Here lies the dust of a poor hell-deserving sinner,
who ventured into eternity trusting wholly
on the merits of Christ for salvation.

In the full belief of the great doctrines he preached while on earth,
he invites his children, and all who read this,
to trust their eternal interest on the same foundation.

Lemuel Haynes,
who died
September 28th, 1833.

Love in death.

Lemuel Who?

I only learned of Lemuel Haynes today while listening to the Reformed Forum’s interview with Thabiti Anyabwile, pastor of First Baptist Church of Grand Cayman. Check out the podcast interview (MP3, 48 minutes). Hearing Haynes’ epitaph near the end of the interview brought tears to my eyes. I thought it was good enough to share. What a succinct summation of the gospel and lasting exhortation to Christ! He is believed to have composed this during his last couple of days.