The Rich Man
(Luke 16:19-31)
I’ve gone home – but not to Heaven,
There’s no comfort in this place.
I am tormented in this flame
And worms are my covering of disgrace.
I’ve gone home – but not to Heaven,
I find there’s no escape to be had.
There’s a great gulf I cannot pass,
And this thirst near drives me mad.
I’ve gone home – but not to Heaven,
Alone, in endless darkness, I look around.
But the weeping and gnashing of my own teeth
Are the only cursed sounds.
I’ve gone home – but not to Heaven,
Excluded forever from God’s face.
I rejected Jesus Christ, the only Saviour,
And here there’s no more offer of His grace.
I’ve gone home – but not to Heaven,
Where am I? Oh, please do tell…
I am the rich man who knew Lazarus
And I am tormented in this eternal Hell.
In my heedless life, I took my ease.
Oh, how I mocked and ridiculed.
Now I languish forever in this prison,
And realize how much I played the fool.
All the Scriptures come back to haunt me;
Oh, every word of the Prophets was true.
If only someone would tell my brethren,
Lest they come to this place of torment too.
March 26th, 2002
Jerry Bouey
This is the story of the rich man in Luke 16. I had written a poem called I’ve Gone Home – which has become one of my most popular poems. It was an attempt to give a Scriptural glimpse of Heaven to offer comfort to some friends of mine who had lost a saved loved one. Then my webpartner on EarnestlyContending (Angela Trenholm) challenged me to do a poem on Hell, starting with the same phrase, “I’ve gone home,” but then leading to a description of Hell instead of Heaven – as a warning and exhortation for those who are not saved to trust the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation before it is too late.
I like to think of I’ve Gone Home as Lazarus’ story, and use both poems to present the contrast of what Heaven and Hell are truly like Biblically.
Are you prepared for eternity? Have you trusted the Lord Jesus Christ to save you from your sins and give you a home in Heaven when you die. The Bible does clearly refer to where we go after we die as our “long home”, because that is where we will spend eternity:
Ecclesiastes 12:5 Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail: because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets:
Where is your home in eternity? Heaven or Hell?
If you are not sure that Heaven is your home, please prayerfully read the following Gospel tract, which will show you from the Bible how you can be saved and be assured of a home in Heaven: God’s Simple Plan Of Salvation. Why be unsure when God says you can know? Take God’s Word on it!
1 John 5:13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.
By the way, the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus in Luke 16 is a true account. It is not a parable. Nowhere else in Jesus’ parables do we find Him naming any of the people portrayed in them. This is also one of the clearest passages on where the righteous and the wicked dead went prior to the resurrection of Christ.