I.

The three parts of man

A. 1 Thes. 5:23 And the God of peace Himself sanctify you wholly, and may your spirit and soul and
body be preserved complete, without blame, at the coming of our Lord Jesus hrist.
!. Heb. 4:12 "or the word of God is living and operative and sharper than any two#edged sword, and
piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit and of $oints and marrow, and able to discern the
thoughts and intentions of the heart.
II. The four parts of the heart
III. %ealing with the heart
A. &ure in heart
i. Psa. 73:1 'urely God is good to Israel, ( To those who are pure in heart.
ii. Matt. 5:8 !lessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
iii. 2 Tim. 2:22 !ut flee youthful lusts, and pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who
call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
!. 'ingleness of heart
i. Acts 2:46 And day by day, continuing steadfastly with one accord in the temple and brea)ing
bread from house to house, they partoo) of their food with e*ultation and simplicity of heart,
ii. Eph. 6:5 'laves, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh with fear and
trembling, in singleness of your heart, as to hrist+
iii. Col. 3:22 'laves, obey in all things those who are your masters according to the flesh, not with
eye#service as men#pleasers, but in singleness of heart fearing the Lord.
THE F!" PA"T# F THE HEA"T$M%&'( )%**( EMT%&( A&' C&#C%E&CE
,hat, then, is the heart- The heart is not a separate part in addition to the soul and the spirit+ rather, it is a com#
position of all the parts of the soul and the first part of the spirit. It includes the mind, the will, and the emotion
plus one part of the spirit, the conscience. The shaded area in the following diagram illustrates the parts that
compose the heart.
.an does not have more than three main parts in his being. As a human being we have a body, a soul, and a
spirit. ,e do not have a fourth and separate part that is called the heart.
/ow we need to confirm that the mind, the first part of the soul, is a part of the heart. In .atthew 012 Jesus said
to the scribes, 3,hy are you thin)ing evil things in your hearts-4 This indicates that one can thin) in his heart.
'ince the thin)ing processes are in the mind, this proves that the mind is a part of the heart. Genesis 516 refers to
the thoughts of man7s heart. The thoughts are of the mind, but Genesis 516 spea)s of the thoughts as being of the
heart. Hebrews 2189 also refers to the thoughts of the heart. These three verses are ample proof that the mind, an
organ of the soul, is a part of the heart.
Acts 8819: refers to the will. In this verse !arnabas encouraged the believers in Antioch 3to remain with the
Lord with purpose of heart.4 To purpose is a function of the will, but in Acts it is referred to as being of the
heart. This shows that the will also is a part of the heart. Hebrews 2189 spea)s of the 3intentions of the heart.4
The intentions correspond to the purposes, which are of the will. Again, this proves that the will is a part of the
heart. There are more verses, but these two are sufficient. According to the scriptural standard, only two wit#
nesses are re;uired <%eut. 80186+ John =18>?.
In John 85199 the Lord said to His disciples, 3@our heart will re$oice.4 To re$oice is an element of the emotions,
but here the Lord said that the heart re$oices. This confirms that the emotion also is a part of the heart. In the
same chapter the Lord said, 3'orrow has filled your heart4 <v. 5?. 'orrow also is something of the emotion.
Hence, these two verses verify that the emotion is a part of the heart.
oncerning the conscience, Hebrews 8A199 says, 3Having our hearts sprin)led from an evil conscience.4 Here
we see that the conscience has much to do with the heart. In order to have a pure heart, we must have a con#
science that is without offense. Bur conscience must be sprin)led with the blood of hrist in order for us to
have a pure heart. Thus, without a doubt, the conscience is a part of the heart. "irst John :19A says that 3our
heart blames us.4 To blame is a function of the conscience. Hence, this verse proves that the conscience is a part
of the heart.
'criptural ground has thus been given to prove that all the parts of the soulCthe mind, the will, and the emotion
Cand the first part of the spiritCthe conscienceCcomposed together e;ual the heart.
'EA*%&+ )%TH THE HEA"T A&' THE #P%"%T
,e have seen the definition and function of the heart, the spirit, and the soul. Bur relationship with the Lord is
always begun and maintained by our heart. Bf course, to contact the Lord is a matter of our spirit, but this con#
tact must be initiated and maintained by our heart, for our heart is the gateway of our whole being <&rov. 219:?.
A building with many rooms always has an entrance and an e*it+ a person comes in by the entrance and goes out
by the e*it. ,hen the entrance is closed, everyone is )ept away from the rooms inside the building, but once it
has been opened, people can enter the building and en$oy each room.
The heart is not a separate and e*clusive part of our being, but is composed of all the parts of the soul and one
part of the spirit. Therefore, being such a composition, the heart becomes the very gateway of our whole being.
In other words, the heart becomes both the entrance and the e*it of our being. ,hatever enters into us must
enter through the heart, and whatever comes out from us must proceed through the heart <.att. 891:2?.
"or e*ample, if our heart is not alert as we listen to a message, we will not receive the substance of the message.
Br, when we are reading, we will receive nothing if our heart is not set on the content. Dven while we are eating,
if we do not have the heart to eat, we will not taste the food. This proves that the heart is the controlling organ.
In order to control an entire building, we must be able either to close or open the door. ,ith the heart there is
the power to close or open our whole being.
"or this reason the preaching of the gospel must be guided by the Holy 'pirit that it might touch the human
heart. The most effectual way of preaching the gospel is to touch the human heart. If one can brea) through the
heart, many persons can be gained. This is why unbelievers harden and close their heart to the gospel preaching.
Eegardless of how much we preach, when they close their heart, we cannot touch them. ,e cannot minister
anything into them, because their 3entrance4 is closed. In order to preach effectively, we must find a way to
brea) through the entrance. The best preacher is the one who finds the )ey to unloc) the heart.
Dven the Lord Himself attracts us through our heart. He does not stir up our spirit first. The see)ing one in the
beginning of 'ong of 'ongs as)s the Lord to attract her by His love so that she may love Him <819#2?. The Lord
comes to touch our heart with His love. This is why, after His resurrection, the Lord as)ed &eter, 3%o you love
.e-4 <John 98186#8>?. The Lord7s love is the best way to unloc) the door of the heart. Therefore, the most
effective way to open the heart is to preach the love of God. Bnce the heart is open, it is easy for the Holy 'pirit
to touch the spirit and all the parts of man7s being. This is true not only in gospel preaching but even in the min#
istry of hristian teaching.
'EA*%&+ )%TH THE HEA"T
,e need to deal with our heart that we might have a proper relationship with the Lord. How can we deal with
our heart- It is ;uite simple. The 'cripture says, 3!lessed are the pure in heart4 <.att. 61=?. 'ome translators
have changed the word pure to clean. However, the word clean is not ade;uate. It is not a matter of merely hav#
ing a clean heart but of having a pure heart. ,e may be clean but mi*ed and therefore not pure. To be mi*ed
does not mean to be dirty but means to have more than one goal and one aim.
This is the problem with many brothers and sisters. They thin) that there is nothing wrong with their heart
because they are clean and without condemnation. !ut they are not pure, because they have more than one goal,
more than one aim. @es, they are aiming at God, but at the same time they are aiming at several other things.
They may be aiming at God and at a doctor7s degree. ,hen they have two things as their aims, they are mi*ed
and complicated. ,e cannot see two things with our eyes at the same time. If we try to loo) at two items at the
same time, both items will be blurred.
,hy is it that some say they are not clear about the Lord7s will- It is because they have two goals, two aims.
.any brothers and sisters have more than two aims. They are aiming at many things. @es, they are see)ing the
Lord, but at the same time they are see)ing other things, such as their position and their career. How can they
avoid being perple*ed and confused- Their heart needs to be purified from many ambitions so that the Lord
Himself may be their only goal.
Dven many hristian wor)ers have too many goals. Bne brother testified that he had a great goal1 he wanted to
be the greatest preacher in his denomination. His heart was clean, but he was not pure. His heart needed to be
purified until he had only one goalCthe Lord Himself. 'ome hristian wor)ers have the Lord Himself and His
wor) as their goal. Thus, they have two goals. They need to purify their heart until they see) nothing other than
the Lord Himself as their goal. Their aim, their goal, and their interest should be only the Lord Himself. ,hen
they see) absolutely nothing but Him, their heart will be pure, and if they have such a pure heart, the 3s)y4 will
be not only open but very clear to them. 'ometimes the s)y is open but cloudy. The spiritual s)y is cloudy
because the heart is mi*ed and not pure. ,hen the heart is purified from many goals, the s)y is clear.
Another term the !ible uses to describe the heart is singlenessC3singleness of heart.4 'ome versions trans#
late singleness assimplicity. 'ingleness of heart means to be simple in heart. To be simple means, in a sense, to
be foolish. Those who truly love the Lord and aim at Him are a )ind of fool. ,e must all be hristian fools.
This means that we do not )now anything but Jesus. ,hatever we do, we )now only Jesus. ,herever we go, we
)now only Jesus. ,e should not try to be clever. ,e have only one wayCthe narrow way of Jesus. &eople may
say, 3@ou are foolish,4 but we should li)e to be so foolish. This is simplicity.
Three verses in the 'criptures referring to purity of heart are &salm >:18, .atthew 61=, and 9 Timothy 9199. The
latter reference shows that while the churches are deteriorating, we must pursue the Lord with a pure heart and
call on the Lord together with others who have a pure heart. There are at least three verses that spea) of single#
ness of heart1 Acts 9125, Dphesians 516, and olossians :199. If we would see) and serve the Lord, we must deal
with these two matters1 being pure and single in our heart. ,e must learn to have not only a clean and right
heart but also a pure and single heart. If we deal with our heart in such a way, our whole being will be open to
the Lord, because the gateway will be open. This is not a doctrine but simply a set of instructions on how to deal
with the heart so that the Lord can possess our whole being.