The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1916-10-16
!, ClAG[TT SKINNER
MAKES URGENT APPEAL
Asks Members of Hts Congregation &c
Co-opcrate With Baptist coun-
oil In Its Work.
ABUNDANCE OF RESOURCES
eneeor Declares That Baptist Church.
q a should Come to the Rescue and
Help the Weaker Ones Throughout
the City.


members of his congregation to ald
IN the campaign which opens here TO-
might, DIR. T. Clagett skinner pas
tor OF Second Baptist Church, preach-
"a q ferceful sermon yesterday morn
Ing from his pulpit. He urged mas
members to cooperate with the Sap-
fist Council of Richmond in its great
work here DR.. skinner said in part;
Jesus has marvellous equilibrium
He did not reveal the alterations OF
strong emotions. 1t Is not recorded .
that He Laughed, ON only three &C.
casions is 1t recorded that He wept
when He came to the Bethany home
and found Mary and Martha weeping
for lazarus who had died, He min
gied His tears with theirs They were
tears of sympathy. Perhaps 1t was
In 0efhsemanc that He offered mp
prayers and supplications, with strong
crying and tears. These were tears
Of sorrow. The third occasion was
when He stood on a promontory over
looking Jerusalem and wept because
Of her destiny. These were tears OF
pity. The people who most deeply
move others are not the people with
greatest show Of emotion The man
who most powerfully Influences either
the emotions or judgments Of Others
10 the man OF eauipoise Ia IL any
wonder that artists have strtven in
vain TO paint for IFS Jesus self-pos-
session rising into majesty. His re-
pose shot through with dignity
There was in Him a something not
transferable to canvas. How calmly
He moved among men, How little
elafed by seeming success! How little
oppressed by apparent failure! II Is
this that adds significance to the tears
of Jesus II is the weeping or such
n man that affects us,
Weeps Over Desolation.
Why did Jesus weep over Ierusa-
lem? He saw in the future that desc
lation and ruin which was coming
upon the unconscious capital II WAS
this that appalled, and overwhelmed
Him. He soliioau!zed with Himself
~ He wept The days shall come
upon thee when thine enemies shall
cast trench about thee and com
pass thee round and keep thee in on
every side and shall lay thee even
with the ground and thy children
within thee. and they shall not leave
In thee one stone upon another" The
plight of Jerusalem was all the more
piti<ul because she had no Hwareness
OF II. They were marrying and given
In marriage. eating and drinking, buy
ing and selling planting and build
Ing without any sense Of their doom. !
Yet the sceptre of Israel had depart
ed. The king was IA puppot and his
throne Jest. 1T was forty years he
for the troops of Titus fulhllcd the
prediction OF Christ But He saw all
that as If 1t had already happened,
the day He wept over the city.
There Is q fable to the effect that
Asniodeus, the demon. conducted Don
Cleofas through the cities Mt night
and removed the roofs of the houses
SO he could behold the people In their
homes, If such privilege were grant
cd to US what sights we should be
hold! Many happy firesdes would be
brought to our admiring gaze But
many hideous monsters would drive
sleep from our eyes and omplacency
from our souls. We should witness
want and penury disease and suffer
Ing, squalor and hrutishness intern
perance and crime. Yet this would
not Cypress us most, Perhaps the
thing that would appali us most
would be the supineness and moral
1nscnsibility of those who live in
bright and spacious homes. for Meth
or wealth nor learning keep people
from becoming clever devils
II we could sec the inside Of Rich
mond's homes we should discover that
great middle class, known as the rank
and Ale. busicd with daily pursuits and
cailings, tempted to sacrifice the ideal
task OF making a life. to the seem
ingly more urgent duty OF making a
living.
orowth of Modern Cities
The growth of the modern city is
one OF the wonders of our time In
1907 there died IN Chicago a man who
was the first white child born in that
city This llte-af ty-ae.e-vrn-s4
saw the city grow from less than one
hundred souls TO a population of moro
than two million. Something like this
has taken place In many many cities
In earlier times men gathered
Chiefly in cities but for reasons which
were temporary. Men sought the pro-
lection of walled cities from maraudsrs
ana robbers. They went to their felds
in the morning and returned at might
But. with the establishment Of social
order. the men who titled tho soil be-
gan to live on the son The growth of
the modern city is due TO causes which
are permanent.
There are several occasions of this
rush to the city. II is due. for one
thing, to agriculture. We are told that
four men. with improved AGRICULTURAL
implements can do the work formerly
done by fourteen mon, Now we can
NOT eat Three times much tust TO ac-
eommodate the farmer. The other ten
men must find employment IN thei
4 towns and cities. During the last two
decades OF the last century a million
and a half people left the farms for
the towns and cities.
Then again. people have left the farm,
for the city becatse Of the substltu-
tion OF mechanical power for muscu-
lar and its application 20 tnattufactur-
ers. The factories In tho c!tfes where
the farming implements and hundreds
OF other things are made. create Ct de-
mand for laborers
Then too. It IS now possible 10 fur
nish food supplies In large quantities
1 10 these aggregated ct people },t-en,ist,
1 OF the railroads. The city is per-
manent Institution and as such de-
mands our concern.
What did Christ do for the city over
which he wept9 There was little He
could do for that generation. Yet he
threw Himself into the work Of rous-
ing and saving Jerusalem He de-
scended from the mountain and gave u
the last days OF His life In healing
counteracttne ministries. II was not
without avail.
Must Help Our city.
Many peor,ie hoId t.{