural, and spiritual decline as Germany was in the 1930s, that country loses its freedom. This has happened on all the great empires of old. Where is the mighty and splendour of Babylon, Egypt, Assyria, Persia, or ancient Greece? What could the Roman Empire do when its time came to fall? My conclusion is that some of these parallels between the West and Nazi Germany are happening and some are not.

In my opinion, the real problem is that we have forgotten God and His commandments that is why these things are happening. Of course, I don’t have space to list all the comparisons between what happened in Nazi Germany and now, those who are interested can read the books of many credible writers and publishers and draw their own conclusions. But, here are some of the emerging similarities that Don McAlvany and a few others have noted:

The Economy, Inflation and debt: Someone was absolutely right when he said that “there are two ways to conquer and enslave a nation. One is by the sword, the other is by debt.” In the 1920s and early 1930s, German’s Weimar Republic saw rampant inflation and debt accumulation, monetary, economic, social, political, moral and spiritual decline on a scale unprecedented in Germany history. The West since 1980 has experienced quite the same thing.

German was the most populated country with the Jews in any country in Western Europe when Hitler came to power. In fact, a small part of them were architects of its Constitution, a fact that Hitler exploited. The German republic had just come from a severe economic hardship it experienced after World War 1.

The massive inflation in 1923 and the depression of 1929 worsened Germany’s problems. The eyes of the angry people wanted a saviour from their economic problems. Hitler’s success in the first few years rested not only on his foreign policy, which brought so many bloodless conquests but on German’s economic recovery, which brought admiration from even among economists abroad.

Unemployment was reduced by putting the unemployed back to work by means of greatly improved public works and giving stimulus packages to private corporations. Government credit was furnished by the creation of special unemployment bills, and tax reliefs were given to firms which raised their capital expenditures and increased employment.

He made Germans feel important and made sure they were well cared for by the state. He gave them huge tax breaks and introduced social benefits and made sure that even in the last days of the war not a single German went hungry. During his 12 years of constant warfare, he never once raised taxes for working class people. The German soldiers were also offered more than double the salaries and benefits to what the Americans and British received.

Another example that has been widely circulated on the Internet was given by an elderly woman named Kitty Werthmann. She told audiences what life was like in Austria during the late 1930s:

In 1938, Austria was in deep Depression. Nearly one-third of our workforce was unemployed. We had 25 percent inflation and 25 percent bank loan interest rates…. Farmers and business people were declaring bankruptcy daily. Young people were going from house to house begging for food. Not that they didn’t want to work; there simply weren’t any jobs…. The Austrian people were really hurting and they were desperate for answers. When Hitler came to them with “solutions,” they were ready to embrace him with open arms…. We looked to our neighbour on the north, Germany, where Hitler had been in power since 1933.

We had been told that they didn’t have unemployment or crime, and they had a high standard of living. Nothing was ever said about persecution of any group—Jewish or otherwise. We were led to believe that everyone in Germany was happy. We wanted the same way of life in Austria. We were promised that a vote for Hitler would mean the end of unemployment and help for the family.

Hitler also said that businesses would be assisted, and farmers would get their farms back. Ninety-eight percent of the population voted to annex Austria to Germany and have Hitler for our ruler. We were overjoyed and for three days we danced in the streets and had candlelight parades. The new government opened up big field kitchens and everyone was fed.

Preoccupation with death. Abortion and euthanasia were rampant in Germany in the 1920s and 1930s. Many old sick, crippled, retarded were killed. This finally led to the extermination of Jews and Christians and unfortunately, most Germans barely took note of it. Why? Because it was a natural progression of this preoccupation with death in Germany. Today in the West we kill babies via abortion and violent murders are increasing at a fast rate.

We are being exposed to human beings created in the image of God killing fellow human beings all around the world. In fact, in times of war or call it terrorism if you want, the whole effort of the mainstream media becomes one of filling people’s hearts with hate and murder. There seems no place for the spirit of the gospel of love and brotherhood. People will be expected to do all they can to hate, curse, or kill their enemies in wartime, certainly not to love them.

The truth is that the gospel is just the same in peace or in war. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever and every life is eternally precious in His sight (see Hebrews 13:8).

In fact, you cannot put any monetary value on any human life, for God loved the entire world so much that He gave His only Son Jesus Christ to die on our behalf. But we are still killing each other to the point that the film which glorifies death was named the highest-earning movie ever.

Other ominous parallels will be pondered in Part 2

 

Folks, I’m tired of hearing about revival. I’m tired of hearing about awakenings, of last day outpourings of the Holy Spirit. I’ve heard that rhetoric for 50 years. Just rhetoric. No meaning whatsoever.

I’m tired of hearing about people in the church who say they want their unsaved loved ones saved. I’m tired of hearing people say I’m concerned about my troubled marriage, when it’s just talk, rhetoric!

I look at the whole religious scene today, and all I see are the invention and ministries of man and flesh. It’s mostly powerless. It has no impact on the world. And I see more of the world coming into the church and impacting the church, rather than the church impacting the world.

I see the music, entertainment taking over the House of God, an obsession with entertainment in God’s House, a hatred of correction and a hatred of reproof, nobody wants to hear it anymore.

Whatever happened to anguish in the House of God? Whatever happened to anguish in the ministry? It’s a word you don’t hear in this pampered age! You don’t hear it. Anguish means extreme pain and distress, emotions so stirred that it becomes painful, acute, deeply felt inner pain because of conditions about you, in you, or around you. Anguish. Deep pain and sorrow. Agony of God’s Heart.

We’ve held on to our religious rhetoric, and our revival talk, but we’ve become so passive. Our so-called awakenings are stirrings; they last but a short time. And in those times we promise God we’ll never return to our passivity. But it’s not long, it’s just weeks or months and we’re back, and this time we slip further back into passivity than when we started.

I speak from experience. And we say: “This time Lord God, You’ve touched me for life, I’ll never be the same.” And it’s like fireworks, a loud bang and a lot of noise and then it dies!

All true passion is born out of anguish. All true passion for Christ comes out of a baptism of anguish. Search the Scriptures and you’ll find that when God determined to recover a ruined situation, He would seek out a praying man, and He’d take him down into the waters of anguish. He would share His own anguish for what He saw happening to His church and to His people.

He would find a praying man, and He would take that man and literally baptise him in anguish. Now I believe in the love of God. I’ve preached mercy and grace, and love, covenant love, and I believe in preaching the goodness and longsuffering of Christ.

But multitudes today are being saturated with ‘you’re ok’ messages. We’ve got people now that are turning the grace of God into lasciviousness.

We’ve become like the children of Israel who said the right words, but here is what God said:

I’ve heard the words of this people; they have well said all that they have spoken. O, that there was such a heart in them that they would fear Me and keep all My commandments always, that it might be well with them and with their children forever!

He said: “O, you have the right words, you sing the right songs, but your heart is not right!”

You find it in the Book of Nehemiah. Jerusalem is in ruins.  Here was a delegation from the ruined city coming to Nehemiah and said: “Jerusalem is broken down, the walls are down, ruin, nothing but ruin!” Now these I’m sure were godly men, good men, but they had no concept of how God was going to deal with the situation, how He was going to bring about a recovery.

Why didn’t they have an answer? Why didn’t God use them in restoration? Why didn’t they have a word? – Because there was no sign of anguish! No weeping! Not a word of prayer! It’s all ruin. Nehemiah says:

When I heard these words, I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days and fasted, and prayed before the God of Heaven.

You see, God found a praying man, and He takes him down into the waters of baptism of anguish. This man goes down into anguish. God found a man who would not just have a flash of emotion – not just some great sudden burst of concern and then let it die.

You see, we face a similar situation, except ours is many times worse! Does it matter to you today, does it matter to you at all, that God’s spiritual Jerusalem, the church – is now married to the world?! That there’s such a coldness sweeping the land?

So many people I know that were my friends, and I see them go, one by one, husbands and wives, into such passivity, going to churches where they can find smooth messages, no longer wanting to hear anything of wrath or of correction! Some of my closest friends – I see them falling by the wayside. And the cries? Is it nothing to you?!!

Closer than that, does it matter about the Jerusalem that is in our own hearts? The sign of ruin that is slowly draining spiritual power and passion? Blind to lukewarmness, to the mixture that is creeping in? You see, when spiritual blindness comes, very few recognise it, it is the last thing to be recognised that happens to a child of God.

In all honesty, there are numbers among us that are changing, and they don’t know it. You’ve lost your fight, so you won’t labour in prayer anymore, you won’t weep before God anymore, you can sit and watch television and your family go to hell.

Does it really matter to you that your unsaved loved ones are dying and we’re getting closer and closer to the end? Does it really concern you, they could die and go to hell? Even though you’re a lover of Christ? Where is the anguish? Where are the tears? Where is the mourning?

Where is the fasting? I know now, O my God, do I know it, until I’m in agony, until I’m in anguish over it, I’m preaching ‘sermons’! Then I say: “No! It’s too late! I don’t have that much time!” All our projects, all our ministries, everything we do… I know now, it will take more than preaching, more than a new revelation.

There’s going to be no renewal and no revival, no awakening – until we’re willing to let Him once again break us.

Folks, it’s getting late and it’s getting serious. Please don’t tell me you’re concerned, don’t tell me that you want your unsaved loved ones saved – when you’re spending hours in front of the internet or television. Come on!

There’s some that need to get to the altar and confess, “I’m not what I was, I’m not where I’m supposed to be, God I don’t have Your Heart or Your Burden, I wanted it easy, I just wanted to be happy!”

There is nothing of the flesh will give you joy. I don’t care how much money; I don’t care what kind of new house. There is absolutely nothing physical that can give you joy. It’s only what is accomplished by the Holy Spirit when you obey Him and take on His Heart.

He gives you the knowing of His Voice that instant knowledge God is saying, “This is the way, walk in it!” And then the wonderful joy of seeing God answer your prayer and build the walls around your family, build the walls around your own heart, and make you strong and impregnable against the enemy. God that is what we desire!

Here is the Full Sermon

 [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayYizi9TZAQ]