THE PROSECUTOR WITHIN PART ONE

That voice in your head that won’t let things go? The one that replays mistakes at 2am?

In this episode, we start at Gospel of John 8 and unpack the inner accuser—why it’s so loud, why behavior change alone doesn’t work, and how grace renews you from the inside out.

Less shame. More alignment. Real change begins within

Transcript

Setting The Theme: The Inner Accuser

The John 8 Story And Conscience

Defining The Prosecutor And Justice

Criminal vs Civil: Who Stands Accused

Meet Your Inner Prosecutor: Conscience

Tripartite Man: Spirit, Soul, Body

Inner vs Outer Man In Scripture

Lazarus And The Rich Man Reframed

Strengthened By The Spirit In The Inner Man

The Hidden Man Of The Heart Explained

Meek And Quiet Spirit As Faith

Delighting In God With The Inward Man

Put Off The Old Man, Put On The New

Key Terms: Old, New, Inner, Outer, Heart

The Spirit’s Voice: Conscience And Intuition

Old Man Conscience: Accuse Or Excuse

John 8 Revisited: Convicted By Conscience

Law As Schoolmaster And Moral Awareness

A Haunting Dream And A Wake-Up Call

SPEAKER_00 0:13

Hello everyone. Welcome back to DIY Salvation. Last episode, I promised you we're going to talk about the persecutor within. Our key text is taken from John chapter 8, verse 9. And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest even unto the last, and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. You remember this story of the woman who was caught in adultery, and she was brought to Jesus for him to judge her. And he made a very wise statement and said, Whoever amongst her accusers who had no sin should be the first persons to cast the stone. That's how the Bible records it that their conscience convicted them, and they all went out one by one. And Jesus looked at the woman and he said, Where are your accusers? And she said, Not nobody. And he says, Even he was not going to accuse her. And he sent her away and told her, Go and sin no more. The topic today is the prosecutor within. Who is a prosecutor? A prosecutor is a legal representative. Don't forget, we're talking about co-perception. We have been talking about co-perception from the beginning of the year. This is season three of DIY Salvation. So who is a prosecutor? A prosecutor is a legal representative, you know, for the government, the lawyer for the government. He represents the government in criminal cases. All right. So the duties of a prosecutor will be around seeking justice, representing the state in criminal cases, or presenting the case, you know, in court, and also upholding the law while ensuring fairness for all the parties that are involved. So ideally, in a criminal case, what you would see you would not in the criminal case, what you will see is the state versus so and so and so. Unlike in a civil case, right, where you see Mr. John versus Mr. Mark. Do you get so in a criminal case what you will see is the state versus so and so, and the state there means it's the prosecutor who is going to be standing or representing the government as against the person who committed the criminal offense, all right? Now, there is a prosecutor inside every one of us. Did you know that there is this prosecutor inside of you who accuses you or excuses you, which means justifies or reproves you or convicts you before God, and that prosecutor that is within you is known as your conscience. The Bible describes man as a tripartite being, right? Your three parts: you have your spirit, which is the real you, you have a soul, and you also live in a body. The hidden man of the heart refers to the innermost part of you, you know, which would be your spirit and your soul. So there's a way the Bible puts it. Sometimes you see the Bible talks about man as three parts, tripartite, but other times it looks as if the three parts is reduced to just two parts, because you hear of the inward, sorry, the hidden man, and then you hear about the outward man, the hidden man, and then the outer man or the outward man. So it looks as if it's two. So you find that the when the Bible uses the term hidden man or the inner man, it's making references to both the spirit and the soul, and the outer man is the body, so it's making references to the parts of the man that are not visible, you know, to the naked eye, but we interact with daily. Just so you know, the inner man or the hidden man is that part of us that interacts with God on a deeper level. You've heard it say that when we worship God, we worship God in spirit and in truth, because spirit is truth. Do you understand? So the the real you is your spirit, and the one that worships God is that real you, is the one that is the real you. That's the one that is one with God. Okay, now let's look at a few verses of scripture that refer to the distinction between the hidden or the inner man or the inward man versus the outer or the outward man. See, these foundations are very, very key to what we're going to be discussing next. So please just try and get it, understand it, so that it will help you. This one lesson, I promise you, you will not have to come back to it again because you will see it manifest in various areas of your life. I learned this like many years ago, and when I learned it, I thank God that I learned it because it really helps me in my faith work, and it will help you as well. So just bear with me. Remember, we're talking about the prosecutor within. We cannot discuss the prosecutor within without giving this foundations. All right. So these key scriptures, the first one we're going to be looking at is 2 Corinthians chapter 4, verse 16. It says, For which cause we faint not, but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. So this verse contrasts the outward physical body. You can see it. It talks about the fact that the outward physical body may experience decay and weakness, but some but the inner man is continually renewed and strengthened by God's grace. In other words, although man is tripartite, right? You have three parts, it is possible that your inner man will be flourishing and being renewed day by day, and yet your outward body may be perishing. This is very key because you now understand the reason why Lazarus and the rich man, the rich man flourished on earth. He flourished, you know, in the physical realm, you know, he was rich, he had everything good for him. Lazarus was a poor beggar sitting at his gates, begging for arms and so on and so forth, right? But after they passed on to the other side, right? What happens? You see that the poor man, Lazarus, was at the gates, if even eating of food that was offered to dogs, eating of crumbs, begging for crumbs from the rich man's table, just for food. Like, have you seen people that poor just for food? And so, but then his while he was his outward man was decaying and perishing, his inward man was being renewed and continually. That means he was in he was a Christian. He was well back then, you won't say Christian because Jesus was not here, but he he believed in God and he had a walk with God. Do you understand? And God considered him his own. And even if there's healing and there's wealth and prosperity in the gospel, this poor man Lazarus had none of it, he did not experience any of it. Maybe it was lack of knowledge or maybe lack of understanding, whatever it is, he didn't experience it, but guess what? When he passed on to the other side, he went to be with the Lord. So it also tells you that because you're worldly rich does not necessarily mean that you are going to be, you know, like you're one with the Lord. The best, of course, the best, best way, God's best for us, is that you should prosper even as your soul is prospering. So you ought to have both of them, you know. Let your outward man flourish, let your inward man for flourish. In fact, let's put it this way your inward man should flourish first, and then your outward man would follow. So that you the prayer for you is that as your inward man is flourishing, so shall you prosper day by day. Amen. The next scripture we're going to be looking at is Ephesians chapter 3, verse 16. It says that he would grant you according to the riches of his glory to be strengthened with might by his spirit in the inner man. So for God to strengthen you, he will strengthen you in your inner man by his spirit. Your inner man, remember, is your spirit and your soul. So you see that first and foremost, vitality in life starts first from the spirit. So if you want spiritual, if you have spiritual strength and vitality, ideally it should pour out in your outward life. 1 Peter chapter 3, verse 4, but let it be the hidden man of the heart. So the heart is also spirit. So is the that is telling us that the hidden man is the spirit, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great prize. You remember this verse of scripture? Peter was talking to the females in church, and he's saying that let your beauty not just be focused only on ornaments of gold or braided hair or of jewelry, but rather it should be of the hidden man of the heart, which is the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. So, what is a meek and a quiet spirit? A meek and a quiet spirit, I know that this scripture is making references to females, but that does not mean that this verse of scripture does not also apply to males, okay? Because a meek and a quiet spirit is actually a spiritual quality, okay? Is it is a quality of spirit, is a quality of spirit, whether it's for a male or for a female, all right? Because you remember that Moses was once known. In fact, it was even God who was testifying and said that Moses was the meekest man that ever lived. Okay, so we see that the word meek and quiet spirit, the quality of spirit is talking about, is not just for women alone. Yes, this verse of scripture is talking to women and saying, Women, you should be this way, because I mean it's women that most times get afraid with amazement. Do you understand? So the meek and quiet spirit, what is the meek and a quiet spirit? A mixed spirit is that spirit that is always waiting upon God, solely dependent on God, has no plan B outside of God. God is the only plan, and that's it. There is no what ifs, what if God does not come through. God just has to come through. Do you understand? So that is a mixed spirit. A quiet spirit is the kind of spirit that is not moved by by fear or by amazement. Do you understand? So that's the reason why the Bible tells women this is how your your spirit has to be, because of course, amongst the sexes, it's women who are mostly prone to fear. Do you understand? Fear with amazement. And that's the reason when you see a woman who nags a lot, or I'll use that word carefully, nags, because they keep even when a woman is trying to point out her feelings, the men will say she's nagging. But the point of it is that a woman who is is complaining a lot and going through all of these, you know, motions and all of that, it's mainly because she's afraid with amazement. Do you understand? She doesn't trust that maybe her husband is going to come through or that the circumstances will play out her way. That's the reason why she's that way. But the Bible is saying that you have to cultivate a meek and quiet spirit, which is that God is your source, solely dependent on God, no matter what the situation is, God is your source. I mean, an example of a meek and quiet spirit that a woman exhibited is Sarah. Because the Bible tells us about Sarah. It says she had that kind of heart. Because, in spite of what Abraham did against her, in the sense that, I mean, how many times did he say he was his she's a sister and gave him gave her up to another to a king to marry? Think about it. And I mean, if it was some of us today, that marriage would be over. Do you get so? But she still called him Lord, not because she was bowing down to him, she gave him the respect that was due him, mainly because her hope and her faith was not on the man Abraham, but rather her hope and her faith was on God. That's why she was not afraid with amazement. Okay, when Abraham got to his wit's end and he didn't know how to save his life and save his family, he handed her over to Abimelech, and Sarah trusted God. She trusted God and she went with him with Abimelech. And guess what? God shows up on the scene. That was Sarah's faith working. Do you understand? So, in other words, a meek and a quiet spirit is a spirit that exhibits faith in God, complete 100% total faith in God. Okay, this is a way of saying, Women, you have to walk by faith. Don't leave this faith business for men alone. Do you understand? So you have to walk by faith. So, but then it's talking it when he's talking to women, it says the hidden man of the heart. Okay, so this is just by the way, so you understand that. So, in other words, the adornment of the inner man is meekness and quietness, which is the same thing as what faith. Romans chapter 7, verse 22. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man. Do you see? It's just very, very clear, right? I delight in the law of God after the inward man. See, your inward man is one with God. Do you understand? It's one with God. The closer your inward man is with God, you are like, I mean, the you, the physical you, supposed to catch up with that image. Okay, you're supposed to have that image in your mind, and supposed to catch up with it, and that's what Paul is saying here that listen, I am catching up already. I delight in the law of God after the inward man. The ultimate consciousness is when your outward man is in perfect sync with your inner man and delights in the Lord. Glory to God. Colossians chapter 3, from verse 9 to 10. Lie not one to another, seeing that you have put off the old man with his deeds, and you have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him. Wow, this is really curious, right? This is a curious verse because it teaches us that the new man, the inward man, the new man grows up and is invigorated with vital spiritual life. How? Through the knowledge of God. That's what I was trying to say. That the more your spirit grows, your outward man will catch up with the inward man. What people try to do is that we try to not commit sin on the outward. Do you understand? We're trying so hard and we're failing at it. You know the reason why? Because you ideally, the inward man is not supposed to catch up with the outward man, it's the outward man that catches up with the inward man. So, ideally, what you should have done is to renew your mind, renovate your mind by the spirit, and guess what? It will begin to affect your outward man. Glory to God. So, the more you learn and know about God or know God, the more your inner man and the new man increase in spiritual vitality. Now, listen to these definitions of terms because I'm going to be using these terms, you know, interchangeably, or I'll just be using them as we go so that it's not new to you. The first one you've noticed we've mentioned a lot is the old man. The old man refers to the individual who has not yet accepted salvation, the unsaved, the unrighteous person. You have not yet received Jesus as Lord and personal savior. You do not have the Holy Spirit dwelling in you, you know, and you remain in your old sinful state. That is the old man. Okay. Reference is Colossians chapter 3 from verse 9 to 10. The second term is the new man. The new man describes a person who has been born again, who is spiritually reborn through faith in Jesus Christ, and he's filled with the Holy Spirit. Okay, so it shows that you have a new identity and you have a new life in Christ. Reference is 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 17. If any man be in Christ Jesus, he is a what? A new creation. Then we have the inward man or the hidden man or the inner man. These terms all refer to the unseen spiritual aspects of a person, which is the spirit and the soul. Sometimes it's just talking about only the spirit, sometimes it's talking about the spirit and the soul together. So it encompasses the core of your being, your thoughts, your emotions, and your spiritual essence. We've said that your spirit is the real you, your soul is your will, your emotions, your intellect, your mind. Alright, your spirit is your spiritual essence, is the real you. So 1 Peter chapter 3, verse 4, Romans chapter 7, verse 22, Ephesians chapter 3, verse 16, and 2 Corinthians chapter 4, verse 16. Now the next term is outward man or the outer man, and this describes the visible, physical aspect of a person that is your body and your physical senses. Okay, and it also means it refers to the tangible, the observable and tangible aspects of your physical existence. Alright, 2 Corinthians chapter 4, verse 16 is the reference. And number five, we hear also the heart. In this context, heart refers to your spirit, the innermost aspect of a person. So we talk about heart when we're talking about most times when the Bible talks about heart, it talks about the spirit, but sometimes it's talking about the soul as well. Okay, so also it talks about the conscience. The heart encompasses the conscience or the inner voice that guides your moral decisions. And then we also find in the scriptures that we read that we see a term that the old testament uses a lot, it's a curious term, it's called the reins, and it refers to the conscience or the spiritual or your spirit, okay, is your inner voice that descends right from wrong and guides moral decisions. Now, don't forget that we're still talking about the persecutor within. Okay, this is these are just definitions of terms. Now note that the term man, when we say old man, new man, inward man, hidden man, inner man, outward man, outer man, you notice, right? This word, the term man used in qualifying the inward part of a person, it tells us something very significant because it means that the inward man or the hidden man is actually depicted as a humanoid spiritual entity. Okay, so it's not just air, you know, and God breathed into man the breath of life, and man became a living soul. So it doesn't mean. Now, man was just you know swish of air. Do you understand? No. Or something intangible. When you hear spirit, you think it's just, you know, the way the wind just blows, and you're like, you can't really see, but you feel it. You know, you feel it in your hair, you feel it upon your skin. Now that's what no, it's a humanoid form, it's a spiritual being that is humanoid. Okay. The reason why it's spiritual is that it's in a higher dimension or a higher realm than this physical realm that things perish. Okay, so your spirit being does not perish. I mean, even Satan has died, like how many million years ago he died. I mean, stars that have died and all these demons that are in the underworld, they're already dead. Do you did you know that they are dead? So why are they still talking? Because death in the spiritual realm means separation from God, it does not mean that they will not keep walking. Okay, their light is gone. Okay, what they have down there is just black fire. Their light is gone. They have no, you know that God breathed into man and it became a living soul. You know, they are no longer bright and you know, shimmering, they are no longer light. Okay, so where they are, they're living in the lowest form of life. You know, when you say a low life, that's like the lowest form of life ever, even as spiritual beings, and they're going to be like that forever. That's that's bad because spirits that come from God cannot die. What I mean die is perishing, you know, the way perish, perish, perish forever. I mean, even human beings don't even die because the body here falls to the ground, you know, returns to the dust, and the real you goes either to up to the back to the father or goes to the underworld in prison, waiting for judgment. Do you understand? So it it's the hidden man is depicted as a he's a humanoid spiritual entity, all right? And that also means that the spirit of a man has the same attributes that is you know closely related to our physical body parts, like hands, ears, nose, mouth, tongue, even has a voice. Okay, so just the same way the physical body has its components, so the spirit body has its own components. So, for example, the body has a voice, the soul also has a voice, that's what we know as reasoning, okay? And the spirit has a voice, and that is what is known as your conscience or your intuition or what some people describe as a hunch. Do you understand? So the voice of the spirit is called a conscience. You know, we are talking about co-perception. If you've been following this from the very beginning, you know already that I was going to say conscience, and we're going to take the conversation from there. Don't forget, we are still talking about the prosecutor within. We're just giving some foundational descriptions, you know, explanations and so on and so forth. Now, now that we know that the voice of the spirit is conscience, we need to find out what constitutes the speech of the conscience. First, I'm going to talk about the speech of the conscience of the old man because it's different. We've talked about the old man, we've talked about the new man. We said the old man is the one that is not born again, the new man is the one that is born again. Now I want to tell you that the speech of the conscience of the old man is different from the speech of the conscience of the new man. Okay, is this this distinction is very, very important. The speech of the conscience of the old man, it's mainly accusations and excusals or approvals and reprovals. In other words, the conscience of the old man, what it would do is that it would either accuse you incessantly or make excuses for you. In other words, your conscience, if you're not born again or if you were not born again, and if you're born again, you're a new man and you're born again, you're still like this, then this message is for you. Okay? So your conscience is like a criminal prosecutor, that is the prosecutor within, in a law court, always accusing you to get a conviction. I have heard so many people talk about the fact that the most difficult thing to do is to forgive themselves. Why do they think it's difficult to forgive themselves? Because every single day the prosecutor within is accusing them. Then they will not try to justify it. Then when the justification is not working, it goes back to the accusations, then they start to have a guilty conscience, and that guilty conscience weighs them down. Do you see? Their conscience is like a criminal prosecutor in a law court always accusing them to get a conviction. And let me tell you, we get they will get that conviction. Alright? In John chapter 8, verse 9, we've already looked at this scripture where Jesus was asked to judge the woman caught in adultery. Okay, and we saw this reaction of the scribes and the Pharisees who had brought the woman to Jesus, testing him by asking whether she should be stoned according to the law of Moses, and Jesus responded by challenging anyone that had no sin to cast the first stone. The Bible records that the crowd, convicted by their own conscience, they began to live one after the other, starting with the older ones until only Jesus and the woman remained. John 8, verse 9 records, and they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. So you see, the conscience of man before the new creation, it was a tool of self-reflection. Okay, that's how the old testament used it because God didn't really have much to do against the conscience of a man. Do you understand? Why? The man in the Old Testament or the old man had a sin nature, he had become one with Satan, and he had a sin nature. And I've told you how Satan behaves. Satan will tempt you to go and do something that will hurt your conscience. Then once you do it, your the same you, your conscience will start to prick you. Do you get? And it's that same Satan that will go and accuse you before God and say, You see, you see, you see your son. This is your dearly beloved son. Remember what he did with Job, right? That's exactly how it is. When I find people nowadays, you know, when they do some kind of thing and then they come out to justify the reason why they did it, and then you see, if you read in the comment sections most times, if it's on TikTok or Instagram, you find that more than 20 people will be saying the exact same thing, they'll be making one statement that is exact. Just know that it's the same demon, the same demon that made the person to go and commit that sin is the same demon that is now accusing him in the comment section. I'm telling you. See, I'll say something. I said that in the old testament, that is how it was because man already had a fallen nature and he had the nature of sin. Do you understand? But then his conscience would always prick him, he would commit the sin, and his conscience would still prick him. Okay, so that's the reason why God decided that the best way for me to do this now is that I'm going to show them a body of laws, right? And show them that this is because the the law was a schoolmaster, it was to tell them that this is wrong or this is not good. Do you understand? It was a way to teach them good for a good and right and you know, bad and you know wrong. Do you understand? So it was a way of showing them that okay, to kill your to kill someone is bad, really bad. To steal is bad, is really bad. Do you get? But to love your neighbor is good, to take care of your parents is good, to take care of your family is good. Do you understand? So it was a schoolmaster. What was the point of the schoolmaster? Is that when people saw the laws, right, and they did against what the law was asking them to do. If the law says, love the Lord your God with all of your heart, and they were doing things that were contrary to that law, for example, worshipping other gods or you know, having other idols, maybe for magic or whatever it is. What happens is that because they already knew that it was bad, right? Their conscience will now prick them. Do you get? You understand? It's just like a child, a little child growing up now, you know, and you tell the child, don't touch this, don't touch it, and you sternly warn the child, explain the reason why, and you go away. Watch how the child will do it. He will cautiously go and try it. Do you understand? So, why is he cautious now? Before he was not cautious because he did not know that it was a sin. But now that you've told him it's a sin, he's now cautious. And when he does it, if he's a good child, he will feel bad and he'll come back and tell you, Mommy, I'm sorry, this is what I did. Are you getting so that's exactly what I mean? So in the old testament, the conscience was used as a tool for what self-reflection, okay? So they were advised, or so they were encouraged rather, okay, to listen to the voice of the conscience. So in that case, the cons the conscience became the prosecutor within, excusing or accusing a man with respect to his actions. Some years ago, there was this young man who had approached me with you know this perplexing tale because he confessed to one time be living, he was one time living in a state of fornication with two women, right, who were not even his wives, and they knew each other and they were together. One fateful night, right, he experienced this haunting dream. He saw himself lifeless on the ground, dead, while another version of himself stood over his inert form, and this this version of himself was hurling vile insults at the diseased, deceased counterpart of himself, right? In the dream, the living iteration accused the deceased of indulging in fornication. He was even blaming him that had he not lived such a morally compromised you know existence, he would still be alive. Do you understand? This vivid dream was like a catalyst for this young man because he awakened, you know, he it prompted him to uh uh end the relationships with these two two women, and uh he came to me with a question. So, who is this person? Who was that person? Do you understand? His question was about the identities of the dual manifestations that he had just experienced, you know. Of course, from this explanation, you already know now because it's evident that the accusing figure is the prosecutor within his conscience, the spirit, okay, the voice is the voice of his conscience, the person is the spirit, and the lifeless figure signified, of course, the outward man. I've already said that the human spirit was not inherently sinful at this creation, right? But because of the significant challenges, you know, that's that his conscience, right, encountered after the fall of Adam. Now we now see that after the fall, the conscience of an unsaved person tends to function as an accuser or