Okay. Greetings, friends and new listeners. Welcome to this program of the R.G. Harding Ministries. I'm Sharon Knotts thanking you for being with us today because we know faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.
Today's message by my father brother Hardy is certain to uplift you, especially if you're in a tight place. In fact, that's the title of today's message, The Tight Spots of a Christian.
So if you are in need of encouragement, you are in tune with the right station to hear a timely word. The tight spots of a Christian. I believe I'm a little bit like Jacob. Oh, Jacob used anything he could. to get out of a tight spot.
Didn't you do it? Tricked his brother. starved to death and stole his birthright. How? with his mother.
Calmed his father. To think it was somebody else. Put sheepskin, goatskin on. Put his brother's clothes on, smelt like his brother. Father was blind, said, I can't see you, but I'm gonna smell you.
Said you talk like Jacob. Say, but you feel like Esau. And his father blessed him and gave him everything. Bless God, I put goat skins on too to get everything with you. These folk don't believe that.
And all of a sudden, He heard that Esau was going to kill him. Oh, he was in a tight spot. He knew his brother wasn't a fool boy. He ain't gonna fool around. His brother was gonna.
Turn him every way but loose. He knew his brother was a wild man. And his brother said, I won't kill him now while we're mourning. But as soon as we get our father in the sepulcher and get all the mourners out, I'm going to kill him. I'm gonna kill him.
And when they say amen, and I mean Jacob knew he was in a tight spot. Do you know what he did? He left that blessing. He left all that things that his father gave him and he rotted. I said he run!
He left everything. He was in a tight spot. That man was gonna kill him. That man wasn't gonna do no talking. He said he couldn't tell that man, I'm going to give you the blessing.
The man said, I'm going to kill you and have it anyhow. How many say amen? He ran! Didn't he do it? And on his running in his tight spot.
He ran into God. That's a good one to run into. How many say amen? He didn't have anything. That's when God finds us.
I mean if God wasn't going to help us, why does he wait till we ain't got nothing when everybody's against us and when he say man Esau's going to kill us? And the only thing Jacob had, his sole tum, sum, and total of his. Belongus was a stone for his head. And while he had his head on that stone, God found them. What?
Jacob, see what that touch bar did? Yeah. It caused heaven to open up. You know, until he got that tight spot, he never did see heaven open up and see that golden staircase. You know, until he got in that tight spot, he never did find the house of God.
He never did do it. How many say MAM? Hey, hey, hey, mother, hey dad, don't feel so bad because your daughter or your son or your husband or your wife's in a tight spot. Then I will find the house of God. And then they say amen.
My God, he was running for his life with a few rags on his back. He didn't even have a big enough bundle to make up a pillar. He said he had a stone as a pillar. And while he was laying there, God found him. How many say amen?
Now, if God didn't want to keep me and save me, why did he bother to find me? I never sought him. You never sought him. He found us. Like he said, you haven't chosen me.
I've chose you. He found me. I remember when God found me. That was like Jacob. I didn't have a job.
My clothes is full of So you're at Burnt Holes, the one suit I had. How many say amen? I didn't have nothing. I might have had a few more rags. And a stone.
But actually, if the finance company would have come, I'd have had the stone. You see, Jacob substituted and traded the stone in for the rock. And then he say amen. And it is tight spot. God Just opened the door and the gate of heaven and dropped down his elevator or escalator or golden staircase and the songwriters wrote the songs and the ballad singers sang and we're climbing Jacob man.
I like to climb it. Hey, but you ain't going to see the ladder and climb it until you get in the tight spot and then it says amen. You don't need God to come down and deliver you until you need deliverance. Hey, if you want to see the Lord. I heard people say, oh God, let me see you.
Let me see your presence.
Well, you know what he does? As long as you're doing all right, you don't need him.
So when you say, Lord, I want to see you, he gets you in a tight spot and you start mumbling. Hey God, what did you put me in this place for? He said, I wanted to come down and see you. Said, I only come down when you're in tight spots to deliver you. You know, Jacob was laying on that pillow, resting from Esau.
Esau was on his track. Esau was so close he could almost feel the breath down his neck. But he was so tart he thought, well, I'm going to have to arrest her, I'm going to die anyway, so I'm going to take a chance. He probably was praying, oh God, Nick, you saw as taught as I am. God found him.
God opened the gate and the door of heaven and dropped down. That old ladder And when Jacob rubbed his eyes, He saw angels ascending and descending. Say what were they doing? They was bringing the blessings down, honey. I mean, they're sick of it.
Hallelujah! How many same? And he heard God. My God, he had to get in a tight spot before he could hear.
Some of you people won't hear God. You're too blessed. Everything's gone all right. He won't hear him.
Some of your loved ones, they don't want to hear about Jesus. Hey, come on to church. Nah, I'm too blessed. I got too much of that green in my pocket. I'm going down.
I'm going to have a ball. I'm going to have, I ain't got no time for Jesus. Oh, the Lord's going to make some time. Keep on praying. Hey, don't give up.
Say, God, make some time. Take that green out of their pocket. Get him in a tight spot. Yeah, they don't know. I'm in a tight spot.
Can you get a hold of God? God, get my loved ones and stick them in a tight spot. We need to pray God, put my loved one in a tight spot. You know when I first got saved, I went to my loved ones, and I testified that I was crying, pouring my heart out. Tell them about Jesus.
You see, I was so bad, they all thought it was good I should get saved. They thought that that was good for me because I was so bad. And I told them, well, if I was so bad, It was such a bad character and God made me so good.
Well, look how much ahead you are of me, what he could do for you. And one of my loved ones said to me, Well, I'd get saved if I knew what I had to get saved from. And God said, Son. Pray. And I'll show him what she needs to be saved from.
You know a lot of young loved ones ain't gonna get saved. Yeah. Cause they got too much money. They got too good of a job. They got too nice of a home.
They got too much furniture and clothes. Too much time on their hands and too much money. And too much what they think is pleasure. And the devil's come all busy. With all of this luxury.
All of this newfound money. and this newfound chime And they ain't got time for God.
Well, honey, we need to pray for God to give them some time. We need to pray, God. Put him in a tight spot. Get him in the place Until They realize what they need to be saved. He knows what he needs to be saved from now.
He knows it now. See, that's what God's about to do to America. They said God. Who meets God? We got all our money.
We got all of our alcohol we want. Man, we got pickled. Livers? We're the nation of pickled livers. How many say amen?
We got pickle brains. We got smoked bodies. We're living in one big smokehouse. Heavenly say amen. We ain't got time.
We out there out there with acid. How many say amen? Acid is it? Acid is where God is. You ain't going to find God there, you're going to find trouble.
I believe you're going to find your need for God there. And they said, Who needs God? We got plenty of money. And we got good old welfare who needs God. Yeah.
I can ride down to get my welfare check in my Cadillac. Who needs God? Who needs a job? Who needs anything? The president, he's already squeezing that.
And that's what God said. Said we've committed two evils. God, it's too easy. You know when it's too easy, you forget God. He gets soft.
They ain't gonna be able to how to rough it. They don't know what it will mean to endure hardness. As a good soldier. That's what's the matter with the church. They don't know what it means to endure hardness as a good soldier.
They don't want to pray no more. They got too much money. They don't have to live by faith. They got too much money. They got too much clothes.
How many say amen? They're starting on the second car. And the furniture. See America. And the church has got to the same place here.
They don't need God. How many say, amen, we got our good job? We got plenty of money. We got that old paycheck coming in. We don't have to live by faith.
We're living by the green. We ain't gonna let God do it. We're gonna let George do it. They don't like me, Jesus.
Some of them are praying that I don't have enough voice. After you say amen. And they forget God. Oh, it's so easy to backslide when you get to that place. You don't have to pray no more.
Somebody was telling me about a conversation they heard. Her two sisters said, It's one woman, I won't call her sister. Asked what the other lady said, Do you know anybody in our church prays an hour? No, it's a price an hour. And they suffered.
The other one said, Do you believe it's a sin to pray an hour? And the other one says What do you want to do that for? Maybe that's why they quit praying down here at Faith Tabernacle. It might might be a sin to pray. I mean, they don't have to pray no more.
You know, folks don't have to pray, they don't have to trust God. You know. Back in the thirties, they had to trust God. Them soup was awful thin them soup lines How many say amen? All we had were vivals.
In the 30s and the early 40s. Sure we did. That's how I got here. That's how you got here. You know how I got here?
Somebody committed a sin and prayed an hour or so. You know when one of the first places I got exposed to the gospel. Back in the 30s, they had helping up missions. And food was hard to get. Look at the breadlines.
Soup lines. WPA PWA. They don't know what I'm talking about. CCC. Remember the youth camps for the boys?
C C C camps. That's the same principle these helping up missions are working at. One niche. Smokehounds, as it were, fall so low and have no money. And nothing to eat.
And nothing to drink. And they get in the tight spot. They'll go into the mission. They get a loaf of bread. And some soup.
How many see you men? That's how I first heard the gospel. They used to have them helping up missions and meet some of the young fellas. We was only kids 8 and 10 years old. Went in there to get that glass of chocolate milk and loaf of bread.
But I can still remember the song. They used to sing it, honey. You want to hear it? Bring them in. Bring them in, bring them in from the field.
That ought to be our theme song down here at Faith Tabernacle. Bring them in, bring them in, bring the wandering soul to Jesus. I believe that God down in my spirit. How many say amen? Amen.
See, maybe that's why some of you having a tough spot. You got so prosperous, God blessed you so much. Give you good clothes. There's nothing wrong with that. If you use it righteously.
You see, when God gives me a pair of new shoes or new clothes or some money, I don't forget him. I thank him that much more. I just get down and thank him. I don't take the blessing. And you sit and consume it on my own lust.
And forget him and lose my anointing and lose my blessing and wind up. In a tight spot. And in that tight spot, I call on God, God said, I didn't lead you there. I believe God's going to bring America to a tight spot. I believe before some of your loved ones.
We're going to call on Jesus.
Well, call on you to call on God for them. or listen to you testify, or come into a church, they're going to have to be brought in a tight spot. In fact. I'm praying. God's answering my prayer to my loved ones.
Because when I poured my heart out and cried to them, told them about Jesus, and they flipped it away and says, well, what do I need to be saved from? Then God said, son, begin to pray now that I will show them what they need to be saved from. And in 20 years, a brilliant God is answering my prayer. And they are beginning to see what they need to be saved from. I think we need to put our loved ones off the altar and say, God, put them in a tight spot.
Take away all that excess money. Take away all that idol time. Take it away! Bring them down to their knees. I believe God in a prophecy said to America, I'm going to bring you down to your knees.
I think you better get ready, honey. for a recession in America. God said to the prophecies, I'm going to take your silver and your gold away. You know it's already Hard to get a job out there now. I'm glad I'm a saint.
God will take care of you. Why is God going to put him in a tight spot? Because he hates them, no, because, honey, he wants them to find the door to the house of God. Honey, America needs to be put in a tight spot.
So that she can one more time remember God that has made her mighty. Don't let God take away your money and your blessings to get you to pray. Pray and use your blessings to lift up Jesus. The backslatter needs to be put in a tight spot.
So that they can remember one more time the God that delivered them. The cold and indifferent Christian needs to be put in the tight spot.
So she can remember how that God has brought her out and gave her the victory. Saint that's lost your burden, that's lost your desire to praise and worship God and your burden for souls. You need to be brought in a tight spot before you backslide to the bottom and get lost and condemned with the world. Honey, tight spots are blessings in disguise. White spots are blessings in disguise.
They're just stopping you on your pell-mill rush. Towards eternity and oblivion and destruction and the pitfall of Satan and make you stop and look to the rock that's higher than you to make you remember that Jesus never fails, that God cannot fail, that God is the same, and Jesus Christ is the same. If it's any change that I've changed and you change, but God hasn't changed. Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. God still wants to save our loved ones.
I said, God still wants to save our loved ones. God still wants to bring a revival to Baltimore. God still wants to bring a revival to Amazon. But the blessings, instead of making us more thankful and driving us closer to God, has caused us to drift away until we forgot our God and we bless our blessings instead of the blesser. God's calling to my mind a prophecy that He made not too long ago, and He said, All right.
If you won't let me bless you. to get your attention. If you won't let me... Control your mind and your thinking, and use you because I lavish my gifts and my blessings on you. That I am going to get your attention.
If he said, If I have to tear down all the gifts, if I have to remove it all, I'm not going to let you get away. Don't let me get away, God. Don't let me fall in a trap. Don't let me be deceived. Don't let me lose my vision.
Don't let me lose my burden. Don't let me come to the end of my life and find out that I have deceived myself in thinking that gain is godliness. And I lost my burden. And my vision put me in a tight spot. Put me in a tight spot until I know that there is a God that sits on the circle of the earth.
And I'll tell you why America's not saved. And I'll tell you why Baltimore doesn't have a revival. And I'll tell you why your loved ones. or not saved. It's because we've lost our burden.
And we've lost our vision. And all we can look in the mirrors and All we can see. Because we have got so big and so enlarged as me, myself, and I. We are destroying people. Because the Bible said without a vision.
People perish. People are perishing. America's perishing. Because the church has lost its vision. How many say amen?
There's no souls getting saved because the church has lost her travail. And she has got so satiated. And so filled with the joy and the blessings of God that they have become stale to him. You know how we felt when we were in the tight spots, when we had the burden, when we had the load of the Lord, or when we called on God, he moved and we rejoiced, we thanked him because he moved. But now we just got tired.
Ho hum! We're going to come to church and we're going to shout again. We're going to dance yourself silly again. I'm part of it too, children. I believe a good cry that produces an altar call.
I believe a good travail would be a welcome change. Yeah. Make up shouting tonight.
Somebody says it's a hard message. It ain't a hard message to me. Hallelujah. I got hopes God's going to give some children yet in Faith Tabernacle. I got hopes that God is going to do miracles yet in Faith Tabernacle.
Somebody said, Why, Brother Hardy? I thought you shouted when they shout. No, God confirms the word. And all we were shouting about was God was giving us grace to try to keep us to the next service. to give us grace to keep us to the next service.
Until He could get us screwed up enough, until He could talk to our hearts and open our eyes and let us see that there is a world dying and there's not much to shout about. Oh, thank God, thank God he's on the mainline tonight. Thank you, Jesus! Thank you, you're talking. I don't care if you laid a rot on me.
Just talk to me tonight. Talk to me tonight, Jesus. Yeah. No. Amen.
What an inspiring word of encouragement by God's servant Brother Hardy, the tight spots of a Christian. The Scripture says, Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers them out of them all.
Now the term afflictions does not refer to a sickness, but rather to a narrow, confining place, as though you are being squeezed or as Apostle Paul described, being pressed in the spirit, and even pressed out of measure in other words, a tight spot. Many are the tight spots of a Christian, but God has promised to deliver us out of every one. 1 Corinthians 10.4 states, There is no temptation taken you, but such as is common to man. But God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted above that which you are able, but with the temptation will also make a way to escape that you may be able to endure. Child of God, your tight spot will not destroy you, because God is faithful to bring you out.
And James reminded us that we have the examples of the Old Testament saints who also suffered great afflictions, and they did so with patience. And Peter stated that the same afflictions, the very same tight spots, are accomplished in our brethren around the world. We believe this message is one you might need to hear again, or you may know someone who is in a tight spot that you want to share it with. It can be ordered on CD for a love gift of $10 or more for the Radio Ministry. Request offer 127 and mail to Archie Hardy Ministries, P.O.
Box 1744, Baltimore, Maryland, 21203. or go online to archiehardy.org. Friends, even if you do not wish to order, we want to hear from you and we need your financial support to continue on this station. But to receive the tight spots of a Christian, request offer 127, mailed to P.O. Box 1744, Baltimore, Maryland, 21203.
Till next time, this is Sharon Ad singing Marinada. Yeah.
