The students of psychology have come to discover that there are different levels of consciousness. When we talk about consciousness, let me just give us some synonyms that will help us to understand what consciousness mean. Because many of us have heard of consciousness and have experienced that state, but we might not understand in fullness what it means. When you are conscious, you are sensitive to something. So, it talks about sensitivity, alertness, being alert towards something. When you talk about consciousness, it talks about the existence of something coming readily to mind. So when you are conscious of something, the knowledge of the existence of that thing is known to you. And when we talk about consciousness, we talk about perception, and it talks about mindfulness. When you are conscious of something you are mindful of that thing.
When you are conscious of something, you take cognizance of that thing. When you are mindful of that thing the knowledge of that thing exist, its real to you. So, that's about consciousness. But the students of psychology have come to understand, some of them say there are seven levels of human consciousness, some said there are five states of human consciousness, and some say there are three levels or state of human consciousness. They called the first one being conscious, the second one, your preconscious, which some of us call subconscious, and the third one, unconscious. There are some times you are fully conscious, there are sometimes you are preconscious or subconscious, and there are some times you are unconscious. But while we are looking at consciousness this morning, I want us to start by examining 1 Corinthians 2:14 because there are many knowledge that exist in the world today, but we know the word of God is the truth.
1 Corinthians 2:14 says: "But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are Spiritually discerned." What does that mean? The natural man is not conscious of the things of the Spirit. When you are not conscious of something, that thing does not make sense to you. If you are not conscious of the existence of one million naira in this room, it does not make sense to you. But when you are conscious of it, when the knowledge of the existence of that one million naira comes to you, then you become conscious of it. Then you can now start relating, you are now alert. Imagine if in the Central Bank of Nigeria, the gold reserve that is there, the money that is there, imagine that nobody is conscious of it, will they put security guards there? No! Will they put security measures such that before you enter you have to drop your phone, you have to do this and that. Will they put measures in place so that that place is secured? No! Because they are not conscious of the treasures that exist in that building.
That is how consciousness is. When you are conscious of something, then you begin to take steps towards it. Then you start recognizing, you take cognizance for it, the importance of that thing start coming to light. The knowledge of the existence of that thing comes to you. But anything that we are not conscious of we don't guard or protect. Imagine a woman that is pregnant and does not know. Do you know that woman will sit down anyhow, she will eat anything, she will go anywhere. Women for the first three months, they might not even know they are pregnant, they may be drinking everything they can drink. But at the time when you become conscious, now let us note the difference.
Was the woman pregnant or not? She is pregnant. But is she conscious of the pregnancy? No! So because she is not conscious of the pregnancy, remember the pregnancy exist, and its real but her ignorance of the existence or knowledge of the pregnancy makes her to do what she likes with herself. But at the point where a woman knows that she is pregnant, she starts taking precautions. She starts to take care, she is now alert. If you want to hit her tummy, she would say "take it easy." Before you would hit that same tummy and she won't talk. But now she would say it's OK, just be careful. Why? She is now alert, conscious and mindful of what she carries.
So, that's how consciousness works. There are so many things that exist, but it's not all things we are conscious of. My husband and I were driving last week, and we were talking about the car that we have and suddenly it looks as if so many people are driving the same car in town. What happened to us? Because we bought that vehicle, we are now conscious of the existence of that vehicle. Is it that that vehicle had not been in town before we bought it? No! But our purchase made us conscious of the knowledge of its existence, so we have passed so many of them, we could not recognize them.
That's the same way with the natural man, he does not recognize the things of the Spirit, he is not mindful, he is not conscious of it. And the Bible says the knowledge of the things of God are foolishness to him, he doesn't take cognizance of them. Things happen to him and he takes them for granted why, he is not conscious. Another word for conscious is discernment. He is not able to discern what is going on because he is not conscious of it. Whatever you are not conscious of, has a high probability of affecting you negatively. That's why you will see that some people will fall sick, imagine if we can all see the mosquito that bites us, are we going to have malaria? No!
But because we are unconscious of the mosquito that bites us, we often fall sick and have malaria. We are not conscious, is it that they don't exist? They do. But we are not alert, we can't see them, we know they exist but around us at the time we are not conscious. So, the Bible says; "But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him." Because he is not conscious of them, the knowledge of their existence, is not real to him, "nor can he know them." So, he can't receive because he does not know. Because they are Spiritually discerned. There is a level of consciousness that brings you to the knowledge of Spiritual things.
There is a level of Consciousness that brings you to the reality of receiving Spiritual things. A natural Man cannot receive Spiritual things even though they exist and they are real. A natural man cannot receive things that are available in the Spirit, even though they exist and they are real. Because he is not able, see what the Bible says "they are spiritually discerned." He cannot discern. And the question the Holy Spirit is throwing to us this morning is: What Realm Are You Active In? In what realm are you conscious? For some people, Spiritual things are in their unconscious state. That's why we started by looking at the three state of human consciousness. The full consciousness, the subconscious or preconscious, and the unconscious. What state are you spiritually? Are you unconscious? Are you subconscious? Or you are fully conscious? This is a food for thought. This is the crux of the matter this morning.
There are Spiritual activities. Some days ago, the Holy Spirit opened me up to the reality of something. So I focused my attention on that matter an started praying, when I started praying, The Holy Spirit made me to understand that there was something available for me to catch and if I catch it, I will cease from struggle. Understand it, that thing already exist in the Spiritual, I was not conscious of it until the Holy Spirit brought it to my attention, made me alert to it, and I was able to refocus on that thing. And to receive it. If I had not known it exist, I can't receive it.
So, He brought the knowledge of the existence of that thing to me and I was able to receive it, and I had it. We struggle not because we are not spiritual, but are we spiritually discerning? How conscious are you in the Spirit? For many believers our spiritual activities are in our subconscious. When you are sleeping, you have a dream. God speaks in dreams when God is going to talk to Aaron and Miriam, what did He say? He said if there is any prophet among you, you relate spiritually with me in your subconscious, I speak to you in dreams, and visions, but Moses I relate with him in full consciousness. I speak to him face to face as a man speaks to his friend. That's full consciousness. When you are talking to your friend are you in your subconscious? No! You are in full consciousness.
And God said if there is any prophet among you, your spiritual discernment is in the subconscious, but for Moses, I speak as a man speaks to his friend. Face to face, we relate in full consciousness. And that's the desire of God for each and every one of us. To become spiritually discerning in our full consciousness, not in our subconscious. You know subconscious is even better than unconscious. Some people are unconscious, the thing would have finished happening, then they scream, I just felt something, those are unconscious people, they can't even define it, there is no knowledge talk less of receiving.
There is so much in the Spirit for us, so much that God has set for us but how well do we connect to all that God has set for us? How conscious are you? In what realm are you active? You will know that this our apparel, vessel, is for us to relate with the earth, our real core is our spirit. So when you look at a man, and that's what Jesus and Paul understood. When Jesus is relating with the Man, He is not relating with the vessel of the man. Jesus relates with the core, that's why when Jairus daughter died, when they were lamenting and crying, He said all of you go out, you don't understand what is happening here, what they were seeing was the vessel, Jesus saw the core and He could address the core.
Listen to Podcast: Consciousness: What Realm Are You Active In?
He knew it was the desire of the Father to bring that child back to life, and He connected in the Spirit, and snapped that girl out of her sleep. When that young lady was following apostle Paul, screaming "man of God, Paul the man of God," they were looking at the young damsel speaking, She is speaking the word of God. She is recognizing and affirming the ministry of this young brother, but what did Paul do? He addressed the core. From where you are flowing from is wrong, I won't accept it. That's a man in full consciousness. If you are in full consciousness you will understand and discern what is happening around you. I want us see what God said in first 1 Samuel 16 and understand how God wants us to relate and be conscious. Even prophet Samuel wanted to miss it.1 Samuel 16:7 "But the LORD said to Samuel, Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."
This when the Lord instructed Samuel go and anoint for me a king in the house of Jesse and Samuel got there and Eliab came and Samuel said wow surely there is no dispute, this is the Lords anointed. But the Lord said do not look at his appearance, don't be conscious of his stature, or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees. Man's consciousness is not Gods consciousness, for man looks at the outward appearance, man looks at the physical stature, man looks at how well he is dressed, man looks at the earth, I look at the heaven. There is heaven in each man, that's the core of the man, his spirit. He said "for man looks at the outward appearance but the Lord looks at the heart."
Men looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart, that's the realm in which they are active, we are active in the flesh, so you look at the outward appearance but God said I God if you will operate like Me, you are made in My image and accordance with My likeness, if you operate like me on the earth you will be looking at the heart, you will be looking at the spirit of men, that's when you will know where the true you is, that is why when peter said you will not die, Jesus knew this is not the spirit of Peter another spirit has taken him over and He rebuked the spirit by saying "get behind me Satan." Jesus was operating in full consciousness. Some of us get carried away by the things people say, somebody comes to you and say how are you, this and that?
God bless you, in fact do you know that I love you so much, do you know you are a special baby to me? In fact the way I'm looking at you there is something in my heart that I want to do for you, if you get carried away you will listen to the words of that person, but in the heart of the person, the person and the person is just saying that remember where we read about Jesus and the disciples that they went to the mount when Elijah and Moses came, they said you know what lets create a tabernacle here, when you hear that you say wow these are disciples that are on fire, disciples that are trying to do they have seen something Spiritual and they are given to Spiritual things, they said that because they were afraid.
So, in their heart was fear, their spirit could not comprehend what was happening so they had to say something. Imagine if Jesus took their words for it, that's why we have to operate in full consciousness, that's how Paul operated, full consciousness. We have to be conscious of what the will of God is, we have to be conscious of what God is saying to us per time. 1 John 4:1-3, the reason why we should be conscious.
"Beloved, do not believe every Spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world." Now if you see the spirit here is one "S" every human Spirit that comes your way you must test it. Whether they are of God. So when you are speaking to an unbeliever to give his life to Christ and the person is asking "which Christ, what are you talking about? Please leave me alone," it is not that person talking. It is a Spirit, so be in full consciousness, don't address the man, it is not him, don't say in fact I'm not even preaching to him again, it is not him, be in full consciousness, it is not that man talking. He doesn't even know what he is saying.
Look at the mad man of Gadarene. Judge that man, when you look at him, how can a man be cutting himself with stone. It is not him, in him are legions it is legions cutting him, not him by himself. An average man loves himself, and wants to protect himself, but when you see a man doing things that are not convenient, know it is not him. test the spirit whether they are of God because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
"By this you know the Spirit of God: Every Spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every Spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the Spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world."
When you are speaking to any man be in full consciousness, test all Spirits discern all Spirits, be alert with all Spirits, so when somebody is recommending something, be alert, remember, when Jesus is with His disciples, when they were having the last supper, and Judas Iscariot was there, other disciples, assumed they were all together in one accord, not knowing that Judas was not in their accord. And Jesus said, that thing you want to do it quickly, they were not aware. I am sure Judas would have been a solemn brother, he was quiet in fact we would have thought that it is Thomas that it is Thomas that should have been the one to sell Christ because he was always talking.
Always challenging Christ, did you read any Scripture that Judas asked a question? Everything Jesus says is OK. Because he knows what he is doing, so don't be deceived intact when Jesus said go and do it quickly, the other apostles assumed since he was the keeper of the box maybe Jesus had sent him to go and give to a poor or buy something, they did not know. But Jesus knew, He was in full consciousness nothing comes to Him unaware, so we must be active in the realm that we live in. The question is are you living in the flesh or in the Spirit? Walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfil the lust of the flesh. Walk in the Spirit and you will not be conscious in the flesh. God is concerned about our consciousness. How are you conscious? In what realm are you active? Are you active in this realm of the flesh or you are active in the Spirit? What happened to Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, they died to God. They ceased to be active agents of God so they did not understand what was happening in the heavenly realm.
If Adam and Eve were still alive in God, do you know they will know that it was Cain that killed Abel? In fact before Cain killed Abel, they would have been aware, they wouldn't have lost their son. The Spirit of God would have stirred them stand up go to that place, Cain is about to kill Abel. But to show us that they were dead, they did not know when Cain killed Abel, they did not know about the welfare and state of their children. They were not in full consciousness. They have become subconscious or unconscious. Some people would have said subconscious is better, the worst state is unconscious. God is telling us become active don't be passive. When others are talking bad about the country and about bad leadership don't join them, there are Spiritual host of wickedness that are in charge of some of these activities that you are seeing.
Suddenly there is a ghastly motor accident and 15 people died, don't say it is a bad road, what about those that pass through those roads and did not die is it not the same road? Become conscious become sensitive, something is happening around your children be discerning, don't say it's the weather. It's the demons conjuring something, cast him out! When the storm came and the disciples of Jesus were afraid, worried and perplexed, and they went to wake Jesus, you care less that we perish? And Jesus the one that is fully conscious came out and rebuked the wind. And they said wow what kind of man is this? That even the wind will obey him. Why will the wind obey him? Because He knew the activity of the wind is not ordinary, and it was contrary. And when He rebuked the wind He received peace from heaven. And the place was calm. Full consciousness, what realm are you active in?
Are things just going crazy around you, are you discerning, are you conscious, are you aware? Two years ago something happened to me and when it happened I started giving excuses, I knew God loved me, I knew God was with me, I didn't doubt that, but I also knew I was not discerning, and that period when you don't understand a system you troubleshoot right? I started troubleshooting, what is going on, even if there is somebody somewhere can they person be able to overpower me a child of God? I started to check. Because the truth is if you will check well in the Spirit there is always an explanation for what is happening. But do you receive it? When the Holy Spirit wants to say it to you, you jumped out of bed, and dressed up and left, it now happened then you come back and say Holy Spirit why did this happen? That's the statement most believers make. The Holy Spirit will say I was trying to tell you in the morning but you didn't have time to listen. immediately you woke up, You woke up late, so you ran into the bathroom dressed up and you left.
I was supposed to tell you, that you should not follow that road, but you did not listen, because you didn't know you were notable to receive direction. Because you did not know you were not able to receive health, because you did not know you were not able to receive provisions. We lack so many things not because they are not available, we are not active, we are not conscious of them. If Elijah was not fully conscious, provision was at Zarephath he would have died at the brook, people would have said the man of God that served, and loved God, he was even the one that God used to start this famine is now dead, he died at the brook, they will cry God why did you take your servant? It is not God that took him, he died out of insensitivity, that young prophet was not discerning, he was not conscious, God had instructed him, God cannot change his mind, this old prophet came and said this is what God said he said ok he ate and he relaxed, the same man was the one God used to prophesy his judgement. How active are you in the Spirit?
Are you operating in the flesh or in the Spirit? Heaven is our headquarters, we are sojourners and pilgrims on the earth. Imagine that you completely shut out the head quarters how will you return? There is a Scripture I would have loved to read to us, that establishes this, let me just paraphrase that Scripture, what that Scripture is making us understand is that if we are sojourners and pilgrims on the earth and we decide to continue here forgetting everything, how would we return? You are not conscious of what God is saying, you don't know what the will of God is, you don't know where to go and what to do, you don't know the things that God wills you to do per time, you are just lost, when I watch some war films with my husband and some armies sent on mission are done they say stay in your location they are coming for extraction or evacuation, so they always have a radio helping them transmit signals and signs.
Imagine if because they came on a mission, they threw their radio away, they will be stuck, they can't return, that is how many of us are stuck in the world today until we trace back our steps. The Bible says you must understand what the will of God is all of it, and you can't come to the understanding that is why we read that 1 Corinthians 2:14, you can't know what the will of God is, you can discern it, you can't receive it except by the Spirit of God. So, for you to be conscious is to be fully conscious in the Spirit. Jesus said as I see My Father do I do, as I hear Him say I say. Meaning, I AM fully conscious of the activities of my Father via the Holy Spirit.
So, for you to be conscious of the will of Christ concerning you, it is by the Holy Spirit. What realm are you active in? God wants you to do are you conscious of His word ? God wants you to be conscious of His word, the word of God is like a two edged sword, the word is able to divide between the soul and the spirit, the bone and the marrow, the word of God is able to penetrate your being and reveal the will of God to you. So be conscious of word of God, be conscious of your spirituality this is why sometimes you miss it, you are a spiritual being.
Don't be lost in the world, be conscious of your spirituality, be conscious of your identity in Christ Jesus. You are God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works. When people are going the other way don't be afraid to stand with God, be conscious of the knowledge of the knowledge of good and evil. It is true He exist, be conscious of it. Jesus said in Matthew 12:46-50, they said to Him "your mother and your brother, they are looking for you" and Jesus said being conscious of His identity, He said "who are my brothers, who are my sisters, who is my mother?" He said "it is those who hear these sayings of mine, and do them, they are my brothers, they are my sisters and they are my mother."
Don't let affinity to the world deny you of your place in God. Jesus set that example to us, He was conscious of His Spiritual placement, heritage in God. He said you that is hearing the word of My Father that I AM saying this to, you are more important, my spiritual brothers and sisters are more important than those that I have flesh and blood relationship with. Be conscious of your spirituality, when you get to a place don't get lost in the crowd. Be conscious of your spirituality. Be active in the realm of the Spirit, don't be passive in it and I pray the Lord will help us in Jesus name.
Amen.
