 Beginning at verse 26, they sailed to the country of the Gadarenes, which is opposite Galilee. And when he stepped out on the land, there met him a certain man from the city who had demons for a long time, and he wore no clothes, nor did he live in a house but in the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out, fell down before him, and with loud voice said, What have I to do with you, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me. For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man, for it had often seized him, and he was kept under guard, bound with chains and shackles, and he broke the bonds and was driven by the demon into the wilderness. And Jesus asked him, saying, What is your name? And he said, Legion, because many demons had entered him, and they begged him that they would not command them to go out into the abyss. Now, a herd of many swine was feeding there on the mountain, and they begged him that he would permit them to enter them, and he permitted them. Then the demons went out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd ran violently down the steep place into the lake and drowned. When those who fed them saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country. Then they went out to see what had happened and came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had departed sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind they were prayed. They also, who had seen it, told them by what means he had been demon-possessed, was healed. Then the whole multitude of the surrounding region of the gatherings asked him to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear, and he got into the boat and returned. Now, the man from whom the demons had departed begged him that he might be with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, Return to your own house and tell what great things God has done for you. And he went his way and proclaimed throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him. And so it was when Jesus returned that the multitude welcomed him, for they were all waiting for him. The disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, as we saw last time, had just gone through an incredible storm, a storm that had left them in great fear. And now, as we are looking at this particular story, we know that they are physically and we know that they are mentally exhausted. They have been active in ministry. They've been active all day, and they've been active into the evening, and now they are cold, and they are wet, and they're tired. They are absolutely exhausted. For these disciples, all their desire is to arrive at their destination, but there is more to come, and that's what we're looking at today, because they have a demonic welcome wagon waiting for them. This passage that we're looking at today gives to us insight into what is referred to as demon possession. Demons. Now, what are they? Well, demons are fallen angels. The Bible tells us in Revelation 12, verse 4, that when Satan fell, he swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. It is commonly believed that what is being referred to there, when it speaks of the dragon, who is also pictured as Satan, that in the rebellion of Satan there was a certain amount of angels who fell along with him, and those are called today fallen angels. Now, the fallen angels in Scripture are normally simply referred to as demons, they're evil spirits. And as we look in the Scripture, the Scripture points to them as being an actual entity, and we see several things about them. We see that they are evil. We see that they are powerful, very often described as unclean, and they are allied with and under Satan's authority. Jesus, making reference to the authority of Satan in Matthew 12, 26, says, if Satan casts out Satan, he's divided against himself, how then will his kingdom stand? And so, in reference to the kingdom, we know that he has authority that he wields over these fallen angels, and therefore, Jesus would be referring to his kingdom in that way, kingdom meaning that he has authority over these fallen angels. Now, the New Testament instances of demonic encounters points demon possession out to be supernatural. Sometimes the individual who is demon possessed may simply look like they have problems, but Scripture points out that it's not insanity and it is not a disease. Sometimes the outer appearance makes it seem like there's something wrong that's only physical. You see in Luke 13, verse 11, a woman with the spirit of infirmity who has bowed over, that looks physical. In Matthew 9.32, there's a mute man, and so that obviously is physical, and yet it's ascribed to demonic possession. And in Matthew 9.18, there's a little boy who has symptoms of epilepsy, but these are manifestations of demonic possession, and Scripture makes it clear that they were not simple illnesses, they were actual supernatural possessions. Now, the man in this particular book that appears to be terribly insane, but Luke makes it clear that it is not insanity. He makes it clear that this is a case of demonic possession. Interestingly, for those of you who take notes, Matthew 8, verses 28 through 34 actually tells us that there are two men, but Luke concentrates on just one. And so as we look at this, we're looking at what Luke would refer to as the man of the Gadarenes. Because they sail to the country of the Gadarenes, which is opposite Galilee. And so they're landing their boat there, and they're exiting on the shore of a place called Gadara. Now, if you were looking at a map, the Gadarenes region, if you were looking at a map and just viewing it and looking at it like you were looking at a map of California, because Israel is basically in the same similar configuration as the state of California, you'd be looking to the north into what we call the sea of Galilee. And about three-quarters of the way up, there is a lake right in the center, we'll say, of the state. And on that lake, that's the sea of Galilee, or the lake Tiberius. When you're looking at that lake, north, south, east and west, the Gadarenes would be on the eastern shore. And we've been there numerous times. We've been to this general region there that Jesus is at. And the Gadarenes is on that region. In that region, there were ten cities, and you'll see this in your scripture when you read about the Decapolis. Deca is ten, Polis is a city, ten cities, and that's a region there to the east that had ten Greek cities, which gives us some insight as to why he would be raising, or be amongst rather, pigs, because the Gentiles inhabited that particular region, and therefore it's very possible that the pigs very well have been owned by Gentile owners, though it doesn't say that. He is in the Gadarenes. Now, in the region, there are caves. You can still see those caves. I mean, when we go in March of 2008, we're going to be going in that region, and you will see that in this hillside, and the hillside up in that area, there are caves that have been carved out, and those caves that have been carved out were used in the hills of the region there descend, and they descend there into the Sea of Galilee up to the edge of the water, and it's from the hillside of tombs that this demonized man comes out to meet them. And as he does so, notice verse 27, it says, when he, speaking of Jesus, stepped out on the land, there met him a certain man from the city who had demons for a long time, but he wore no clothes, nor did he live in a house, but, he says, in the tombs. And so, this is a man who is possessed, who is meeting him, a man who has demons, and has been so possessed for a long time. The question has to be asked, how does that happen? And I was thinking about that just this evening, because the Scripture doesn't really clearly tell us when Jesus encountered these people how it happened. It doesn't say exactly, not in the New Testament, how demon possession happens, but we do know this. We do know that normally, if you're possessed by a demon, and does it happen today? Yes, it does. Can it happen? Yes, it can. Have I seen this? Yes, I have. Was it a mental illness? No, it wasn't. It was obviously a demonic occurrence. And normally what happens is people will open themselves up to demons. You can do it in a variety of ways. You can do it willingly by asking to be possessed. You can actually ask and fill me and all, and in some organizations, your request is answered. Some people are possessed in that fashion. There's a variety of ways, but normally it is through an invitation of some sort or a dabbling in the occult. Sometimes people get into the occult. They get into the tarot cards, they get into the even simple things like we think are harmless parlor games like Ouija boards and all. They can get involved, and that's a gateway. That's one of the entrance ways you're opening yourself up further and further to things that are demonic and all. We do know this. We know that this man was possessed. He was possessed by what is referred to as an impure demon, an unclean demon. We know some of the things that we're going to be looking at not just by what we see here in Luke, but by combining this with Luke, rather Mark and combining it with Matthew, Mark chapter 5 and Matthew chapter 8. And so that gives us insight into what's taking place. And so as we look at the passage, we're going to see things about how tormented this guy was. And what we're going to do, and this is where it becomes practical in some ways I would say, is we're going to see how those who serve Satan, how they're treated by him. And I really think that that's something worthy of considering at least as we enter into our study tonight. We're going to see how Satan treats those who have been yielded to him. Sometimes people think that if I were to just serve the enemy, serve Satan, he'll give me everything I want. I've actually had conversations with people who believe that. Years ago I was teaching a study as a matter of fact something on demonic possession to the high school department because I considered them all demon possessed and wanted to exercise them. Now I was talking to the kids and many years ago now, and somebody knocked on the door and I had just gone through a similar study that we're looking at. I had just concluded this study. When someone knocks on the door and I looked up and I said, yes you know, can I help you? It was one of our secretaries and she said pastor could you come here for a moment and so I excused myself and I went outside for a moment and I said what? She said there are two young men who want to talk to you. They just came here and she said and they told me they are servants of Satan and they wanted to talk to a Christian pastor and so I looked around for an assistant who wasn't there so I had to go and when I went out I actually came back in and I spoke to the kids and I said you know God has given to us an application of this scripture right now. I said that we just went through a personal application and I said there are some Satanists outside who want to talk to me so would you do me a favor and would you lift up this conversation in prayer because I'm going to go out and speak to these kids so I walked outside and I stood outside with these young boys and they began to talk to me and they began to say things to me you know you know you guys you Christians and they were they were angry at Christianity for some reason make a very long story short as we were speaking they said to me something like this they said Satan is the king Satan is powerful Satan defeats God and Satan defeated Jesus Christ and that's why we follow them and I remember looking at these boys and I said it's an interesting thing to me that you guys are telling me that Satan is the ruler and king and fulfills your wishes but it is you seeking out a Christian to speak it's not the Christians seeking you out and don't you see that what you have is leaving you empty and they had done something they said we just need to talk to somebody because we did something that we cannot tell you about but it's something that even we are shaking about and I have to tell you I came away wondering what is it never discovered what they did by the way but is it real is it real that people actually do worship Satan is it real that people open themselves up to the demonic absolutely absolutely and so that's what we're looking at right here we're looking at how Satan treats those who come to worship him in John chapter 10 verse 10 Jesus said this he said the thief does not come except to steal and to kill and to destroy I have come that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly so what is the fruit of following Satan well one I want you to notice here that it says in verse 27 he wore no clothes nor did he live in a house but in the tombs well one of the things obviously is you can end up living in a neighborhood you never thought you could live in he's living in a tomb he lived in tombs this is an area that was carved out hillsides and cliffs he started believing that that was the only place that he could live you can get used to living in places that you didn't think you'd ever end up in because you think that that's all there is to life so living in a cemetery reveals to us that this man was completely defiled the law of Moses made it clear that Jews were not to come into contact with dead bodies and yet that's all he came into contact with the second thing you can lose all sense of morals this is a man who roamed about completely naked which speaks about a shameful life he had lost all sense of modesty he had lost any sense of shame and so Satan wants you to no longer feel embarrassment by the things that you do I believe when the enemy leads you down his path he causes you to lose some very basic things that at one time you had reservations about I mean even small children have a modesty about them as they begin to grow a little bit older they begin to be more modest I mean if they're one or two or even into their third year of life you know they may come running out without their diaper and everything and you don't think anything about it of course and they don't either and sometimes they run around telling you and you have to go put your clothes on you know but when you get older you get a sense of modesty but when you're following the enemy it's amazing how he will break down your modesty to the point where you lose any shame I have seen more than one film at 11 on the gay parades you know and when you see the things that these people do with absolutely no shame whatsoever it has to give you some insight into them what the enemy does he takes away the biggest sense of feeling embarrassment a third thing is he encourages angry hatred towards others this one was tormented and the other Gospels point out that he was actually pushed towards violence towards other people Matthew 828 says that they were so violent that no one could pass that way and so this is what he does the enemy moves you towards anger and not loving not compassion and a fourth thing is Mark chapter 5 verse 4 tells us that no one could bind him even with chains and people grew to have tremendous fear of him and avoided him that's because the enemy can move you towards violence you can become violent a fifth thing is that he was night and day in the mountains and in the tombs and in other words in constant torment there was no break in the action there was no time and Mark chapter 5 verse 5 also tells us he was constantly crying out and cutting himself with stones he's self-destructive see demons are demons are intending harm towards us and ultimately they will push you to harm yourself it interests me how it says in Mark 5 5 that he was cutting himself I wonder you know I don't want to go on record saying that I believe this is exactly true and therefore I have to be careful but I wonder if the enemy still doesn't push people towards harming themselves I wonder because I meet young people who take razor blades and slice themselves wound themselves you know that most certainly isn't the Lord pushing them to do that and you see the demonic influence you see what is taking place so he's harming himself cutting himself crying out he is self-destructive this is someone who has got an incredible amount of torment and wants to destroy himself his existence is unbearable and he constantly is trying to end it all but what happens well it says in verse 28 when he saw Jesus he cried out fell down before him and with a loud voice said what have I to do with you Jesus son of the most high God I beg you do not torment me for he had commanded the unclean to come out of the man for it had often seized him and he was kept under guard bound with chains and shackles and he broke the bonds and was driven by demon into the wilderness and so he begins to speak to him and he begins to ask him you know please don't torment me what are you doing to me have you but the interesting thing in verse 28 is what have I to do with you Jesus son of the most high is there anything that he has in common with Jesus Christ and the answer is no he has nothing in common with him they have nothing in common with one another if you take notes John 14 verse 30 Jesus said I will no longer talk much with you for the ruler of this world is coming and he has nothing in me we have nothing in common so when the question is what have I to do with you the answer is nothing we have nothing in common but he says to him I implore you don't torment me I don't want to go into that abuso I don't want to go into the pit I don't want to go before my time now as this is taking place verse 30 Jesus asks him a question what is your name and he says Legion now why is that significant because it gives to us an insight into the depths of his bondage a legion in Rome was 6,826 soldiers and so what he's speaking about is I am severely in bondage and that's why Jesus asks him his name and so in verse 31 he goes on and he says they begged him that he would not command them to go out into the abyss now a herd of many swine was feeding there on the mountain and they begged him that he would permit them to enter them and he permitted them the demons went out of the man and entered the swine and the herd ran violently down this deep place into the lake and drowned and so when you're looking at this particular region there it is commonly believed that the hills sloped on down and went all the way to the lip of the lake and so these swine are on this hillside and they rush on down and they fall into the water there and so you have two things in history that are unique one is you have deviled ham and then two that was the creation of the Bay of Pigs and so as this took place thank you for laughing I do appreciate that what's interesting is they asked Jesus for permission there's no reason for him to join this to take place he simply did perhaps they hoped when the pigs were lost that the city would reject Jesus they knew that people care for material comforts and spiritual and so they go and they enter and they die now in verse 33 reading on the demons went out of the man entered the swine the herd ran violently down this deep place and led and told it in the city and in the country and then they went out to see what had happened and came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had departed sitting at the feet of Jesus clothed and in his right mind and they were afraid and so what do they see and this is where I want to get kind of practical I think for a moment share a little bit with you from my heart about a couple of things what do they see well they see a man who had formally been naked and out of his mind seated at the feet of Jesus Christ clothed and in his right mind so what they see is an amazing miracle that took place they see a radical transformation let's get practical with this one I don't know how crazy you were before you came to Christ I don't know in our fellowship we have some people who were saints from the time they were small and they never really did anything wrong I still remember who used to be on our staff one of our gals sweetheart I had my staff giving their testimonies and each one was to share what their background was prior to coming to Christ everybody was giving their testimonies and some of them were pretty radical and then this young gal gives her testimony and she was one of our secretaries and as she was sharing she said the worst thing I've ever done is I toilet-papered somebody's house and she still felt bad about that and I'm thinking man you're Jesus as far as I'm concerned you think that was bad and she's ashamed I toilet-papered somebody's house you may be like that that may be the depth of your testimony and I say God bless you because the keeping grace of God is equal to the saving grace of God you know sometimes people come up and they give their testimonies and you hear them and you look at them and you say that ought to be a movie I mean that is so heavy what you went through and I'll tell you something God's transforming power especially in the lives of people who practically serve the enemy is an incredible testimony and that's what you see in this man a man that was fierce and frightening a man who was severely demon-possessed violent who was suicidal who had been yielded over to the enemy to the point where people wouldn't even pass by where he was because he'd come out of the tombs and he would frighten them this man is now tamed this man is now at the feet of Jesus Christ and he's sitting there like a lamb at the feet of its master and these people see this and it blows their mind the Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5 17 if any man be in Christ he's a new creature old things are passed away behold all things are become new what an incredible testimony when God grabs hold of your life and transforms you and a radical transformation does take place one of the promises God gives to us in Revelation 21 is simply behold I make all things new and the Lord does you can have the most radical background you could have been somebody who was into whatever you can imagine and all and then Jesus Christ grabs hold of your life and makes you unrecognizable to those who know you best that's how the Lord changed my life and that's what impacted my family was that radical transformation from darkness into light instantaneously when you walk into this room we don't have any windows here and so when those doors are closed and the other hall doors are closed this room is pitch black but you walk in and you hit the switch and instantly the light is gone the darkness is gone because the light is on and that's what happens God grabs hold of your life and instantly transforms you and the darkness flees because the light is present and that's what took place here it can shock people it can be so radical that they see that and they think something bad happened to you I can still remember a cousin of mine when I got saved he didn't like it he didn't like the transformation he did not like it and he told me he said David what happened to you man he said you used to be fun to be around he said and now you're all changed you're all different and he did not like it you see because before I got saved people kind of liked being around me because I was crazy because I did crazy things because I'd go to a party and if there was music playing and nobody was dancing because I would get up by myself in the middle of a dance floor and just spin around and do a bunch of dumb things just to make people laugh and they would because one of my friends was driving down the street and I was standing on the hood of his car with one leg in my arms out like a living hood ornament driving down the street and my mom's looking out the window as I drive by the house at 25 miles an hour and she hits the window so hard and I hear her screaming and so I tell him you better pull over and I pull over and I go home I said what do you want you're absolutely crazy and I thought yeah for sure I mean what sane person does that I mean I could tell you story after story and so my cousin is upset because I'm not fun anymore because God had given me a purpose for a living that was so radical that my life was absolutely transformed you know I hope you don't mind me sharing another thing but to me it was it's something I guess worth sharing at this point when I graduated from high school I mean I hardly went to school in my junior and my senior year I cut classes any class after lunchtime in my junior year I just wasn't there I mean I was too busy doing something else I didn't want to go to school so I'd go in the morning but any classes after lunchtime I just didn't show up so naturally I failed as a senior I would go to school but I didn't try at all I didn't ever read I didn't ever study and so when I graduated which I did graduate and when I graduated I graduated with I believe just barely made it I think it's like a d-d minus average I just I mean I just made it out of high school and so because I wouldn't read I mean the only books that I ever would read were comic books you know and that was about it I didn't read any books and anything like that for a long time and so when I turned 20 and I got saved God started doing some things in my life and I got drafted and that's another long story I ultimately went into the military in March March 15th, 1971 when you go into the army they give to you in the first week that you're there they give you battery of tests you have to take a variety of tests in order for them to classify you and so you'll take tests like three days in a row and it's all day so you'll be taking tests in a variety of things like that and so this is a guy with a d-minus average who hadn't read a book since I was you know you know for a long time I just recently begun reading again and they're giving me IQ tests they're giving me a variety of things and before you know it they're asking me if I want to go to West Point because my intelligence I don't know how to say this I'd like to say it in a way that seems more modest but I'm just trying to give you the truth they wanted to put me into West Point because I was able to go in because because of my IQ then they gave us this other test where you have to take these nonsensical words and you have to give it meaning and interpret it and now they're wanting to send me to moderate a linguistic school because I have a gift for learning and acquiring languages and there I am as a guy thinking you gotta be kidding me one I'm not going to West Point I don't care what you do that's the question because I had been born again and all I wanted to do was my time so I could get out and go to church and fellowship and grow as a Christian and it was just tough but I was honored at the same time and I remember looking back at that time and I'm thinking man lord there I am sitting at the feet of Jesus in my right mind that's the point I'm trying to make God can take you and transform you to something unrecognizable to others who know you best and that's what happened in my life that's what God does in people's lives I mean I don't know what your testimony is like I don't know where you were at but I will tell you this if you had told me when I was 17 18 19 even the day before I got saved at 20 that one day I would be pastoring this church doing the things that I do I thought you were out of your mind the thought of me being the feet of Jesus in my right mind following him you have got to be kidding me the thought of being a pastor teacher the thought of doing the things that God has opened the doors for me to do but that's what God does in people's lives you see God radically does works in you only he does things that only God can do in you where your friends are avoiding you because you're so violent because your friends don't want to be around you there's nothing to do with you and now you're the kind of person that they actually will come and ask advice from you're the kind of person that they'll say you know you pray could you pray for me you read the Bible don't you I want to ask you a question those are things that happen to me I can still remember people before I was pastoring I can still remember getting phone calls and saying David you read the Bible what's this book of Revelation they're asking me the guy used to dance the guy used to stand on a hood they're asking me about God that's what happens it's radical when the Lord grabs hold of your heart it is radical what he can do with you I want to encourage you in that I want you to know that the enemy had you and what he did in your life was to destroy you there's no doubt about that but when Jesus Christ grabbed hold of you he transformed you he gave you a new life he gave you a new mind he gave you a new motive he gave you a new everything and that's what I live in that's what I wake up to I remind myself of what he's done in me because the enemy reminds me of what I've done before and he does I don't know about you but I get reminded fairly often I get reminded every day every day for the last 30 some years the first thing that I have in the morning is a memory of what I was every day every day and every morning I remind him of what I am every day I'm not kidding you and it can happen throughout the day where he'll say you were this and you were that and you said this I don't know if I should tell you that but that's what goes on in my life every day all the time I say I'm new in Jesus Christ brand new every day and I mean that sincerely the reason I hesitate to say those things to you is because I don't want you to think I'm puffing myself out when I'm trying to be as open and honest that's a fact that's what I was and I do wake up and I do remember I do and I always do the same thing in Jesus I'm new in you I'm new in you that's the past I don't want to act like that I don't want to think like that I don't want to be like that I just want what you want from me sometimes it can appear oh look how easy it is Paul said I die daily I die daily and it is die daily I pick up my cross daily and I die daily and I follow him that's Christianity it's not easy it may seem easy it's impossible without Jesus it's impossible without his spirit it's impossible I say I'm going to gird myself up today I'm going into battle the enemy wants to take you out he wants to destroy you you see this man here he had enough he knew what it was like to live filled with demons and all he wants is to be with Jesus look what's taking place now the people in verse 34 they saw what happened and they ran off and they spoke about it in verse 35 they went out to see what had happened and came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had departed sitting at the feet of Jesus' clothes and in his right mind they were afraid they also had seen it told them by what means he who had been demon possessed was healed the whole multitude of the surrounding region of the gatherings now notice this asked him to depart from them for they were seized with great fear you don't want anything to do with the Lord you can drive them away isn't that interesting isn't that interesting they said we see what took place but we're afraid we don't want anything to do with you I find that to be absolutely fascinating instead of recognizing that Jesus Christ can transform even the most horribly lived life into something beautiful they don't want him even to be around and so they say depart he got in the boat in return now the man from whom the demons had departed begged him that he might be with him wouldn't you want to do that too I mean think about it for just a moment wouldn't you want to do that too I mean there you are clothed in your right mind your body still has wounds that you had just recently done to yourself I mean there you are with the Lord and you're finally in your right mind you know that's what happened with me and it's what happened with most of us I'd say in this room as he healed me and I said I just want to be with you I just want to spend time with you I want to follow you that's what I'm supposed to do but it's interesting what the Lord does Jesus sent him away in verse 39 and said to him return to your own house and tell what great things God has done for you and he went his way and proclaimed throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him I want you to see that tell him what God did and what is he saying this is what Jesus did because Jesus is God in the flesh your life is ministry never forget it sometimes you may be thinking well pastors are ministers you know staff ministers missionaries you're a minister we've all been saved to serve and we all have a testimony on the job you have a testimony in your neighborhood you have a testimony in your family you have a testimony in your school you are known for something I was known for being crazy that you were known for something too and when you're there at the feet of Jesus in your right mind you've got people that you can speak to and you should you should I've had people say to me wasn't it difficult telling your dad and your mom that they needed Jesus Christ and the answer is no it wasn't but I'll tell you why it wasn't two reasons one is my mom gave me permission to speak truth you know she taught me to speak the truth to tell the truth so she gave me permission to do that so I wasn't disrespecting them but two it wasn't difficult because I wanted them to go to heaven I didn't want them to go to hell I believed in hell and I believed in heaven as I do today so if Jesus said no man comes to the father but by me and if mama and dad don't know him then I had better tell them what Jesus can do in a life made sense and that's exactly what he has us do notice that return to your own house and tell what great things God has done for you that's your testimony this is what the Lord has done for me now they do watch you they do want to see whether or not you're going to be consistent if you're real over time you just demonstrate that through the freedom of your life so being in your right mind and telling people how it happened is ministry that's why I would encourage you to be inviders invite people to know the Lord invite people to your church if this is your church if this isn't your church invite them to your fellowship so that they might hear messages that might change their life so that they might come to know Jesus Christ that's the most important thing for them that's where it flows from that's why he went his way and proclaimed throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him and so it was when Jesus returned that the multitude welcomed him for they were all waiting on the one hand you have people say leave but on the other hand you have people say we've been waiting for you what an interesting way some people say go away and others are waiting for him to show up I think that's true in ministry by the way sometimes you'll be sharing with somebody about the Lord and they don't want to hear it and the person right next to him does the person right next to him does you might be concentrating on one person when the Lord is speaking to somebody else I've had that happen more than once in my life and he's talking to somebody else the same message that causes people to say oh I've had it I'm out of here is the message that causes other people to get saved same message the same son that hardens concrete melts wax the same message that somebody's hardened against well that's a message that softens somebody else and they receive Christ so all you need to do is just keep sharing and keep living tell people what Jesus did for you and watch what he'll do and all you have to do is just sit at his feet in your right mind and he will send you out to do works of ministry