" I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless ... "

( 1 Thessalonians 5 : 23 ).

Man comprises of three major parts: spirit, soul and body.

According to Prince (1) the Hebrew word for Spirit is ruach and the Spirit gives life - self existent ( 1 Cor. 15 : 45 ). Regarding the soul the Hebrew word here is nefesh and the soul receives life - dependent. Also only God's Word discerns between spirit and soul ( Heb. 4 : 12 ).

Bible teachers usually describe the three parts as follows:

1. Spirit: God - conscious union / communion with God ( 1 Cor. 6 : 16, 17 )
2. Soul: self - conscious ( ego / " I " ) and includes

1. will : I want, decisions made here
2. intellect : I think / reason / imagine
3. emotion : I feel

1. Body: world - conscious (through five senses).

From a book by a Christian doctor the following interesting information has been abstracted.

A. The part of a man's body called his brain, contrary to popular belief is not the same as his mind. The brain is analogous to the hardware of a computer system. The soul ( emotions, mind and will ) comprises the software .

B. The Temple / Body

" Know ye not that ye are the temple of God , and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you ? " (1 Cor. 3: 16).

The temple was surrounded by a wall with 12 gates. The number 12 denotes administration. In the body the wall is the skin and the body has 12 systems .

1. Circulatory

a. blood

b. heart

c. blood vessels

d. lymphatics

2. Respiratory

3. Reproductive

4. Gastrointestinal

5. Urinary

6. Immune

7. Muscular

8. Skeletal

9. Endocrine

10. Nervous

11. Special Senses

a. eye ( vision )

b. ear ( hearing )

c. chemical ( taste and smell )

12. Insulatory

a. skin

b. sub - cutaneous tissue

c. fat of the sub - cutaneous tissue

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1. Prince, D. , " Who Am I ? " 4 tape series ( 1990).

" ... Christ in you, the hope of glory: " ( Col. 1: 27 )

In Part 1 we briefly discussed the three major parts of man: spirit, soul and body.

In this section we will look briefly at The Tabernacle and how it relates to spirit, soul and body.

The Tabernacle had three parts:-

* Outer Court

* Holy Place

* Holy Of Holies

The arrangement of these parts and the furniture contained therein is depicted in Figure 1.

Firstly, Jesus was typified in every part of the Tabernacle. For example, The Ark of the Covenant ( Ark Of God ) which was made of wood, represented His humanity. But it was overlaid with gold, and this represents His Divinity.

Also Jesus was typified in the Menorah, the seven - branched candlestick. It was made of beaten gold. The gold represented His divinity, and the beaten work speaks of His suffering.

The Menorah was placed in the The Holy Place and it gave light there. On the other hand the only Light in the innermost sanctuary - The Holy of Holies - where the ark was placed was the Shekinah Glory. "

Shekinah " is not actually a Bible word, but it is a Biblical concept. The word comes from the Hebrew verb shakhen, meaning " to dwell . " (2).

Secondly, it is believed that The Tabernacle is an illustration of spirit, soul and body.

Figure 1 The Tabernacle

The Outer Court which is open corresponds to a man's body which can be seen. The other two parts - The Holy Place and The Most Holy Place were covered, and these correspond to the soul and spirit, respectively.

When a person is born again, his / her spirit is made alive and The Holy Spirit indwells him / her. In other words God will tabernacle Himself among believers and the glory of His Divine Nature will be revealed.

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2. Stanton, D. , "The Skekinah Glory ", Maranatha Prophetic Alert No. 126 ( May 1997).

Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit (John 12: 23)

In the last two parts of this series we briefly described the three major parts of man: spirit, soul and body. We also discussed that when God comes to indwell us, by His Spirit He comes into our spirit.

Watchman Nee (3) defines spirit as the inward man; soul as the outward man and body as the outermost man.

Nee states that to properly serve God it is necessary to release the inward man. One of the examples from the scriptures he uses to explain this point is the above verse in John 12. He says that life is in the grain of wheat but there is a shell, a very hard shell on the outside. As long as that shell is not split open, the wheat cannot grow. However, once the shell is cracked open by environmental factors when it lies in the soil the wheat will then begin to grow. So the question here is not whether there is life within, but whether the outside shell is cracked open.

Another scriptural example he uses is the broken alabaster box.

And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake the box, and poured it on his head. (Mark 14: 3)

Once again without the breaking of the outward, the inward will not come forth.

So the Treasure is in the earthen vessel, but if the earthen vessel is not broken who can see the Treasure within?

In the Old Testament we see initially Jacob was deceitful and subtle. However, he then was stricken several times by misfortune, e.g.: -

• twenty years cheated by Laban
• Rachel, the wife he loved died prematurely
• Joseph, the son he loved sold
• Benjamin detained in Egypt.

Finally, after receiving these cracks to his outward " shell " he appears to be a changed man at the end of his life when he came before Pharaoh and at his death.

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3. Nee, Watchman, " Release of the Spirit ", Send The Light Trust (1966).

Jesus was called to heal Jairus' daughter, aged 12 who had died. The Bible says after Jesus spoke the word, " Maid, arise " that her spirit which had obviously left her body on death re - entered her body, and she came back to life.

In the last three parts of this series we have briefly been discussing spirit, soul and body. In this issue we will briefly cover out of body experiences.

There are two books by Dr Richard Kent (4, 5) which give numerous testimonies of people from all walks of life who have had so called " near death "experiences ( NDE ).

Medical science may have certain criteria for death but I prefer God's definition :-

On February 7, 1985 Rod Lewis was at home with his family. Because of the heavy snowfall Rod decided to clear the snow in front of his house. That morning while shovelling the snow he felt a terrific pain like a knife going into his back. He shouted out for help and his wife, Pauline and one of his daughters, Susan came out and dragged him into the house and sat him down in a chair.

Pauline ran to the neighbours for help and during this time Susan, aged 14 at the time saw him die and not surprisingly went hysterical. She later told him how his body went rigid, stopped breathing and his face changed colour.

Rod felt himself leave his body and experienced the sensation of travelling at high speed through a tunnel. He reported that, " all my natural senses were greatly heightened, colours more vivid, hearing was incredibly acute. Every thing I saw was more distinct ... Approaching the end of the tunnel I knew I was about to enter this radiant light ... Then suddenly, I heard the name of Jesus being called and again Jesus! On the third time ... Jesus! I did as it were an emergency stop. My spirit went in to reverse and back I began to travel at high speed through the tunnel and I felt myself re-enter my body. My natural hearing began to focus on the name of Jesus! as I became aware of Pauline still calling His name."

In May, 1999 just over fourteen years later I heard Rod Lewis give his NDE testimony in a church in Birmingham. At the time it reminded me of the words of Paul in 2 Corinthians 12: 2 - 4.