24  From there He arose and went to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And He entered a house and wanted no one to know it, but He could not be hidden. 25  For a woman whose young daughter had an unclean spirit heard about Him, and she came and fell at His feet. 26  The woman was a Greek, a Syro-Phoenician by birth, and she kept asking Him to cast the demon out of her daughter.  27  But Jesus said to her, "Let the children be filled first, for it is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs." 28  And she answered and said to Him, "Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs under the table eat from the children’s crumbs." 29  Then He said to her, "For this saying go your way; the demon has gone out of your daughter."  {Mt 15:28  Then Jesus answered and said to her, "O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire." And her daughter was healed from that very hour.} 30  And when she had come to her house, she found the demon gone out, and her daughter lying on the bed.

31 Again, departing from the region of Tyre and Sidon, He came through the midst of the region of Decapolis to the Sea of Galilee. 32  Then they brought to Him one who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech, and they begged Him to put His hand on him. 33  And He took him aside from the multitude, and put His fingers in his ears, and He spat and touched his tongue. 34  Then, looking up to heaven, He sighed, and said to him, "Ephphatha," that is, "Be opened." 35  Immediately his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was loosed, and he spoke plainly. 36  Then He commanded them that they should tell no one; but the more He commanded them, the more widely they proclaimed it. 37  And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, "He has done all things well. He makes both the deaf to hear and the mute to speak."

I. God would rather people got saved, sanctified, and functioned as originally designed, but our pride/will gets in the way

A. Shamelessly seeking: When we believe God is our only solution, we don’t care what anyone else thinks or says

Mt 7:7  "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

B. Selflessly submitting: Humility is a proper view of God and self resulting in embracing God’s person, purpose, plan and timing

Luke 1:38  Then Mary said, "Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word."

C. Smartly seeing/saying: Demonstrating Humility (acceptance) and Faith in God puts us in a position of  blessing

Mt 8:13 Jesus said…centurion, "Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you." And his servant was healed that same hour.

Jer 32:27  "Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for Me?

II. Demons are attracted to high/prideful and unclean hearts and repelled by dependence lowly cleanliness, ˆ clean up your act (last week)

James 4:6  But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: "God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble." 7  Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8  Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 10  Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up

A. Submit: In non-military use, it was "a voluntary attitude of giving in, cooperating, assuming responsibility, and carrying a burden".

1) to arrange under, to subordinate; 2) to subject, put in subjection, obey; 4) to submit to one’s control; 5) to yield to one’s admonition or advice

Php 2:8 being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

Mt 18:4  "Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Mt 23:12  "And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.

B. Stand: against demonic forces by embracing our new dependent/obedient identity in Christ

Rom 6:4  Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 6  knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. 7  For he who has died has been freed from sin.

1Jo 4:4  You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

C. Serve: Disciples need ears to hear, and mouths to speak, seeing eyes and sticky brains are nice (Mk 8:18,22) but not necessary

Ears to hear: selective listening: 1) Selective exposure, 2) selective attention, 3) selective understanding, and 4) selective retention.

Mr 8:18  "Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember?

Ro 6:22  But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life.

Questions for Reflection/Discussion/Response:

1. Why don’t all Christians look and act like Christ? Why doesn’t God do something about it?

2. To what extent are we responsible for the difficulties in our life? What do you think God’s will is for most of our “problems”?

3. Can we effectually come to God on behalf of others who can’t or won’t, and as a result are living in demonic darkness or unholiness?

4. T or F: If we’re not in the service of God, we’re a slave to self, sin and Satan.  Is there any other option? Is there any difference in the latter?

5. What can you do to improve your holiness and hearing this week?

Ears to hear: selective listening: 1) Selective exposure, 2) selective attention, 3) selective understanding, and 4) selective retention.

I’m convinced that most of the times Jesus spoke, most of the times you and I open our Bibles, and most of the times you and I listen to a sermon, one or more of these types of selective listening is taking place:

The first type, Selective exposure, is what occurs when you turn the station on your radio and begin listening in the middle of a broadcast. You have not been exposed to the entire program, and thus you only hear part of the conversation. You experience this when you read your Bible by starting in the middle of a particular context and thus fail to be exposed to the overall idea of the passage. You experience this in church when you arrive late and miss the beginning of the sermon or when you go to the restroom or to check on your child in the nursery in the middle of the pastor’s second point.

The second type, selective attention, is when you zone out while listening to a radio program. You are exposed to the entire program, but you’re distracted through parts of it. It happens when you read your Bible, but your eyes gloss over the words without engaging your mind. You give selective attention on Sunday morning when you are distracted from the sermon by the overweight lady sleeping in the next row, doodling on the bulletin, or daydreaming.

The third type, selective understanding, occurs when you correctly process only some of the information you’re exposed to. Psychology has proven that we all at times deliberately misinterpret certain data in order to make it fit our own liking, although we do so unconsciously. This happens when you sing along with the radio while filling in the unknown lyrics with familiar phrases they sound like. It is misinterpreting the strong teachings of the Bible or a sermon to endorse your actions, but to condemn the behavior of the person sitting next to you.

Finally, the one most of us are perhaps guilty of, selective retention. This happens when you’ve listened to and understood all of the radio program, the Scripture passage, or the sermon, but you live tomorrow as though you weren’t even exposed to it today.

Which of these types of selective listening are you most often guilty of? Perhaps you require Jesus’ healing hand to touch your ears and make them listen more effectively.