Description
SOUL TRAIN
The Track
April 4, 2010
Ed Young
Soul Train. Well, what do you guys think about that train? That’s the real Soul Train, isn’t it? Yeah! Please be seated. Am I the only one, but, did any of you guys grow up watching Soul Train? I loved Soul Train. If you don’t know what Soul Train is, just go home and Google it. It’s hosted by Don Cornelius. I loved to watch the dancing moves, you know. The fashion, the music. It had soul. The Soul Train. Running across the tracks of our mind each and every Saturday. Soul Train.
We talk about soul a lot. People say, “I want some soul food.” People say, “You’ve got soul.” Others will comment, “Bless my soul.” We might say, “An experience is soulish.”
What does it mean when you say the word soul? Your soul can be defined as an immeasurable, intangible element that relates to God. That’s your soul. That’s my soul. An intangible immeasurable element that relates to God.
My body, you know, I can measure my body. Last time I checked, I’m about 6’ 1 ½”, 195 pounds of solid muscle. I can’t, though, measure my soul. I’ve never said, “Ok, my soul is like 16 feet tall and it weighs 17,000 pounds.” You just can’t do it. It’s intangible. It’s immeasurable.
I’ve had the opportunity to have a lot of conversations with people and so have you. And I don’t think I’ve met very many people who would say, “I don’t have a soul.” Pretty much everybody, no matter what they believe, would say they have a soul, this intangible, immeasurable element of their nature that relates to God. Most people would say, “Yeah, yeah, I got a soul.”
The Bible talks about this dichotomy, which is really cool. Genesis 2:7, talks about God making a man, and then God (breathing) breathing His spirit, His life, His soul into man. It’s impossible for me to do anything without that thing being soulish, no matter what it is. Whether it’s watching the final 4, that’s a soulish thing. If it’s going out on a date, those who are single here. It’s soulish. Fishing, soulish. Throwing the football around. It’s soulish. Shopping, ladies, soulish. Everything is soulish.
It’s funny how we try to separate our body from our soul, have you noticed that? “Oh, I’m just doing this in my body.” Well, that’s impossible, because whenever you’re in body, you’re in soul. Or when you say, “Well, I just want to do it in my spirit, in my soul.” You can’t do that because your body is going to go along with your soul. So we’re a dichotomy, a body and soul. The Bible emphasizes the unity of man.
Today we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. That’s why we’re here. We serve a living Lord. A living Savior. The soul of the Gospel is the resurrection of Jesus. And the resurrection is the Gospel of our soul.
Sometimes you hear the word gospel being tossed out. The Gospel means good news. I don’t have bad news, I have got good news. Great news. The Gospel is good news. The Gospel is not though just a death of Jesus on the cross. I think a lot of people think that. “Oh, that’s the Gospel. Jesus died on the cross for my sins.” That’s part of the Gospel. That’s half of the Gospel. The other half is that death couldn’t hold him down. The other half is the resurrection of Jesus.
So, just consider it for a second. Because we come here from all different walks of life. We have a kaleidoscopic range of people here and at all of our different environments. Think about your life for a second. Because a lot of us have showed up today, and if the truth were known, we’d be like, “Man, Ed. My life right now, just to be honest,” You would say this if you could, “is screwed up. You know, I’ve tried this, I’ve tried that – it’s messed up. I had someone betray me, someone I trusted. They turned their back on me and I’m hurt.”
Others have shown up and you’re like, “I just lost a loved one, someone close to me.” Maybe a spouse, maybe a child, maybe a relative, maybe a close friend. And you’re like, “How can I get through it?”
Others here, you might look great, smell great, and all that. But your marriage is hanging from a thread. No one really knows about it, but you do.
Maybe some others have tried to start a new career or do something else, and it’s just not working for you.
So a lot of us, and I don’t know all the situations, but a lot of us are like, “You mean, Ed, you’re telling me, there’s a power out there that can get me through this? You mean there’s a power out there that can give me the ability to crash through this quitting point? You meant here’s a power out there that will give me endurance and vision? You mean there’s life after what I’m going through?”
I’ve got to tell you, yes. Because, the Bible says the same power that brought Jesus back from the grave, that resurrection power, is on tap for all of our lives. Now, that’s pretty hip – it’s on tap. We can just tap into it. We have the choice. We have the opportunity. I do, you do. Because I don’t know really what you’re going through, you don’t know what I’m going through. The resurrection power is on tap for all of us. We serve a living Savior, a risen Lord. The Gospel is about the death, burial and resurrection.
A lot of people wear, you know, necklaces with crosses on them. I got a cross necklace. I like it. I think crosses are great, you know. They’re cool and all that. But wouldn’t it be interesting if we started a new fashion trend. What if we had necklaces with little empty tombs around them? We ought to try that. Yeah.
“What’s on your necklace?”
“It’s an empty tomb!”
“Really?”
The resurrection of Jesus.
Just the other day, I spent some time in Europe. And Lisa and I were over there speaking a bunch. We spoke at a church and did a seminar on sex, love and relationships. And it’s really just thrilling to see what God is doing in Europe. I’ve not spent a lot of time over there, but I really enjoyed my stay. And one of the days, we traveled from London to Paris on this train called the Eurostar. So, this pastor took us to the train station, and I was thinking, “Ok, I don’t really have a ticket for this thing.”
But he said, you know, “You’re going to travel and you’re going to leave at this time. And there will be another pastor in Paris to pick you up.” And he handed me a ticket. I looked at the ticket. I mean, I didn’t want to be rude, but I wanted to see how much the ticket cost. The ticket had already been paid. It was free! Someone had paid for our tickets! And they put us like in first class on the train. I mean, I like stuff that’s free. First Class. How cool is that?
So the guy said, “Ok, find your seats. Get on the train. And he told me how to do that and what to look for and everything. And then he said, “Another pastor will pick you guys up in Paris.”
So, I’m riding on the train. About a two-hour and 15-minute journey from London to Paris on the Eurostar.
Whenever I fly, whenever I travel, I love to study on planes, and especially on this train. And I’m not that smart, so here I am studying for this talk, Soul Train, and it dawned on me, I’m studying for Soul Train, and I’m riding on a train. Huh, and then, I just started looking outside at all the tracks. And we’re just flying by, you know, the country side.
And I look at the track and I thought, “You know, this track is made of thee elements. Wood, iron and rock.”
And then it was like God spoke to me. Not audibly, but He just said, “Ed, That’s the Gospel. Those elements of the track are the elements of the Gospel.” The wood, the cross. The iron, the spikes that were driven through the feet and the hands of Jesus, for your sins and mine. The rock, the empty tomb that Jesus was in for just a few days. But then He burst forth with resurrection power. Wow. I was on that train. The ticket was paid. My seat was reserved. I was going from one place to the next. Isn’t that true in your life and mine? Isn’t that true for your soul and mine? The ticket’s been paid. Christ did the work. He conquered death. Your seat’s reserved.
You ever gone through the Atlanta Airport? You ever ridden, you know, those trains to move you from one terminal to the next – you ever done that? If you live in the Southeast, you gotta go through the Atlanta Airport to get to Heaven.
But that voice on that train that takes you from one terminal to the next says this every single time. I love it. “(Imitating voice on train) This train is now leaving the station. Please hold on.” And then you feel it. Swoooosh. And then you’re gone. Well, you have an opportunity to get on the train or not.
And in a real way today, here’s the message I want to give you. “The Soul Train is now leaving the station. Please hold on.” That’s how awesome, that’s how amazing this ride is. Because a train only goes in one direction, you know what I’m saying? And it’s interesting in all of our lives, how we try to lay our own track, figure out our own train. And do our own deal. Yet the Bible comes along and says, “It’s a soulish thing. It’s an intangible, immeasurable element of your nature that relates to God.
The Bible comes along and says, “Hey, quit searching. Quit chasing down this or that. Stop and board the train. Because when your soul is on the train, then God can train your soul.
Deuteronomy chapter 6 verse 5. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all our soul, and with all your strength. The Soooooul Train.
I love coffee. Anybody here like coffee? I love it. Life is too short to drink weak coffee. Here’s a coffee fact. It has nothing to do with the message, but the lighter the bean, the more caffeine. The darker the roast, the less caffeine. If you don’t believe me, just check it out, I’m telling you it’s true. It’s true.
But I love some coffee. I crave coffee. I’ve got to have coffee. Coffee, coffee, coffee, coffee. We have a lot of people here, I can tell, that really like coffee. I crave it. Coffee. Coffee.
Our soul has a lot of cravings too. You ever notice that? Our soul craves stuff. We crave eternity. We’re infatuated by eternity. Even as little kids, we want to hear books that end this way, “…and they lived happily ever after.”
We want to go see a movie. “Oh, girl, does it have a happy ending?”
“Yes.”
We like a good ending.
Or reading a novel, we get all freaky, we’ll turn, right, to the last chapter, am I the only one? “Uh, OH, it’s a good ending!” We’re made for a good ending. We crave eternity.
We also crave unity. Crave unity. We crave to be together. We crave intimacy. And those are giftings that God has placed within our soul.
But your number one soul craving, my number one soul craving, is to know God. There’s a hole in our soul. You could say s-o-l-e, that’s reflective of a hole in our soul, s-o-u-l. Because so many of us are running and chasing and moving from this deal to that deal. From this high to that high. From this buzz to that buzz, to try to fill this void in our lives that only the Lord can fill. There’s a God gap. There’s a vacuum, there’s a void. There’s a hole in our soul that can only be filled by loving God with all of our soul.
Psalm 23:3. “He,” God, “restores my soul. He guides me in paths,” Or in this context, “along the tracks of righteousness.”
Psalm 42:1. “As the deer pants for streams of water, my soul pants for you, oh God.”
That’s what you really want. That’s what you’re craving. That’s what you’re panting for – God.
Psalm 103:1. “Praise the Lord, Oh my soul. All my inmost beings praise his holy name. Praise his holy name.”
Over the next several weeks, we’re gong to talk about Soul Train. Sooooooul Train. Don Cornelius, the host, with that great voice would say, “Peace, love and Sooooooul.” Today I’m talking about soul. What’s a soul? That intangible, immeasurable element of our nature that relates to God. That’s the soul.
Next week, let me do a commercial, I’m talking about love. What is love? We have a jacked up view of love.
“Oh, love is a romance novel.”
“Love is a chick-flick.”
“Love is a second-hand emotion.”
“Love is something you just fall into – it’s accidental.”
What? We need to understand love. Because when we understand the love from above, when we understand God’s love and respond to it, guess what? God loves others through us.
How do you love that jerk at work? You know what I’m talking about. How? How do you love that relative that drives you crazy? How? What does that look like? How do you get that extra amount of love to love your spouse when it’s difficult? Don’t raise your hand. To love your kids, you know, when they’re rebelling? How do you do it? That’s next time. That’s next time. It’s a God thing.
Then we’re talking, the next week about peace. Peace, peace, peace, peace. Peace is back. Peace.
If we could hear what God hears right now, here’s what we might hear in our soul. It might sound like this. (War noises) There’s a war going on. I’m not talking about somewhere else. I’m talking about in your life and mine, a war going on. My interests, what makes me feel good, what gives me pleasure, versus what God wants me to do, versus the track that God wants me to take – there’s a war going on. We’re going to discover how to live with the peace of God. Because we can only have the peace of God when we have peace with God. Peace.
And now, let’s go back to the soul. Just two quick things today. Two quick things I want you to download about your soul.
Number 1, I want to talk to you about the worth of your soul, the value of your soul. Don’t ever sit there and say, “Well, my soul is not that valuable. It doesn’t matter that much. It’s not that big of a deal. Are you kidding me? Every person here is valuable. Every soul here is unique. Your soul is the only soul that will be yours. Your soul is the only one that God will ever make. How valuable is your soul? Jesus died for you. How valuable is your soul? Jesus rose for you. How valuable is your soul? He’s laid an incredible track for you. How valuable is your soul? He sees the potential in you. You’re valuable. I’m valuable. Your soul is unique to you. My soul is unique to me. So, to mess it up, to squander it, would be terrible. Your soul is worth a lot.
If you’ve ever wondered, “How much is my soul worth. I mean, how much is it worth? Just cruise up to heaven and put your ear on the heart of God, because God’s heartbeat sounds like, “I love you, I love you, I love you.”
Walk down to that hill outside of Jerusalem called Golgotha. See the blood stains on it. That’s how valuable your soul is. Cruise down the corridors of hell, that’s how valuable your soul is. Take a look at the rock, the empty tomb – that’s how valuable your soul is. Man, you’re valuable. You are worth something. One of a kind. Your soul is something else.
Usually, at the first of April, they always come out with the lists, the lists of the wealthiest people in the world. Have you ever seen those? You know, those lists that make all of us feel terrible.
“Yeah, she’s 13-years-old and worth 700 squillion dollars. Must be nice.” You know?
I want to tell you how to come up with your net worth. Very, very quickly. Here’s how to come up with your net worth. Here’s what you’re worth. Are you ready? Simply add up everything that money can’t buy, and everything that death can’t take away, and you’ve got your net worth. Because when you move from this life to the next, and the stats on death are pretty overwhelming, one out of one die, you’ll leave everything that you have, but take with you all that you are. That’s your net worth.
People say, “Well, I have money.”
No, we don’t really have money. We’re managing it for a while. We don’t really have it. “Money talks,” people say. And usually it says, “Bye-bye.” Because we either lose it or leave it. What’s your net worth? Add up everything that money can’t buy, everything that death can’t take away, and that’s your net worth, because you leave all that you have, and you move with you, to the next life, all that you are. That’s your soul. That’s your soul. That immeasurable, intangible element of your nature that relates to God.
How valuable is your soul? Well, take a cruise through Scripture. How valuable is your soul? 1 Peter chapter 1, verses 18 and 19. “For as much as ye know that you were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as a lamb without blemish and without spot.
Matthew 26. Jesus was in the garden right before he was arrested. He said, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.”
Luke 23:46, he was hanging on the cross, suspended between heaven and earth, for your sins and mine, thinking about your soul and mine. What did Jesus say? “Father, into your hands I commit my Spirit.” Read here, “soul.”
Russell Conwell, the founder and funder of Temple College, gave one lecture to his students over 6,000 times. You might have heard it. It’s called Acres of Diamonds. He said there was an African farmer who had this neat little farm and this farmer heard about all of these foreigners coming in to Africa and making all this money mining diamonds. So this guy thought, “I want some of that. I want to be rich.”
So, he sold his farm to some gentleman, set out to discover diamond minds. He searched and searched and searched. And after decades of searching, he never really found anything that great. He was despondent, depressed, and sadly, he committed suicide.
The guy who had bought the farm from this man who had just committed suicide was walking around just checking out his land one day, saw a shiny object in a little creek, picked it up, and he discovered one of the largest diamonds ever found on the farm the guy had sold to him in his search for diamonds. And then the farm that the guy had sold ended up being one of the largest diamond minds in Africa.
How valuable is your soul? How valuable is my soul? You’re standing knee-deep in acres and acres of diamonds. And yet what do we do? “I’m going to go search for riches. I’m going to go search for this or that. I’m going to go chase this or that. Surely that’ll do it for me.”
Acres and acres of diamonds. Your soul is valuable. Your soul is worth something. It will spend eternity, the Bible says, in one of two places.
The 2nd thing to download. Yeah, your soul is worth a lot. It’s valuable. It’s so valuable, we can’t even wrap our brains around it. But don’t waste your soul. You got the worth of a soul, but don’t waste your soul. Don’t waste your life. Don’t waste your life.
What’s your soul? It’s that immeasurable, intangible element of our nature that relates to God. Well, instead of giving our soul to God, instead of giving our soul to His train, on His track and allowing Him to train our soul, what do we do? We say, I’m going to lay down my own track. I’m going to forge my own future, pave my own path. I’m going to do what I want to do, right? And we search and search and search and search and search. Don’t waste your life.
Have you ever wondered about searching? Have you ever wondered about what it would be like to have just squillions of dollars, to go after pleasure like you’ve never thought possible, to go after possessions and notoriety like you can’t even comprehend? All you got to do is read the book of Ecclesiastes. Because God has saved us a lot of trouble because He’s given us the life of Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, one of the most popular men on the planet while he was living, the wealthiest guy to ever breathe. Solomon, for 40 years, man, laid down his own track, did his own thing.
You ever talk about sex? He had 700 concubines, the most beautiful women in the world. You want to talk about money? If he built his residence today, it would be billions of dollars. Bill Gates couldn’t even come close to this cat. I’m talking just incredible. He memorized all of these Proverbs, and all of these sayings and the intelligential of the day came and they were wood and wowed by Solo-man.
Well, here’s what Solomon said after his 40-year search of doing his own deal. So this will save a lot of us, young people, a lot of us, a lot of heart ache. Are you ready for it? Because you can never search like he does. Never, never. Name the most popular movie star, the richest guy on the wealthiest list. They’re not close to this cat. Check what he said.
Ecclesiastes 2:11. “When I surveyed all that my hands had done, and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless.” I love this, “a chasing after the wind. Nothing was gained under the sun.” Nothing. And then he said, “Hey,” he said, “remember God when you’re young.” Solomon said, “Remember God at the apex of your life. Don’t waste your soul. Because the waste of your soul is irreversible.”
It’s also inexcusable. The Bible says there is appointed a time for us to die. As I said, everybody is going to die. And then the Bible says, judgment. We die, (Fwoop), judgment. We have an appointment, this is scary, with Jesus. One-on-one meeting with Jesus. We can’t put it off. We can’ say, “Well, I don’t feel like it. Well, let me bring my lawyer. Well, I, it kind of makes me nervous to think about it. No.” All of us are going to sit down and go one-on-one with Jesus.
Now, some of us, we will sit down with Him and Jesus is going to look at us and go, “Man, you were a sinner. Yeah, you were fallen and fallible, but you know what? You had an opportunity to give your soul to me. The train was coming through. You understood the ticket was paid and the seat was reserved, and by grace and forgiveness and mercy, you made that decision, and I showed you the track that began when you made that decision, come on in to heaven, because the track gets better and you’re going to travel with a greater velocity now in heaven.”
And those of us who have that relationship with Christ, we’re like, “Wow, awesome! Oh, we’re going to heaven, living forever and ever and ever!” Because remember, our soul will live forever and ever and ever in one of two places.
When the planets have fallen out of orbit, when the sun has become a cinder. When time is no more, we will live forever and ever and ever.
Now, others of us will sit down with Jesus and we’ll be like, “Oh no.” We’ll be like, “Jesus. Ha, ah, I knew, I had a feeling you were the Son of God. Yeah, I didn’t, I didn’t live for you on planet earth. I rejected your grace and mercy and forgiveness and your plan and your track and your train. But now, I mean, let me negotiate. Let’s just cut a deal. I need some grace, I need some forgiveness, I need some mercy…”
Once we die, that stuff ain’t available anymore. It’s over. So what we do on this side of the grave with our soul, influences where we’ll spend eternity.
You might be like, “Well, Ed, that’s kind of heavy. A-ha.” Well, I’m telling you this because I love you. I love you enough to tell you the truth.
Here’s what, here’s what the Bible says. Acts 16:31. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you’ll be saved.”
What does the word saved mean? It means to be rescued.
Believe. And the word believe is not just, “Ok, yeah, I kind of accept that. Da-da-da.” No, no. to believe, this word is a strong word. It means to take it on, to allow it to absorb your body and your soul.
Some of us will try to give Jesus excuses. Some of us will be like, “Well, you know, I just, I just didn’t know what church to be a part of down there on earth. There were all these churches everywhere. In Florida, in the Dallas / Fort Worth…”
And Jesus is going to say, “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Stop, stop, stop, stop. I didn’t say believe on the church. I said whoever believes on me will be saved.”
Ok, others of us will go, “Ok, well, you know, I just didn’t want to do it because there were so many hypocrites. I worked with this guy and this guy, yeah, talked like he was a believer, but, man, I knew what the guy did. He ran around on his wife. And man, I’m just not into hypocrites.”
And Jesus is going to say, “Whoa, whoa, whoa. I didn’t say ‘If you believe on hypocrites, you’ll be saved.’ I said, ‘If you believe on me you will be saved.’”
Others will go, “Well, you know, I went to Fellowship Church, and I just didn’t really like Ed that much. I mean, he was ok, but he was kind of loud and hyper, and I don’t know.”
Hah, Jesus will say, “I didn’t say, ‘if you believe on a pastor, you will be saved.’ I said, ‘If you believe in me you will be saved.’” Oh wow.
And then others are going to go, “Well, I, you know, I wasn’t going to get on the Soul Train until I knew I could back it up with a true lifestyle of righteousness and holiness.”
And Jesus will say, “I didn’t say if you believe on yourself. I said, ‘If you believe on me.’” No one can live the life. It’s Christ through us. No one here is perfect. It’s about grace and love and forgiveness.
Then others will say, “Well, Jesus, I just didn’t have enough time, man. You know, I was working out and I’m in good shape and all that. And I just had a heart-attack. I had this cerebral hemorrhage. Boom. This drunk driver came around the corner and just knocked me out. I did not have enough time, Jesus, come on. Cut me some slack here.”
You know what he’ll say? “You remember that pastor in the tan coat, when he held up his Bible. You remember that pastor when he gave you an opportunity to be a part of the Soul Train? Do you remember that pastor who said ‘now is the time to give your soul to Me.’ Do you remember that?” You have no excuse. You have no excuse.
Where is your soul? Is your soul on the train? It’s between you and God. All I know is this. I know at the fullness of time, right when God was reflecting the wood and the iron and the rock, what happened? (Train noises) A baby was born in a manger. (Train noises) He started his teaching ministry at 30 years of age. (Train noises) He went around the countryside healing the sick, (Train noises) opening up the ears of the deaf (train noises) causing the blind to see, (train noises) healing and forgiving the women caught in the act of adultery (train noises), seeing the potential in people’s lives. (Train noises) He was arrested for a crime He didn’t commit. (Train noises) Nailed to a Roman cross. (Train noises) and then he said, “Father, into thy hands I commit my soul.” Then, Jesus died… they put Him in a tomb.
Then on Easter Morning, (Train whistle) the Soul Train began to catch some steam. Jesus burst forth with resurrection power. (Train Whistle) We serve a risen Savior. Does anybody need some soul in their lives? (Train whistle) Does anybody need some soul in their families? (Train whistle) Does anybody need some soul for their career? (Train whistle) does anybody need some soul and forgiveness and mercy and grace? (Train whistle) It’s time, it’s time, it’s time to get aboard the Soooooooooul Traaaaain.
That’s Easter. That’s Easter. The Soul Train. Everybody. No one moving at all. Just for a couple moments. Everybody bow your head with me just for a second. Everybody. Here, in Dallas, at all of our campuses. In Florida. If you’re watching this online. Just bow your heads right where you are. Some people here, I know, some people here in the overflow rooms, some people here, need to make this soul transaction. I can’t make it for you. I mean, I can’t say, “Ok, do it!” You know. “Here’s how they do it and I’m going to make you do it, I’m going to force you to do it.” I can’t do that. I can lead you in it, but I can’t Make you do it.
Many of you need to make this soulish decision. You might be going, “Well, Ed, how do I do it?”
Well, just pray this prayer with me. This is a prayer that I prayed in my own life when I made this transaction, when I got on the train. Because remember the ticket’s paid. Christ has already died on the cross for your sins and rose again. Your seat’s reserved. God has a unique track for every life here. He wants you to be on his train, and he wants to take you places you never dreamed possible with great focus and purpose and velocity. Just give your life to Him. Just say, “Jesus,” Just say it to yourself. “Jesus, I admit to you that I’ve messed up. That I’ve tried to chase the wind like Solomon. But right now, God, I realize I’m standing in acres of diamonds. Acres of diamonds. And I receive you, God. I realize my soul is valuable, it’s worth so much, I don’t want to waste my life. I want eternity to begin now for me, God. Jesus Christ, come into my life. I believe in our name and I receive what you did for me on the cross.” Just say that.
I believe many here said that. On the floor, the balcony, at all of our other campuses. Those who are watching online. Those in the overflow rooms. I don’t care where you are, what you’re involved in, Jesus wants to touch your life right now. Now is the time to jump on the train. God, thank you, for these decisions, for these transactions, that were rendered today. In Jesus name.
Hey, let’s give an ovation for all these, I believe, who prayed this prayer. Because the Bible says there is a party going on in heaven when one sinner repents.