The Birmingham Bible Society 2
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What can be inferred from this singular conjunction of national calamity and national benevolence? May we not hope, that while the offended Governor of the world is passing through the kingdoms, pouring out from one hand the vials of his wrath, he is preparing in the other, for their consolation, the cup of salvation; and that this shaking of the nations is but preparatory to His coming in whom the desire of all nations shall ultimately center? Of that spiritual and glorious event, I think we behold in this institution the forerunner, who already begins to exclaim, "Prepare the way of the Lord, that his glory may be revealed, and all flesh see it together."
May we not also hope that Jehovah, by making Britain the almoner of his bounty, intends to make her the object of his care? Far be it from me to minister fuel for national vanity, or to prefer claims of merit upon the goodness of God; yet, arguing both from the testimony of revelation and the analogy of the Divine government, I think it may be regarded as an encouraging sign for any people, when, according to the declarations in the Apocalypse, they carry their glory and their honor within the walls of the holy city, and consecrate upon its altar the fruits of their bravery, their commerce, and their learning.
If Pagan Babylon, under the reign of the proud and impious Nebuchadnezzar, was rewarded with the spoil of Egypt for service unintentionally done for the cause of God (being the instrument of his vengeance in the destruction of Tyre,) we may humbly hope, that when he marks the nations for ruin, and gives to the destroying angel his commission, he will mercifully regard this and similar institutions as our national passover.
I cannot conclude, without congratulating my respected fellow-townsmen on the illustrious share which they have borne in this great work. Far as their fame has extended in ministering to the comforts and necessities of this life, still further may it reach in supplying the spiritual needs of their fellow-creatures. Gentlemen, of all your partnerships, this partnership of love and zeal is the best; and of all your manufactures, this great and growing manufacture of human happiness is the most enriching, both to others and yourselves. You have not the honor of being the richest auxiliary society; but this is not your fault—you have, I trust, Mary's memorial, who 'did what she could'. May you never, by a lack of energetic and zealous support of the Parent Society, forfeit the honor due to a first-born!
And you, Britannia, whose real glory we delight to uphold, go on to transmit, from your rocky seat of majesty in the middle of the ocean, that sound to the kingdoms of the earth, "Behold your God," until every nation shall respond, "Lo! this is our God; we have waited for him; we will rejoice and be glad in his salvation."
Then shall the grand hallelujah chorus of all kindreds, people, and tongues; when the multitude of islands shall unite with the continents; when the Nile and the Ganges, the Niger and the Euphrates, shall join in concert with the Thames, the Rhine, the Danube, and the Mississippi; when the Pacific, the Indian, and the Arctic Oceans shall swell the thunder of the Atlantic; and Heaven, resounding the strains of earth, shall exclaim, "Hallelujah! Salvation! The Lord God Omnipotent reigns! King of kings, and Lord of lords; and he must reign forever and ever!"
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