REVIVALIST WILLIAM GRIMSHAW

MANY PEOPLE MIGHT NOT EVEN HEARD OF REV. WILLIAM GRIMSHAW. DURING THE REVIVAL OF THE 18TH CENTURY , THE NAMES OF GEORGE WHITFIELD AND JOHN WESLEY ARE CONSTANTLY MENTIONED; THEY CRISCROSSED EUROPE AND NORTH AMERICA; THEY HAVE A LARGE LISTENING AUDIENCES. REV. WILLIAM GRIMSHAW IS NOT A BLIP ON THE RADAR. A WRITER WROTE ABOUT REV. WILLIAM GRIMSHAW “IF GREATNESS IS TO BE MEASURED BY USEFULNESS TO SOULS, I BELIEVE THERE WERE NOT IN ENGLAND A HUNDRED AGO THREE GREATER MEN THAN WILLIAM GRIMSHAW.”

WILLIAM WAS BORNE IN A SMALL TOWN; HIS FAMILY BACKGROUND WAS UNKNOWN. AFTER GRADUATED FROM CHRIST’S COLLEGE OF CAMBRIDGE, HE WAS ORDAINED AS A DEACON AND SERVED IN THE TOWN OF TODMORDEN. HIS SPIRITUAL LIFE CHANGED.

1. WILLIAM FELT DEEP CONCERN OF HIS SOUL AS WELL AS THE CONGREGATION.

2. HE BEGAN PRAYING IN SECRET FOUR TIMES A DAY.

3. HE NOW KNOWS THE POWER OF THE BIBLE INSTEAD OF JUST A BOOK TO READ.

HE WAS CALLED TO BE A MINISTER IN HAWORTH IN 1742. SERVED HERE 21 YEARS TILL HE DIED. HAWORTH WAS A ROUGH TOWN AND UNCIVILIZED TOWN. STREETS WERE STEEP AND WAS DESCRIBED AS A DESOLATE AND WASTE PLACE.

WILLIAM GRIMSHAW BEGAN TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO HIS WILD AND ROUGH CONGREGATION IN THE PLAINEST AND FAMILIAR MANNER AND FOLLOW UP WITH HOUSE TO HOUSE VISITATION. HIS PREACHING WAS EFFECTIVE AND SHOOK THE TOWN. THIS IS WHAT HE WROTE TO A FRIEND: “ … IT WAS AMAZING TO SEE AND HEAR WHAT WEEPING, ROARING, AND AGONY MANY PEOPLE WERE SEIZED WITH AT THE APPRENHESION OF THEIR SINFUL STATE AND WRATH OF GOD.”

THE STYLE OF PREACHING WAS WELL SUITED TO THE ROUGH AND UNEDUCATED POPULATION… WHICH WILLIAM GRIMSHAW WAS EMINENTLY A PLAIN PREACHER.

WILLIAM GRIMSHAW SHOOK THE LITTLE CORNER OF YORSKHIRE WHERE HE WAS PLACED AND STIRRED THE PEOPLE’S MIND TO THE VERY BOTTOM.

PEOPLE WHO KNEW WILLIAM GRIMSHAW DESCRIBED HIM:

1. HE WAS A MAN OF RARE DILIGENCE AND SELF DENIAL.

2. HE WAS A MAN OF RARE CHARITY AND BROTHERLY LOVE.

3. HE WAS A PREEMINENTLY A PEACE MAKER.

4. HE WAS A MAN OF RARE HUMILITY.

JOHN NEWTON, WHO KNEW HIM WELL, SAID, “ …THOUGH HIS ABILITIES AS A SPEAKER AND HIS WEALTH OF GENERAL KNOWLEDGE MADE HIM A VERY CAPABLE TO STAND BEFORE GREAT MEN, YET AS HIS REGULAR HEARERS WERE MAINLY OF THE POOR AND MORE UNEDUCATED CLASS, HE TOOK IT UPON HIMSELF TO ADAPT HIMSELF … TO THEIR IDEAS AND THEIR MODES OF EXPRESSION.”

GOD CALLED WILLIAM GRIMSHAW TO BE A LOCAL PREACHER. HE SERVED IN HAWORTH TILL HE DIED. WHEN HE DIE, HE WROTE THIS: “ WHEN I DIE, I WILL THEN WILL HAVE MY GREATEST GRIEF AND MY GREATEST JOY; MY GREATEST GRIEF THAT I HAVE DONE SO LITTLE FOR JESUS, AND MY GREATEST JOY THAT JESUS HAS DONE SO MUCH FOR ME. MY LAST WORD WILL BE, “ HERE GOES AN UNPROFITABLE SERVANT!”

GOD CHOSE THIS HUMBLE PERSON TO SHOOK UP THE TOWNS WITH THE GOSPEL. WILLIAM IS FAITHFUL TO THE END. HE BROUGHT A REVIVAL TO THE TOWNS WHERE HE SERVED.