The Hellbound Train

Since becoming an evangelist, I’ve had dreams of witnessing to others. Lately, they've been more frequent. This past Wednesday morning I dreamed of talking with a boy who asked, “Why would anyone want to go to heaven?” I replied, “Why would anyone want to go to hell?” Since this boy had a nonchalant attitude about eternity, I asked if he ever burned his hand. Then I said, “Now imagine your whole body burning…forever!”


The dream reminded me of a sermon I heard years ago by my former pastor Mac Hammond. The sermon was inspired by this poem titled “The Hellbound Train” (a/k/a “Tom Gray’s Dream”) often attributed to Retta M. Brown…


Tom Gray lay down on the barroom floor.  

He drank so much he could drink no more. 

So he fell asleep with a troubled brain

and he dreamed that he had rode on a hell-bound train. 

The engine with blood was red and damp

and brilliantly lit with a brimstone lamp. 

An imp, for fuel was shoveling bones

while the furnace rang with a thousand groans. 

The passengers made such a motley crew, 

church member, atheist, Gentile and Jew. 

Rich men in broadcloth, beggars in rags, 

beautiful young women and withered old hags. 

Yellow and black men, red, brown and white, 

all chained together, such a horrible sight. 

Then in the distance there arose such a yell,

“Ha-ha” shouted the devil, “We’re nearing hell! 

Then, oh how the passengers shrieked in pain 

as they begged the devil to stop the hell-bound train. 

But he capered about and he sang with glee 

and he laughed and joked at their agony. 

“Faithful friends,” he said, “you’ve done my work,

and the devil can never a payday shirk. 

“You’ve bullied the weak, you’ve robbed the poor, 

the starving brother you turned from your door. 

“You’ve laid up gold where the canker rusts, 

and you filled your life with worldly lusts.

“You have justices scorned and corruption sown, 

and trampled under God’s law for all that you own. 

“You have drunk and robbed, scorned and lied, 

and mocked at God ‘til the day you died. 

“You’ve paid your fare in full, 

and now your rightful due you’ll pull.” 

“The laborer is indeed worthy of his hire, 

and I will deliver you safe this day into the lake of fire.” 

Then Tom awoke in an agonizing cry,

his clothes full of sweat and his hair standing high. 

He cried and prayed as never before, 

as he ran through that barroom door. 

But his cries and prayers were not in vain, 

for he never again rode the hell-bound train.


While I prefer talking about God’s goodness, many individuals need a wake-up call about the consequences of dying without knowing Him. Let this poem be a reminder as to why we have a mandate to share the gospel with others.


“The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.” - Matthew 13:41-42

 

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