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Show rlsr to moot It ns tho duty and opportunity oppor-tunity .is given? , SERMON BY' REVEREND CARVER THE THEOLOGY OF INDIVIDUAL WORTH" THE THEME. All Men on a Plane of Equality Before Be-fore God In the Opening Chapters of Bible. Speaking from tho text, , Revelation ---17. Rev. Carver said In part, tho themo being "The Theology of Individual Indi-vidual Worth." The Diblo opens with all men on a plane of equality before God, but with the time of Moses comes a deflnlta rrlestly class who were to stand In a cmser relation to tho Creator than the rest of the nation. This was no now regime in religious life. Tor the heathen heath-en temples, both In Abraham's homo find In Egpt, had their great number num-ber of attendant priests set apart lo give their life to that work. With tho New Testament, times ma Iiimitive order Is again restored and many from tho common avocations are glveu their full share of God's work. This , Indeed, a great characteristic characteris-tic of tho early centuries or Christian effort. Ono who has recently published pub-lished tho results of years of researcn upon this ono trend or truth is fully convinced that in those early days the Christian church and tho early crarts guilds woro mingled In ono common It end of effort. The earl leaders come from tho common people and vTy often tho craftsmen of the day, trad met in the meeting places where inc craftsmen held their primitive r.uild meetings. Tho church was so close to tho people of lowliness and toil that they, from tho ranks of pov- erty and toil furnished most t the leaders. It was not a day of great schools, but It was a day of direct association between each Individual believer and his God. Then came the regime of class distinction dis-tinction again, and tor centuries tho common people wore separated from divine things by a special class ot men and women set apart tor that one vork. For four centuries the work ot the kingdom has been given more and iTore unto the unordalned members, j Now we have recently great mass I r.ieei in.i of men to ri:rth r loreicr.i ; imVt-lon.v men who ore mnnv ot tl.om I r.ot own ofllcers In a clinch, h it ' members only, have given tlm r.i.tney and traveled long dlnces to f;::lher foreign and home missions iy : f,r at conventions. We have men r almost every church banded together as church men in great national broth-i broth-i rhcods and giving time and money to advance that trend or active church life. As never before do we see the laymen and women taking the duties and responsibilities once given to th- ordained and to them alone. The student of church, history can but bo impressed with tho many phases of religious activity and effort. Though the great underlying truths and principles are the same as in the d.iwn of tho Christian era the changing chang-ing conditions of social, political and industrial life can but naturally call forth a new line or religious thought and activity to meet the new needs of each century's new problems.. Moreover, Christian truth is no dead and lifeless thought which has in it no life. It Is live and earnest and being be-ing so mu6t undergo the enlarging process pro-cess of growth. As we know more of the real Christ today than ever be tore-roe tore-roe must naturally have a larger sys-leni sys-leni of definite thought to express our truth. These thoughts will In a mea-rure mea-rure explain the basts for our speaking speak-ing of a "New Theology or Individuality." Individu-ality." Never before did each Individual Indi-vidual life have so many and bo plain avenues of advance opened in religious religi-ous life. The words of the poet now nre again fulfilled, "The old order changoth, yielding place to new, and Cod fulfills Himself in many wayi. lest one good custom should corrupt the world." Another has said: "Every nge Is apt to think itself the turning point in history. In a nenee lt Is. A turn of the kaleidoscope be lt ever so slight, determines the combinations of a later adjustment of the bits or glass ond each slight advance or retreat In progress gives a new field of effort." It Is a day of Individual thinking. Each year the catalogues of the great publishing houses contain moro and more theological books written by laymen. lay-men. It Is eafe to say that tho books lhat have most influenced the theological theolo-gical thinking of the world during tna past few years have been written not by ministers, but by laymen. The treat works of the leader of parll.i-nent. parll.i-nent. Lord Arthur James Bairour, are famous examples of this. The clergy can no longer do the religious thinking think-ing for the people. They must be active ac-tive If they are to lead in their own lire. TblB Is a day of Individual working. work-ing. The great evangelistic movements move-ments of the day are planned and car-i-eu out by laymen and very orten lt U a layman who Is the greatest evangelist. Great examples of this are Moody, McCauley Hadley, and Smith. Men like John Converse or the Baldwin Bald-win Locomotive Works, give their time and money to evangelistic meetings. meet-ings. Mr. Gamble, of the well-known Proctor & Gamble firm, gives nis time and fortune to foreign. missions; John Huyler, of candy fame, spends fortunes of money and most of his time for city missions In New York City; tho president of the Western Cereal company; tho president of thvi Milwaukee railroad, and others Jn Chicago, Chi-cago, are vital factore In their place for the cause of Christ. Now. as It 1b a day of added prlvt-lcg? prlvt-lcg? in thought and work Tor all. Just to Is it a day of added responsibility and reward. No longer can the moral and religious condition of a town am country be charged to tho account or the clergy or even to the church. The theology of today says you can think for yourselves and acknowledge no light of compulsion as to religious truth, but In so doing you accrue to yourself added responsibilities to your God. When Daniel Webster was asked what was the greatest thought upon which he had contemplated, ho replied, re-plied, "Tho thought of my Individual responsibility to my God." and he was right. This Individual responsibility has been made greater by the latent turn of theological thought. The ques-tic ques-tic n for us to determine Is, shall wo |