you as I say, the Bronte sisters, Emily, Charlotte, and Anne Bronte. And this is the reason why most people, many people, go to Hayworth these days. It is to look at some of the literary sites of interest relating to these three ladies. So if you were to go there today, you would find a museum and also the old parsonage where their father, Patrick Bronte himself, an evangelical minister, used to live. And many other sites of interest, you'll find cafes and restaurants now all named after characters in the Bronte novels. You'll find it's become something of a Bronte land. You can buy Bronte biscuits and Bronte confectionary and Bronte water. Modern Hayworth has really become a shrine to the literary accomplishments of the Brontes. But what I want to do this morning is to take you back 80 years before even the Brontes, and to bring before you the life and ministry of a man who didn't so much make a literary impact upon the land, but rather a man who made a tremendous spiritual impact upon the land. And that is a man called William Grimshaw, who was the curate of Hayworth from 1742 to 1764, a man whose preaching was greatly owned of God to bring down divine blessing upon Yorkshire, Lancashire, and many other parts of Northern England at that time. Frank Turner, he was a secular historian. He wrote in his book, Hayworth Past and Present. This was published in 1879. I would look upon Mr. Grimshaw's ministry as the grandest period in the history of Hayworth Church. The good accomplished is incalculable. Ted Hughes, he was the poet laureate in England in the 1930s. He was brought up in an area not far from Hayworth. He said this. To a degree, he, that is Grimshaw, changed the very landscape. His heavenly fire, straight out of Blake's prophetic books, shattered the terrain into biblical landmarks. Quarries burst open like craters and chapels materialized standing in them. Gradually it dawned on me that I was living among the survivors in the remains. Another historian said these words, these were written in the 19th century, again some years after Grimshaw's ministry. He said, I visited the place in 1826 and though 60 years had elapsed since his eyes were closed in death, his presence was still visible, his voice audible. He seemed to meet us at every point like a sword turning every way to guard the way of the tree of life. Think as you would of the felicity of the people in his being succeeded by pious men. Patrick Bronte was the curate at the time. Grimshaw would again obtrude. Everything bears the imprint of his name, bears the stamp of his character, zeal and labors. Everett discovered that wherever he went in Haworth it was the same. Again to quote Everett he says, Stop an aged person, utter the name of Grimshaw, it operates like a charm. The tongue of the dumb is instantly set loose. Introductory tales are rehearsed or early facts of which they were eye or ear witnesses are recounted. So then this is a man who made a very powerful impact which lasted for generations, even upon the Brontes themselves. The fact that Patrick Bronte even came to minister in Hayworth was largely related to the influence of William Grimshaw. Just to give you a little bit of the background, it's quite helpful to know this. Patrick Bronte was born in 1777 in Northern Ireland. He then went to Cambridge, he was a very intelligent young fellow, and after that he went into the ministry. and he was called to a curacy in Bradford, in Yorkshire. The former minister there had been an old blind man called John Cross, who had apparently made William Grimshaw his role model, so much so that he'd actually married Grimshaw's son's widow. So this old man John Cross was really in the line of William Grimshaw and he then came and began to become friendly with Patrick Bronte and really encouraged Patrick Bronte, father of the Bronte sisters, to move to Hayworth and to take up the position where William Grimshaw had once been. And so you can see there on the list of pastors from the church in Hayworth, you have there William Grimshaw, 1742, and then some way down Patrick Bronte, 1820. That's when he and his six children, and Bronte was just a little baby at the time, they moved to Hayworth. And it's widely believed that the memory and the legacy of Grimshaw made a very profound impact upon the family. One lady who wrote a biography of Charlotte Bronte, she says, had there been no Wesley, fire had not kindled. Had there been no Grimshaw, there would have been no fierce tale of Wuthering Heights. You can see the impact that Grimshaw made even upon the writings of these ladies. In fact, there is a character in Wuthering Heights called Hindley Earnshaw, and some students of Bronte's work suspect that he was named after William Grimshaw. Hindley Earnshaw, William Grimshaw. If you were to go to Hayworth today and you were to speak to some of these tourists, and you mention the name of William Grimshaw, you would probably get blank looks. He's unknown to many, many people today. But to Christian people, he's known as the man who's the pioneer of evangelical revival in the north of England. So he's an overlooked figure, but one whose life is worthy of careful study. And that's what we're going to do this morning. And I'm really leaning here upon the work of the Cooks, Faith Cook and her husband, Paul Cook, who've done some studies in the life of William Grimshaw, particularly this book here by Faith Cook, William Grimshaw of Hayworth, and also a little booklet tract called Heavenly Fire by a lady called Esther Bennett. So those are the... to resources that you can get hold of actually available in the Puritan bookshop up in Grand Rapids. Okay, then let's begin with Grimshaw's upbringing. He was born in Brindle in Lancashire in 1708. And he was the son of a farm labourer. But even from a very young age, he showed great intellectual promise, which encouraged his parents to send him to Christ College, Cambridge, in 1726. He was just 17 at the time, which might seem quite young to us, but it was quite common in those days for promising students to go to Oxford or Cambridge at a young age. He went as a scissor. which means he was a poor lad and he was able to supplement his income by helping the more well-to-do lads and doing chores for them. And for the first two years of his time there, Grimshaw worked very hard and he made great progress in his studies. After that time, however, he fell in with a bad crowd. which wasn't that hard to do at Oxford or Cambridge. John Wesley said, The moment a young man sets foot in either Oxford or Cambridge, he is surrounded by company of all kinds, with the loungers and triflers of every sort, with men who no more concern themselves with learning than with religion. Well, Grimshaw fell in with such a group as that, and he quickly became addicted to alcohol, and to the 18th century social party scene. And as a result of that, his studies quickly fell away, so that by the time the degrees were being awarded, this is in 1732, Grimshaw's name was right at the very bottom of the list. Not because he was a poor student, but really because he'd wasted his time, and he squandered his talent. Well, despite that, he was later ordained into the ministry. You may think that's strange, but in those days, being a minister was something that actually many, particularly worldly people aspired to, because it seemed to be something of an easy life. Their motivation, I'm quoting here Grimshaw himself, of getting a good living, a curacy, and bread, and he says, I confess it was mine. So he began his ministry in a little town in the north of England called Littleborough before eventually moving to Todmorden. up in Lancashire. It's near a place called Hebden Bridge. I used to live in Manchester, and Hebden Bridge is not that far away. And today, if you were to go there, you'd find it's a place where there are a lot of hippies and bohemian types like to hang out on the moors around Hebden Bridge. Well, in those days, it was quite a wild, rough area, not just the landscape, but also the coarseness and the brutality of the people. And Grimshaw, he moved to Todmorden and he began his ministry. If you can call it a ministry, because really all he was was just a worldly cleric. His main interests were fishing, hunting and socialising. with an occasional sermon thrown in every now and then. Faith Cook says he was like so many curates of the day, a gentle casuist, a compliant companion, and a man of the world. He did have one good resolution and that was that he would never go into the pulpit drunk. I suppose they should be thankful for that. Well, there was one incident during his time in Todmorden that really set William Grimshaw thinking. And this was in 1634 when a young woman called Susan Schofield came to Grimshaw because she had lost her baby daughter, died at just six weeks of age. Today we would call it, I suppose, a cot death. And of course the woman was absolutely distraught. Even for a time apparently she would still bathe the baby's body and dress it up as if the child was still alive. Well, eventually she decided she needed to go and speak to the curate to see if Mr. Grimshaw could give her any words of help. Well, Grimshaw, he didn't know what to do, he didn't know what to say to her or to her husband. In the end, the best he could come up with was, put away all gloomy thoughts and go into merry company and divert yourselves and all will soon be right. Well, as you can imagine, that wasn't a great deal of help for Mrs. Schofield. And some days later, she came back to him and said, Mr. Grimshaw, have you no further advice? To which Grimshaw replied, to despair of the mercy of God would be the worst thing of all. Now, saying those words stirred something in Grimshaw's own soul. He began to realize how utterly bankrupt he was spiritually, how he had nothing good, profitable to say to this woman. And so, for a time he began to search after the true knowledge of God and the forgiveness of sins. And he thought that the way to accomplish this was to live a just and an upright life. So he decided what he would do is he would keep a two-page ledger every day, and on one side he would write down the good things he had done, on the other side he would write down the bad things that he had done, and hopefully at the end of the day when he came to sit down and do his maths, the books would balance. Hopefully he would have done enough. But more and more he came to see that he hadn't, and more and more he came to see that he couldn't meet the demands of God's holy law, and a deep sense of melancholy began to grip him. Well, in 1734 a diversion came into his life, and that was in the form of a rather dashing, attractive young heiress called Sarah Sutcliffe, who for a time had had her eye on the young curate from Todd Morden. So much so that one day she rode by his house on her horse, and she called out to him, I have come to bid a penny at you, which in old English parlance basically was a marriage proposal. And Grimshaw was so smitten by this attractive wealthy young lady, he fell head over heels in love. They were married the next year and Grimshaw was able to put behind him the worries, the troubles of his soul. So happy was he in his new married state. But four years passed and after the birth of two children, sadly Sarah died. And Grimshaw, as you can imagine, he was utterly devastated. He was inconsolable, he couldn't see any more reason for living. He even began to plan his own funeral, who would be coming, the drinks they would be having. He arranged where he would be buried, right beside Sarah, all of these things. He was in the grip of deep despair. He began to entertain very hard thoughts towards God. He accused God of being unfair and cruel to him while he was just trying to do his best. And for a time Grimshaw was just so gripped by despair he didn't know where to turn. My friends, he would cry out in despair in the middle of a service, we are in a damnable state and I scarcely know how we are to get out of it. Sometimes he would ask the whole congregation to remain kneeling as if he felt that this posture might atone for his own delinquencies. Now around this time was the beginning of the 18th century revival when men like George Whitfield and John Wesley were preaching to vast crowds on the doctrine of justification by faith. But Todd Morden, where Grimshaw was ministering, was so far off the beaten track, the roads were so poor, that few of these great men made it out to that part of England. And there was one man who would come out there, a man called William Darney. He was an itinerant minister and Grimshaw was terrified of William Darney because Darney, whenever he came into the village, he would take hold of Grimshaw's coat and pull it and begin to reprove him for his legalistic preaching. Mr. Grimshaw, you are a Jew, he would say. You are no true believer in Christ. You are building on the sand. And these words would be echoing around Grimshaw's mind. And he was very scared of this man, Darnie. In fact, there was an account, one occasion Grimshaw snagged his coat on a briar. And so panicked was he, he thought it was Darnie pulling his coat again. This was the fear he had of this man. Well in 1742 something happened that brought about a transformation in Grimshaw's life and that was when he visited the home of a friend and he saw a book there on the table and so he went over and he picked up the book and this sounds strange but as he did so there was a flash of light And so he picked up the book and he opened it again. There was another flash of light. He began to read the book and a third flash of light. And he felt sure that this meant God was saying something to him. So he asked a friend if he could take the book home with him and read it. Now the book was written by a Puritan, John Owen. It was called The Doctrine of Justification by Faith. And in this book, Grimshaw discovered the answer that his soul had been looking for, that the only righteousness that could satisfy God was the righteousness that God himself would give to him, an imputed righteousness that comes through faith alone in Christ alone. Only this could make him acceptable in the sight of God. And as Grimshaw discovered this, this was a moment of tremendous spiritual release for him. He says, I was now willing to renounce myself, every degree of fancied merit and ability, and to embrace Christ only for my all in all. Oh, what light and comfort did I now enjoy in my own soul, and what a taste of pardoning love of God. Heaven in the soul was how he later described those days. His Bible became a new book to him. One contemporary records, ''Yea, he told me that if God had drawn up his Bible to heaven and sent him down another, it could not have been newer to him.'' So then, Grimshaw is a changed man. The depression and the despair that he's feeling begins to lift. He remarries again. a lady called Elizabeth Cockcroft and with his two children he took up an invitation to the curacy of Saint Michael and all angels in Hayworth. This is a picture of the original building. And in 1742, he began his ministry there. Hayworth, like Todd Morden, where he had been before, it wasn't an easy place to live. It was rough, tough, wild existence in those days. Life expectancy was little more than 26 years of age. Child mortality, most children, or sorry, half of the children died before they reached the age of six. Disease was rampant due to poor hygiene and insanitary conditions. There were open sewers, it would run down the streets, and apparently the water supply actually ran through the graveyard. And in those days they had many, many shallow graves, so you can imagine how polluted the water supply was. Socially things were not much better. One historian, Jay Plum, says that In every class there was the same taut neurotic quality, the fantastic gambling and drinking, the riots, brutality and violence, and everywhere and always a constant sense of death. So this was a hard place to live. But Grimshaw, he was a strong man. He was a strong man physically and he was a strong man spiritually as well. And so in this parish of 2,200 people, he began his ministry and it began to have a powerful effect. As soon as he got there, he had a new pulpit built in the church. He had two texts engraved on the sounding board of the church. One was 1 Corinthians 2 verse 2, I sought to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And also Philippians 1 21, for me to live is Christ and to die is gain. And those themes became or were sounded forth in his preaching week by week. We don't have any of his manuscripts still around today, but there is an unpublished treatise which does give you a flavor of his sermonic style. Listen to this. My neighbor, my friend, my heart longs over you. Your manner of life is actually openly and evidently such that if not seasonably prevented, it will shortly and certainly terminate in your inevitable, intolerable, eternal ruin and destruction. Don't be angry with me, please don't. It's because I love you that I thus address you. I want you without delay to repent of your sins, to seek the Lord while he may be found, to turn upon him while he is near. Acquaint yourself with him, be at peace with him through his blood, that thereby good may come to you. Pardon, peace, grace, heaven, glory, glory forevermore." Now for the people of Hayworth, this was the kind of thing that they had never heard before. John Newton who wrote a biography of Grimshaw, he said, the inhabitants had little more sense of religion than their cattle. They were wild and uneducated like the mountains and rocks which surrounded them. So under the powerful spirit-owned preaching of Grimshaw, church attendances began to swell. When he arrived, the number of communicants was 12. By the end of the first year, it was up to 60. And soon, it was thought that the premises themselves needed to be enlarged. This is in 1743. I'm sure many of you are aware that already around this time, this is the 1730s, there has been great awakening and revival in many parts of England. In London and Bristol, under the preaching of men like Whitfield and Wesley, you think about Wales at this time, the ministry of Howell Harris and Daniel Rowlands, up in Scotland you've got the Cambu slang revival as well, but in the north of England the effects of the revival weren't really experienced until 1738 when Methodist itinerant ministers, Benjamin Ingham, John Nelson, they began to establish religious societies and began to preach around the north of England in the late 1730s. Grimshaw at first was suspicious of these men and the Methodist movement. He didn't really like anything that was new or novel. But when he began to listen to them, he realized that they were preaching the same doctrines which had brought him salvation. So he became very sympathetic. towards them. And in fact, as the revival begins to spread, he really joins forces with these men as they go out preaching the gospel. And Hayworth becomes the center of a great work of revival going on there in the north. Charles Wesley, 1746, he makes his first visit to Hayworth. And at that time, Grimshaw was actually very seriously ill. So was his wife. They were both sick in bed when Wesley arrived. Grimshaw, with his much stronger, robust constitution, he recovered. But again, sadly, his wife did not. And 1746, she died, leaving Grimshaw a widower once again. Should he marry again? Rimshaw wondered to himself, you know he was quite an eccentric in many ways. Do you know how he decided whether he ought to marry again? He found an old Spanish coin and he decided that he would flick it and if it came down one way he would, if it came down the other he would not. And he flicked that coin and it came down null. So he never married again. After that, he just plunged himself into the work of the ministry in Hayworth, and the work continued to thrive. By the end of the 1740s, every Sunday, the building would be packed with 1,000 people, oftentimes spilling out into the graveyard and into the streets. In fact, there's even an account of the Wesleys and George Whitefield coming to Hayworth, and as many as 6,000 people coming to hear the word of God. I just want to read you one account of Whitfield's visit to Hayworth. This was in 1756. This is just to give you a little flavour of the times. I think this is actually quoted from the Life and Times of the Countess of Huntingdon. As Mr. Whitfield mounted the temporary scaffold to address the thousands spread before him, he was observed to engage in secret prayer for a few seconds. Then, casting a look over the multitude, elevated his hands, and in an energetic manner implored the divine blessing and presence. With a solemnity peculiarly his own, he announced his text. It is appointed unto men once to die, and after this the judgment. After a short pause as he was about to proceed, a wild, terrifying shriek issued from the centre of the congregation. A momentary alarm and confusion ensued. Mr. Whitfield waited to ascertain the cause and besought the people to remain still. Mr. Grimshaw hurried to the spot and in a few minutes was seen pressing through the crowd towards the place where Mr. Whitfield stood. Brother Whitfield, he said with that energy which manifested in the strongest manner the intensity of his feelings and the ardour of his concern for the salvation of sinners. You stand amongst the dead and the dying. An immortal soul has been called into eternity. The destroying angel is passing over the congregation. Cry aloud and spare not. The awful occurrence was speedily announced. to the people. After a lapse of a few moments, Mr. Whitfield again announced his text. Again, a loud and piercing shriek proceeded from the spot where Lady Huntington and Lady Margaret Ingham were standing. A thrill of horror seemed to spread itself over the multitude when it was understood that a second person had fallen victim to the King of Terrors. When the consternation had somewhat subsided, Mr. Whitfield gave indications of his intention of proceeding with the service. You can imagine the tension when he's about to announce his text again. The excited feelings of many were wound up to their highest point. All was hushed, not a sound was to be heard, and a stillness like the awful stillness of death spread itself over the assembly as he proceeded in a strain of tremendous eloquence to warn the Christless sinner to flee from the wrath to come. So that's just to give you something of an insight into the tremendous spiritual times in England in those days. Now, what about Grimshaw's own preaching? What can we say about that? Well, there is no doubt that Grimshaw himself was a phenomenally gifted preacher. Every Sunday, hundreds of people would walk miles to come and hear him preach. There's a story of him preaching on the prodigal son on one occasion, and as he's warming to his theme, he says, yonder he comes, yonder he comes, all in rags, yonder he comes in rag and bobtail. And so gripped with the congregation that they actually turned to see if they thought somebody was actually coming into the building. He was a Cambridge graduate, but he used the ordinary means of speech. He called it market language. So that when he urged the young people to repent, he would say things like, do not think you can dance with the devil all day and feast with Christ at night. Today is your living day. Tomorrow may be your dying day. Or when he was exhorting the people to give thanks for their daily food, he said things like this. Some of you are worse than the very swine, for pigs will gruff over their vittles, but you say nothing. And this was the sort of language that those people understood. He himself said, if they cannot understand me, I cannot hope to do them good. And when I think of the uncertainty of life, you know, average age, 26, it is possible I will never see them again. Well, with that kind of concern for the souls of his people, many came to hear him from far and wide. Some came very willingly, others came unwillingly. There's an interesting anecdote in there about a farmer who came to hear Grimshaw, and he was very impressed with him, and he was converted under his preaching, but he became very concerned about the condition of his wife. And so he begged her to come and listen to Mr. Grimshaw, but she said, I will not go and hear that devil. And he pleaded with her, but still she wouldn't relent. And in the end, one Sunday morning, he got her out of bed. He dressed her, apparently, and took his stick, and he drove her to Haworth, as if she were an animal. So every time she stopped or became reluctant, she would get a smack on the side of the leg. And this was how it went all the way to Haworth. She was cursing all the way, not apparently cursing her husband, but cursing Grimshaw. Eventually she arrived at the church and she was deeply affected by his preaching so much so that she went again the following Sunday without the stick this time. She went of her own volition and she too was converted. And apparently this couple went on to be some of Grimshaw's closest friends. There are many other interesting stories about Grimshaw, if you want to know them you should read the book. Just to give you another one, there was an account of him going into the pub. It was a pub not far from, I think I have a picture of it here, here it is, the Black Bull. This was situated quite near to the church and there was a rumour going around that before the preaching of the sermon, Grimshaw himself would go into the pub with a stick and round up any idlers or Sabbath breakers and drive them into the church. So that's supposed to be a bit hypocritical. The reality is that he would send wardens into the church to see if there were any idlers in there when they should be in church. You have to remember in those days it was actually illegal to be drinking on a Sunday, so it's not as extreme as it may sound. I'm just going to read to you a little selection regarding that. A colourful anecdote has survived that illustrates this situation. It was told by John Dean who lived near Colne and described himself as an ear and eye witness. On this occasion in 1759, Grimshaw sent two of his church wardens to check up on parishioners idling their time away in public houses. A long time seemed to elapse and yet they had not reappeared. The psalm was over and the people were waiting. Grimshaw himself then left the lectern and walked out of the church in search of his church wardens. An uneasy whispering broke out in the congregation as the people speculated about what might have happened. At last came the sound of heavy footsteps approaching and a rustling in the porch. In came the church wardens, bearing the insignia of their office but moving onwards with reluctant step and downcast looks like criminals on their way to the bar in a court of justice. Immediately behind them came Grimshaw who boomed in a voice sufficiently stentorian to reverberate through the remotest corners of the church. For shame, for shame, what think you? The church wardens who went out to detect others and prevent them from sinning, I have found them in the inn drinking a pint of ale. For shame, for shame, for shame. These last words were uttered at intervals as he mounted the steps to his pulpit. John Newton wrote a biography of Grimshaw. He also relates this account. He tells of Grimshaw's habit of checking up on the ale houses. A friend of mine, he says, passing a public house in Hayworth on a Lord's Day morning saw several persons making their escape out of it, some jumping out of the lower windows and some over a low wall. He was at first alarmed, fearing the house was on fire. But upon inquiring what was the cause of the commotion, he was told that they saw the parson coming. They were more afraid of their past than of a justice of the peace. His reproofs were so authoritative and yet so mild and friendly that the stoutest sinners could not stand before him." Well, despite his idiosyncrasies, Grimshaw was a mighty servant of the Lord. He became firm friends with John Wesley, with George Whitfield, and the Countess of Huntingdon. And as we said before, Hayworth itself came to be the center of revival in the north of England. It was through the ministry of Grimshaw that there came into being what was known as the Hayworth Round. Grimshaw was much in demand, but he was reluctant to go and preach in other parishes at first because there were laws in those days which stated that a minister wasn't to go and preach in other parishes. But in 1747 Grimshaw seems to have had some sort of deep spiritual experience after which he determined that he must go out preaching in other parishes. And so he would go on these preaching tours which would cover many, many miles. Going as far north there as Hartlepool, he went out to Kendal in the Lake District, going south to Sheffield and west there to Preston. And he would go for a week, preaching as many as 20 times in that week, and often in inclement weather conditions, very bitter weather up there in those parts of England. If the church wouldn't allow him to preach there, he would go into cottages and into barns, often with the threat of violence. There was an occasion that he and Charles Wesley were nearly killed when they went to a place called Roughly. And this was something that Grimshaw did for the next 16 years of his life, always making sure that he was back in Hayworth for the Lord's Day service. Well, as you can imagine, those kind of exertions, they took their toll on his health, so that by the time Grimshaw reached the age of 53, he was really worn out. And in 1763 he contracted typhus fever while visiting one of his parishioners. He became desperately ill and Grimshaw knew himself that the end wasn't far away. His friend Benjamin Ingham visited him and he said to him, my last enemy has come, the signs of death are on me. I am not afraid. No, blessed be God, my hope is sure. I am in his hands. Henry Venn, who is another great preacher of the day, he visited Grimshaw at the end of his life. He was very sick, burning fever, suffering headaches, but he said, I am as happy as I can be on earth and as sure of glory as if I am in it. He then asked Venn if he would preach his funeral sermon, Philippians 121, for me to live is Christ and to die is gain. And a few days after that Grimshaw was taken home to glory and Henry Venn did preach the funeral sermon. Do you then ask what proof real believers give that to them to live is Christ? Who in our time was more deeply affected with this self-abasing doctrine than your late minister? It was engraved on his heart, and not all his diligence in doing the work of his ministry, nor his great success in it, not all his joys in God, though abundant, nor his unblameable conversation ever led him to obscure the glory of the cross of Christ. Still upon his atoning blood and justifying righteousness alone did every hope of his soul's acceptance with God depend. Okay, let's now just think about some lessons briefly. Three lessons from the life of Grimshaw. Firstly, the importance of admonishing sinners. William Grimshaw was not afraid to rebuke and admonish sin when he saw it. He even wrote a small book called The Admonition of a Sinner and he believed it was the Christian's duty to speak out against sin when he or she saw it. Now we have to say Grimshaw himself used some rather unusual unorthodox methods to accomplish this. but he was not afraid to do so if he thought that he might do good to a sinner's soul and awaken in them a concern about eternity are we not also called to admonish and to reprove sin? it's not an easy thing to do especially in our own day and age is it? the age of pluralism and political correctness to say to people what you're doing is sin takes a lot of courage but we are to be salt and light in this world in which we live The Bible says, faithful are the wounds of a friend. Let the righteous smite me. There shall be a kindness. There is a place for admonishing sin. Prayer as well. A great encouragement to pray, the life of William Grimshaw. One of his servants for a time gives a brief account of his habits with regard to private devotions. The best account I've met with of the incident to, sorry, a person who lived with him as a servant gave the following report, that she was called up that morning at five o'clock, but found her master was risen before her and was retired into private room for prayer. After remaining there some time, he went to a house in Hayworth where he was engaged a while in religious exercises with some of his people. He then returned home and retired for prayer again and from thence to church. This was his daily habit. The Bible says the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. And that also was to be seen very much in the life of Grimshaw. I just want to give you another illustration of this. In those days there was an event that was known as the Haworth Wakes. which essentially was horse racing and gambling and a lot of drinking. And this event would go on for about three days. And Grimshaw was greatly perplexed that such an occasion should take place within the boundaries of his own parish. And he made representation to the organizers. He pleaded with them that they would bring an end to this event because of all of the sin that surrounded it. But they wouldn't listen to him. So Faith Cook writes, still they persisted with their customary arrangements. At last Grimshaw resorted to the only power which none could withstand, the power of prayer. Earnestly he sought God that he would intervene and put an end to the wakes. He may have feared his prayers were unanswered, for as the time for the races came round, all the people assembled as was their custom, but before they could begin, threatening black clouds began to darken the sky. Then torrential rain cascaded down, sending the contestants scurrying through the downpour, muttering, this man has power with God. Not for one hour or even for one day, but throughout the entire three-day period of the races, the rain poured down relentlessly, washing out the entire event. Old Grimshaw has put a stop to the races by his prayers, the organizers complained sorrowfully. Forty years later, this dramatic event was still remembered and spoken of in Hayworth. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. And then also, finally, think about the importance of preaching. In dark days, how a nation needs good preaching, and how often God intends When he intends to work in a nation, he'll first of all raise up gifted preachers. And that's what he did in those days. You know, the population was relatively small, but how many mighty preachers they had in England in those days. Are we praying today for preachers? Are we looking out for preachers? Are we giving opportunity and encouragement to young preachers? We need to pray, don't we? That in these dark days, God will be pleased to raise up a new generation of gifted, powerful preachers. Well, that's all I have on William Grimshaw. Let us close with a word of prayer. Father, we are so encouraged when we read of the lives of the saints. We thank you, Lord, for the ministry of William Grimshaw. We thank you, Lord, for his courage, his zeal for righteousness, his willingness to boldly confront sin where he saw it, his love for the Saviour, his love for the souls of men which drove him out from his parish, out across the moors and to so many parts of northern England. We praise you for the great work of revival which attended his ministry and that of Whitfield and Wesley and many others. Lord, we have our appetites whetted for a work of God in our own day, and we pray, Father, that you would come and visit us here in West Michigan, here in Holland. Lord, we believe the same things that Grimshaw believed. We stand on the same Bible. Oh, Lord, we pray that in these days you would come and pour out heaven's blessing upon us. Bless the preaching of your word here in this place. Bless the pastors, bless visiting preachers, bless your people. Father, give us a love for you and a love for the souls of men and women around us. We pray, O Lord, that we might see this church packed so that even we might have to consider enlarging the premises. Lord, we believe you can do these things. Hear us and help us, we pray. In Jesus' name, amen. Go ahead. He was at the Church of England, I assume. He was, yeah. All right. So it was a Pater Baptist congregation. Yes. OK. That's helpful. And then also, you mentioned the Bronte girls and their novels. You talked about Wuthering Heights. Any other names? And then do you know of the I'm not a literary expert on the Brontes. I'm just trying to remember something I read in one of these leaflets regarding the impact of Grimshaw upon the ministry, sorry, upon the literature of one of the Bronte sisters. Let me just see if I can find this. Charlotte Bronte's famous biographer, Mrs. Gaskell, in seeking to exonerate Charlotte from the charges of vulgarity and coarseness in her novels should have given more weight to the effect of Grimshaw's unvarnished biblical message of sin, repentance, heaven and hell, and redemption in Christ on the Bronte sisters. I read also that there was a universalism about Anne Bronte's theology as well. So I don't think they themselves were particularly affected by Grimshaw's ministry or their fathers. and she's saying that they are presented as not being Christian per se and not even necessarily being moral in perspective. And he had the ability to admonish sin, but also these men that were admonished for drinking on a Sunday morning, they also felt that he had such a care for their souls that they fell under even greater conviction. Now, how do you think he conveyed that? Did you pick up any flavor of that while you were studying? Apparently, well there's a couple of ways. In his manner of ministry when he was preaching it was said that there was a real love and warmth conveyed in his style and by the way he looked out at his congregation. And also his willingness to go to them and to preach. If they couldn't make it to the church or they couldn't get into the church then he was willing to even go into their homes and held many cottage meetings. And whatever the weather, he would do his utmost to get out to them and visit them. So I suppose he reinforced his message with that kind of loving pastoral ministry. John? Is there any particular reason why his sermons weren't transcribed or available? Did he not write out his sermons? Or is there a reason he picked up From what I gather, he did write out many of his sermons, but the manuscripts were lost. So we don't have them today. All that remains is one treatise that mentioned the admonition of a sinner, which apparently has been reproduced into a book today. Evangelical Press have brought that out, the gleanings from William Grimshaw. But no extant sermon manuscripts. Jeff? Did he ever make it over to the United States to meet Jonathan Edwards? They did, didn't they? Whitfield and Wesleys. Now, Grimshaw, from what I have read, he never made it across to the US. But he traveled extensively around the north of England. But no, I don't think he ever crossed the Atlantic. Ken? No, that was Stephen Charnock, wasn't it? No, this is a Jay Charnock. No, I don't think so. He had two children. John and Jane. And tragedy surrounds them as well. When his second wife died, he sent them away to a school run by the Wesleys. And Jane died when she was 11. And John became something of a dissolute young fellow. So there was tragedy attached to his life as well. But I may make reference to that a little bit this evening in a sermon. I'm going to use that as an illustration. So I won't tell you all that now. Kevin? The wakes, did they stop them? Or next year, did they? Do you have any idea? I believe they did carry on after that. That one was a washout, but I think they did persist with those wakes after that. I'm just seeing. The Meteorological Journal of the Gentleman's Magazine records unusually heavy rainfall in the north of England on those dates. So it was quite a remarkable event. But it doesn't say whether they were abandoned after that. Sorry, I can't help you there. OK, I think we're about out of time.