In this sermon, the preacher shares a personal story from his junior high school days about a teacher named Brown who disciplined him for misbehaving. He reflects on the lesson he learned from that experience and pledges to remain true to his preaching style. He emphasizes that the church should not change its core values and traditions, but acknowledges that there will be some changes as the congregation grows. The preacher also shares another anecdote about a disruptive child on an airplane, highlighting the importance of discipline and parenting.

I used to kneel every Saturday evening in the building next door that was destroyed by fire in 1964. And I used to pray for God to give us a great church. I never prayed for a big church, never did. I never have set my goal. I want great people. I think the crowds will take care of themselves if the people are what they ought to be. I think a fruit will fall off the tree if the orchard's in good shape. And I prayed for God to give us a great church of great Christians. And I cried and I prayed and I cried and I walked. And I can recall going in the old balcony over there every Saturday night and asking God to bless the people that sat in this section the next morning. And I'd sing, God knows only the dear Lord, and my mother loved to hear me sing. The Lord because he loves me and my mother because I can sing better than she can. But I'd sing, Lord send the old time power, the Pentecostal power. Thy floodgates of mercy are blessing on us through open wide. And God has given us a great church. In every sense of the word, a great church. We withstood the battles. They said we'd have to close our buildings, couldn't pay our debts. Twelve years ago last, twelve years ago a week ago Monday night, our deacons met and cut our budget down to just about, oh, hundreds of dollars because we'd lost a lot of people because of our stand. We'd been through a fire that destroyed half of our buildings. We'd been through the fires, I mean that, you know it's true. But we faced this morning the greatest test and the greatest danger our church has ever faced. And that is the test of prosperity. A lot of folks can stand the fire that can't stand the sunshine. A lot of folks can stand the lion's den that can't make it on the Mount of Transfiguration. The peaks have ruined more folks than the valleys. Success has ruined more people than failure. And blessing has ruined more people than cursing. I've been praying lately that our church will be able to withstand the temptation that will come with blessing. God has given us the kind of church here where we can rear our children and make them by God's grace what they ought to be. Now, young folks, I'm talking to you and I want you to hear what I've got to say and you're going to hear it. Now, I love our church. Now we have hundreds of strangers coming in. You may not be able to find the same seat that's been yours all these years. You may look around and see 50 folks tonight or next Sunday that you don't know. Our staff knows this is true. I do not want our church to change. Not at all. Now, let's welcome these people and let's pull them to our arms and to our breasts and let's love them. And let's not complain because we don't get the seat we used to have. Let's be big enough to want to share what God has done with us with the entire world. And so I plead with you. First, I pledge to you that I'm going to be the same old preacher that I've always been, if God will help me. We won't get fancy. We're going to still act out all this corny stuff on Wednesday night. We didn't bring all of these faculty members here to change us. We brought these faculty members here to take our young people and send them around the world to reproduce what we have here in this place. And I pledge to you, I pledge to you, I'll do my best to see that what has gone forth in this pulpit and this church will not change. Now, of course, there'll be some changes. It's going to look different. People that sit beside you are not going to be the same folks. We're going to have all of a sudden, overnight, four or five hundred people or more, including the children and faculty, four or five hundred people just come in here. And you're going to be tempted to say, I just don't feel at home anymore. Let's be big. Let's be big enough to bless the whole world. Let's be big enough to reach our arms of love to everybody. And let's, if we can, we can reproduce First Baptist churches all across this nation. And God knows this nation is going to have to have something. Now, the message. Listen to every word. It has become very popular in our day to wear or use a certain symbol. It is called the peace symbol. This symbol is a circle, as you know, with a line down the middle and sort of a crow's foot kind of a line from the center down, or from the center up. It's called the peace symbol. You see it on t-shirts and sweatshirts every town in America. At school crossings nowadays, many school policemen, temporary policemen and so forth, helping boys and girls when they walk out to stop the traffic, they do it this way. That's the finger peace symbol. In many schools nowadays, when a child raises his hand to answer a question, he's supposed to raise his hand like that. That's the peace symbol with the hand. Entering many of our department stores, it is obvious that we're using the peace symbol on our garments, on our apparel, our schools, even our automobiles, especially our small cars. We have peace symbols on the side or on the back of our cars. Our magazines display the so-called peace symbol on their covers. Even religious periodicals, in fact, an outstanding religious periodical recently featured the peace symbol on its cover. Is this really a peace symbol? No. The origination of this symbol, the origin of this symbol, we think was with Nero. We have evidence, we think, to believe that it is the sign of the broken cross. Tradition says that when Peter was martyred, he was martyred by being crucified upside down. There are those who feel that Nero built a cross like this with the broken arms, and Peter was crucified on a what we now call peace symbol. It has become known for many generations as the anti-Christian symbol, or the symbol of the broken cross. It was used by Titus in his destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. It was used in the dark ages by the satanic worshipers who met to worship the devil, and their symbol was, since our symbol is the cross, they break the cross, and their symbol is the broken cross, or the anti-Christ symbol. It was painted on the doors of closed Russian churches in recent years. The communists would take the peace symbol as they would close the doors of churches that believed the Bible, and as the seal of the church being closed, the so-called peace symbol was placed on the front or the door of the church. On Hitler's death notices, the seal that was used was what is now called the peace symbol. This symbol was placed by the Nazis on the tombstones of Christians martyred for their faith in Jesus Christ. And the peace symbol that we now see on our clothing, on our cars, in our schools, has been used by the communists in every revolution that they have led in the entire world since the Bolshevik revolution in Russia. So what? So what? So what if there is a peace symbol? And so what if all you hear is peace? Everybody wants peace. So what? Listen carefully, I'll tell you so what. If there is a sign of the time pointing to the soonness of the coming of our Savior, it's the peace symbol. The peace symbol itself and its rise to fame and popularity is a sign of the nearness of the coming of our Lord. And Daniel will not turn to it, but in Daniel chapter 8, we have the story of a great world dictator who someday will conquer the world. He's called in the Bible the man of sin. He's called the beast out of the earth. We call him the Antichrist. But in the end time, there will be an awful dictator with all the ruthlessness of Titus, of Nero, of Kaiser Wilhelm, Adolf Hitler, Mussolini, Napoleon, and all the others wrapped into one ruthless godless package. In fact, I believe that in the middle of the tribulation period, he will become the devil incarnate just as really as Jesus was God in the flesh. And this dictator will conquer the entire world. He will for a few moments or a few hours be king of the entire world. We call him the Antichrist, the man of sin. He will destroy many. Now what method will he use to destroy many? Will he use bombs, guns, ammunition? What is the method that this wicked, vile, cruel man of sin, the Antichrist, young people, listen to me, what is the method that he'll use with which to destroy many? Daniel gives it to us in chapter 8 in verse 25, listen to these words, for by peace he will destroy many. Did you hear that? Did you hear that? By peace, the great weapon used by Satan in the end time for the destruction of this world by the Antichrist and his followers will not be with war, it will be with peace. He will destroy many. How? With peace. Listen to me carefully now. Parents, hear me. School teachers, you hear me. Americans, listen to me. Folks in authority, hear me. Peace never comes to those who pursue it. Peace never comes to those who pursue it. Peace never comes to those who are dedicated to it. Peace is like joy. Joy is never found by seeking it, by being sought. Joy is found as a by-product of doing right. Happiness is a by-product of doing right. And ladies and gentlemen, listen to me. Hear me, Supreme Court. Hear me, Mr. McGovern. Hear me, Mr. Nixon. Hear me, America. Hear me, parents. Hear me, school teachers. Hear me, principals. Peace comes to those who are dedicated to doing right. Peace is the fruit of the willingness to fight. Did you hear what I said? Peace is the fruit of a willingness to fight. And without willingness to fight there is no peace. There is inevitable destruction. This philosophy of the Antichrist starts in the home. Starts at the knee of the mother and father. We have the false idea today that peace means everything. No, peace does not mean everything. Righteousness means everything. Holiness means everything. Justice means everything. Peace is never sought, found by a suitor. Peace is never found by one who seeks it. Peace is the inevitable result when we're willing to fight for what we think is right. A nation dedicated to disarmament will have destruction. A nation dedicated to unwillingness to fight will have destruction. A nation who thinks it's more peaceful not to fight than to fight will have destruction. More lives have been saved by the willingness to fight than by unwillingness to fight. More lives have been saved by those who fight for right than those who lay down for wrong. More lives have been saved by those who are hawks than by those who are doves. Starts in the home. Peace at any cost. Now listen to me. Peace in a home. If you say, I'm going to have peace in a home, you will destroy your children. Nobody will find peace in a home by trying to get peace when you say to your kids, you'll do right or you'll get it. That's the way you have peace in a home. War or not. By the way, this word peace here in Daniel 8.25, by peace you shall destroy many. It comes from the same word of suddenly, by sudden peace, by temporary peace, by immediate peace, by peace now. Many are destroyed later and the Antichrist will come across this world and conquer the world and shall murder many. How? Because he uses the symbol of peace. He uses the theme of peace, peace, peace, peace. And he loves righteousness to sleep. We have no arms to fight for righteousness. Why? Because we've been loved. That peace means everything. You show me a family that won't discipline. You show me a family that won't fight. I'll show you a family that'll have war later on. I was on an airplane the other day going out to Los Angeles. I've done this several times, but this was an unusual case. I was sitting by myself on one side of the aisle and they were, turn me up Mr. Trafalfella, and there was a mother and a child over here on the other side of the aisle. And he was a brat. I mean, he was really a brat. He wasn't just cute, you know, like your boy, like that. I mean, he was a brat. He was a rascal. But we had a four-hour flight. For the first two hours, we endured that little rascal. Everybody on the plane was disgusted and the mother tried everything. She tried bubble gum. She tried Lifesaver mint. She tried Hershey bars. She tried cold drink. She tried a nickel. She tried a dime. She tried a quarter. She had tried a hundred dollar bill. I'd have paid a hundred dollars to admit the brat shut up so I could have studied. And peace. She was going to have peace, but she had nothing but war. After two hours of that, I walked back, or walked over and I said, little lady, I said, you're having a problem. Could I help you? And she said, what, how? I said, could I quieten the boy for you? He was about three, I guess. And she said, she said, why, if you can do anything, help me. And I said, now I cannot do anything. I said, would you just do whatever I do? Is it okay? And she said, yes, sir. I said, now you understand now, whatever I do, I should murder or whatever it is. Is it okay? And she said, yes, I said, okay, I'm going to do it. The boy looked up at me and he said, no. And I grabbed him by his neck and I jerked him up and looked him eyeball to eyeball. And I said, you sit still, you little rat. And I looked at him, just looked at him. And I said, if you don't sit still, I'm going to beat you, the fire out of you and fire and fed you. Now you sit still, you've caused enough trouble for two hours. Sit down. I didn't say sit down. I said sit down. You talk about having attention of an audience. I had the entire airplane. I want you to know the stewardesses came back and they said, boy, he's mean. He's mean. And I took that little kid and I sat him down. And I said, don't you move till we get to Los Angeles. And all he moved was his eyeball. He sat there just like this and about every five minutes he'd go and he'd go, I'd be over this way, he'd go. And we had peace. Why? Because I was willing to fight. You're not going to have peace in your home till you set your kid down, till you have a few wars, you will not have peace. And if you start off with peace, you're going to have a lifetime of war later on. When your baby is born and misbehaves, stand down where you ought to be, stand down, spank him where you ought to be spanked, take care of him where you ought to be cared for, have a war if needs be. Listen, for 13 years, we've had peace, 12 years, we've had peace in this church. We've had no troubles in this church. We've had no church splits. We've had no serious problems. Why? Because 13 years ago, we were willing to have a war but not have peace. We had war and we fought and we bled and some suffered. And my life was threatened time and time again. And we suffered and we travailed and we fought. Why? So we could have peace. This wicked nation of ours that's being tranquilized into a slumber, that peace is everything, ought to check the word of God to find that righteousness is everything. And when righteousness comes and conviction comes, a nation finds she has peace a thousand times with a fight for right and let wrong reign unchallenged. Same thing is true in the school. Relaxing the rules in the school will cause war. I said to our teachers Friday at noon, I said, you will have a better classroom if you will enforce these rules to the dot on the i. The teacher who lets you get by with anything is not your friend but your enemy. The teacher who will cater to the student body or the class members because she wants to be a good beloved teacher will soon become a hated teacher and will be cursed by those whom she tried to win. The good old guy comes out last when the race is finished. The one who says we'll have war. I recall when I was in junior high school, we had a teacher named Brown. He was a general science teacher. I was a typical kid. I always found out how much I could get by with the first day or two. I thought I'd spend the first week finding out how much I could get by with. But he didn't give me a week. A fellow named Charlie Hawker. Charlie and I sat beside each other and I said, let's see if this old boy, let's see what we can do. Do you know why I was saying those words, what he did? That's all I said. I said, Charlie, let's see what we can do. Before I finished the word do, he had me up. He had me up in front of the class. He turned me over the desk and he took a paddle and he let me have it right in front of the whole class. I went back and I said, Charlie, we can't do much. I mean, I'm afraid we're just going to have to be quiet in here. When he got the paddle to me, he said, now write your name on it. He said, everybody, our paddle signs this paddle. That's where I learned to write. I signed a paddle. Do you know what? I don't even think I said good morning to Charlie all semester. I walked in. Now, there were some classes I'd get by with anything, but there's one place I knew when I walked in the door, Mr. Brown's room, I knew I was going to behave and we had peace. Why? Because the teacher started off with war. All this American philosophy that came out of hell by way of Moscow that says that peace is what we want. Peace. Let the communists take over Southeast Asia, but peace. Let the communists take over Cambodia, but peace. Let the communists have Laos, but peace. Let the communists have the Middle East, but peace. Let them have Europe, but peace. Let them take over, but peace. That kind of thing will cause the destruction someday of all that we know and all that we hold holy and all that we hold dear. Until we stand up to Soviet Russia and Red China, until we stand up to Mr. Castro and all the enemies of hell, from hell and our generation and say, we're going to fight, we're going to build our arms, we're going to be strong. Why? So we'll fight? No, but so we'll stand for right, and if right becomes on the cross, we'll fight for it and put it back on the crown, on the throne. Same thing happens to the nation. Some of our folks have heard me tell this story. I was in junior high school, went out for basketball, made the team. We practiced every afternoon, the last class. I was a little bit of a runt, played guard on the first team, Valley Story Junior High School. We had a sissy in our class, real sissy, name was Hugh Brewer. Real sissy, tall, skinny, made straight A's. I always hated anybody that made straight A's. Carried his books, and he sat down, he sat down. He was a sissy. Every time we chose sides, he was chosen last. All the boys were chosen, then the girls, and then Hugh. So one day I went out to practice basketball, last period. Hugh had the ball. He didn't know how to shoot. He didn't have a jump shot. He didn't have a hook shot. He went, big sissy, great tall fella. I said, Hugh, ball. He said, no. Well, Hugh had never said no to me. I said, Hugh, ball. He said, no. I said, Hugh, one more time, I'm coming over to get it. I went over, and I got it. He hit me in the nose. Hugh Brewer, Hugh Brewer, sissy's guy in the class. I mean, the Vander Moodle of our class. He hit me. I saw stars that have not been discovered by telescopes as yet. I saw heavenly bodies, Milky Way, North Star, South Star. I saw them all. And I took that basketball. Here, Hugh. And did you know, as far as I was concerned, from then on, he was on the first team. I helped him find the ball if he ever wanted it. And I started practicing how to shoot like that. You know why? Because we had peace. I never caused him any trouble. If America did the same thing with Russia, we'd have peace in the world. But we had peace. But you say, I didn't want that. I just don't believe that. Well, that's why I'm preaching what I am, to straighten you out while you're here. God knows while the peace symbol is getting more popular, the whole world's about to blow up. And what's the Antichrist going to use? Peace. By peace, he shall destroy many. By peace, he shall conquer the world. By peace, he will lull those of us who believe, want to have peace, into a tranquil sleep while we disarm and he arms. And by peace, he destroys many. Same thing is true in a church. Young people, you wonder sometimes, my brother Hiles is rough. I want you to have peace in your life. That's why we have war sometimes here. Last night, I won't go into it. It's too sordid. But I heard a story last night that kept me awake most of the night. I wanted to get to bed early last night. I was ahead of my schedule. And I was behind on my sleep. And I wanted to get to bed early. And I thought I could. But at 930, something happened. A story was revealed to me about one or two or three of our kids. Oh, not your kids, but kids that come here all the time. An awful, sordid story. And I didn't get in bed till after midnight, and I couldn't sleep. And I promised God I'd get meaner. I'm going to get mean tonight again. I'm going to cloud up and rain tonight. It may seem, brother Hiles is mean. I say, young people hear me. Young people be right. Young folks be clean. Young folks, wear your skirts down a decent length. Get rid of your miniskirts. Get rid of your rock records. Cut your hair, you fellows, and dress like a man, and walk like a man, and be men. It sounds funny. It sounds rough. It sounds mean. You say, boy, he doesn't love. Listen to me, we've got plenty of time to love. If we can thresh it out right now and get righteous. Amen. We want to, listen, churches all over this country are splitting right down the middle because the pastors try to have peace. I'm not trying to have peace. I'm trying to have righteousness. And brother, we've got what they're looking for. I don't know how to get it. They're looking for the peace we have. We have peace because I say, you deacons live right, and you teachers live right, and you young folks live right. Because I want to holler and scream, beat the pulp and the stomp for righteousness, for right, for truth. We have war and so we have peace. They that sow in tears shall reap in joy, but they that sow in joy shall reap in tears. They that sow in war shall reap in peace, and they that sow in peace shall reap in war. And he who's willing to fight for a day today will have peace for years tomorrow. But he who wants to have peace today will have war for years tomorrow. So that's the reason we preach hard. One lady said, who met me recently, said, I'm scared to meet you. Well, you ought to be. I mean no. No. I am a hard preacher. I do take a stand for right. I do believe. I am against the hippie crowd. And I'm against what's going on in America. And I'm against the long-haired beatniks. And I'm against the communist revolution. And I'm against the nudity. And I'm against the topless bathing suits. And I'm against the peace symbol. And I'm against the trend toward McGovernism in America. I'm against it. Of course I am, unless we have some Christians who will say, I'll take off my coat and fight if I have to. We're going to end up the rest of our lives fighting. If we'll have a little war right now, we can have peace later. So the Antichrist comes and by peace he destroys many. And may I say just a word to you unsaved folks. I'd like to be a beloved preacher. I am by a lot of people. Somebody says, Brother Hiles, I wish I were like you. And I don't care what folks think about me. I do care what folks think. I'm human like you are. You unsaved people, you hear what you hear about Brother Hiles. You know the criticism. You know why I preach mean. You know why I preach on hell. You know why I stand up here and say if you don't get saved, you're going to go to hell. You know why? I want you to have peace forever. And so I'm willing to make you mad at me if you need me. And I'm willing to stomp and kick and beg and plead and say in God's dear name if you don't make peace with God through Christ. If you don't listen to a preacher who says avoid the wrath of God, escape the judgment of God, flee the fires of hell and the awfulness of judgment, then you're going to have misery forever. All over this area this morning some little pastor standing up reading the sermon that's in the book. Has a book of Sunday morning sermon, Sunday night sermon, Sunday morning sermon, Sunday night sermon. Most of them only have to use the morning. But he has a little sermon and he's trying to appease the people, not to make anybody mad. I'd fight the whole deacon board of this church before sundown tonight for what I think is right. I'd fight the entire membership of this church at the drop of a hat for what I think is right. But some preacher is trying and oh, while he's doing it, those who sat in his pews and said isn't he a fine fellow. He's not a rabble rouser like Hyles and others. He's such a nice loving kind of preacher. And while he stands this morning with his synthetic false hypocritical kind of love, people that have sat in those pews and bragged on him are burning in hell and crying for water and begging for mercy and saying oh my God, I didn't know about this place. He never told me. He never told me about hell. He never warned me the judgment of God. I go to sleep at night thinking about folks in hell. I go to bed every Saturday night thinking about my own dad who unless he got saved has been in hell for 22 long years. And I don't want anybody to go to hell. I want you to go to heaven. I want you to be saved. I want you to have peace forever. I want you to walk on golden streets and through gates of pearl. I want you folks that have backs that are stooped to straighten your backs forever. I want the furrowed brow to be clean and smooth. I want the cancer to be gone. I want you to go to a place where there's nothing but peace forever and ever and ever. And that's why I stand and I say God loves you, but God won't put up with your sin and God will punish your sin. Come to Christ. Escape the fires of hell. That's why I have worn out. That's why we fight a little bit now. That's why we beat the pulpit and stomp and holler now. That's what it's all about. For we believe that the Bible teaches that if we'll fight for truth today, we can have peace in truth tomorrow. Let us pray.