Rome, Turkey and Jerusalem

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Edited by John Hume Townsend

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Title: Rome, Turkey and Jerusalem

Author: Edward Hoare

Editor: John Hume Townsend

Release Date: March 29, 2012  [eBook #39307]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)

***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ROME, TURKEY AND JERUSALEM***

Transcribed from the November 1914 Chas. J. Thynne edition by David Price, email ccx074@pglaf.org

ROME, TURKEY

AND

JERUSALEM.

BY THE REV. E. HOARE,

SOMETIME VICAR OF TRINITY, TUNBRIDGE WELLS,

AND HONORARY CANON OF CANTERBURY.

NEW EDITION.

(Fourth Impression.)

EDITED BY THE

REV. J. H. TOWNSEND, D.D.,

LATE VICAR OF ST. MARK’S, TUNBRIDGE WELLS, AUTHOR OF

EDWARD HOARE, M.A., A RECORD OF HIS LIFE.  &c., &c.

LONDON:

CHAS. J. THYNNE,

GREAT QUEEN STREET, KINGSWAY, W.C.

November, 1914.

CONTENTS.

NEW EDITION.

FOREWORD TO FOURTH IMPRESSION.

Those of us who have been watching political events from the prophetical standpoint, have seen during the last thirty years the steady drying up of that overflowing river which once flooded Europe.  Turkey’s fate we knew to be certain, but there were fluctuations so we had to be patient.

Two years ago when writing the Foreword and notes to the first reprint of this little book, I drew attention to the amazing collapse of Turkey’s power during the last few months.  Half a year later it seemed as if only a thread of littoral would be left to Turkey in Europe; then came a certain apparent return of vigour as when the ebbing tide sends back a wave that seems to claim once more part of the dominion it had lost; just in the same way Turkey regained some of the territory wrested from it during the Balkan War, and we who were watching wondered for how long this would be.

One year and a half has passed and now it really seems as if the clock had struck.  Only a few days ago the daily papers told the world that Turkey, deluded, or bribed, or both, had thrown in her lot with Germany.  In a leading article dated Nov. 2, The Times summed up the matter thus—Whatever may be the immediate consequences of Turkish intervention, there is a general consensus of opinion throughout the world that it means the end of Turkey.  Bible students grasped the situation at once recognizing the immense significance of the event, and on the same day at the C.M.S. Anniversary at Exeter I pointed out the overwhelming importance of this intelligence, in connection with Missionary work, the future of the Jewish Nation and our Lord’s Return.  I have heard from Jerusalem of the keen excitement of the Jews there, and of the hope often expressed that England would take action on their behalf.  The secular press in many quarters is already suggesting that the Allies at the conclusion of the War might well establish the Jews in Palestine as a buffer-state; this is exactly what some of us have for many years pointed out, from the study of prophecy, as a likely solution of the near Eastern question.  Perhaps, it may be so—God’s promises unfold very quickly when the time for their appearance is ripe.  Our business is to watch and pray, giving the Lord no rest till He establish and until He make Jerusalem a praise on the earth, and above all constantly sending forth the cry of His waiting Church—even so, come Lord Jesus.

J. H. T.

November 20th, 1914.

FORWARD

It is now thirty-six years since these remarkable sermons were preached by the late Canon Hoare.  Published at the time, they had a very large circulation and passed through several editions.  An earnest desire having been manifested for their re-issue with the addition of some footnotes bringing them up to date, I have consented to undertake that simple office.  With happy memories of work under the beloved Vicar long ago (1877–81) there is, to me, something indescribable in being permitted once more in this unexpected way to unite with one who now within the Veil walks not by faith but by sight and who instead of knowing but in part now knows even as also he is known.

It is a great tribute to the sagacity of the preacher, his deep knowledge of Scripture, and his keen prophetic instincts, that these sermons need no alteration, and only the necessary additions demanded by the history of passing years.

The advance has been all along the exact lines which he as a diligent student of the prophetic Scriptures was able to lay down.  The wise shall understand (Daniel xii. 10) is a promise which we see here strikingly fulfilled.

Could the venerable preacher have seen the extraordinary developments that have taken place in Jerusalem and the Holy Land during the last few years, or the amazing collapse of the Mohammedan power which Europe has witnessed in the past few months, how his heart would have rejoiced at the fulfilment of Scriptural predictions, and how earnestly would he have proclaimed afresh His Master’s Words—When ye shall see these things, know that He is nigh, even at the doors.

December, 1912.

PUBLISHER’S NOTE.

It is a source of pleasure to the Editor, the Publisher, and all those interested in the re-issue of this book, to know that a further edition is so soon called for, and to receive so many testimonies to its usefulness as a Guide to the Prophecies of Holy Writ.

April, 1913.

ROME.

I.

THE OUTLINE.

It is impossible to imagine anything more delightful than the prospect of the promised return of our most blessed Saviour.  How do the father and the mother feel when they welcome their long-absent son from India?  How will many an English wife feel when she welcomes her husband from the Arctic Expedition?  And how must the Church of God feel when, after her long night of toil and difficulty, she stands face to face before Him whom her soul loveth, and enters into the full enjoyment of the promise, ‘So shall we ever be with the Lord?’  There will be no tears then, for there will be no sorrow; no death then, for there will be no more curse; no sin then, for we shall see Him as He is, and shall be like Him.  Then will be the time of resurrection, when all the firstborn of God shall awake to a life without decay and without corruption; and then the time of reunion, when the whole company of God’s elect shall stand together before the Lord, never again to shed a tear over each other’s grave; and then will be the time when those who have loved and longed after Him, as they have journeyed on alone in their pilgrimage, will find themselves on the right hand of His