mlk-Gods-willThese are words from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s last sermon, spoken the day before his death. They succinctly sum up this influential leader, his message, and his life’s mission of serving God.   

Martin was born Michael Luther King in Atlanta, Georgia, January 15, 1929, and died April 4, 1968, by an assassin’s bullet in Memphis, Tennessee. He was killed because of his stand against racism, war, poverty, and injustice for African-Americans and all races.

At about six years of age he received the name “Martin” from his father–Martin Sr.–who named his son after the Christian reformer, Martin Luther. What an appropriate name because, like Martin Luther, King was destined to radically change the world he lived in.

Martin came from a decidedly Christian background. His father and his grandfather were both Baptist ministers. Martin L. King, Sr. was pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, where Martin Jr. grew up listening to his father preach and his grandmother sing and play the piano.

After graduating from high school, King enrolled in Morehouse college in Atlanta in 1944. He received his BA in 1948, attended Crozer Seminary in Pennsylvania, and received his doctorate from Boston University in 1955. While in college he met and married Coretta Scott, who became his life partner and mother of their four children. After graduate school he and Coretta moved back to the south where his Christian heritage and personal calling began to manifest itself publicly.

King moved to Montgomery, Alabama, where he accepted the pastorate of the now famous Dexter Avenue Baptist Church. It was here that Martin began to make his mark on the civil rights movement in America.

When masses of people began to meet and pray about the arrest of Rosa Parks, the leaders formed the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) and chose Dr. King as their president. Out of these daily prayer meetings King began to preach his message of love and non-violence which he developed directly from the teachings of Jesus Christ.

Dr. King practiced what he preached as it related to non-violence. Even though he was stabbed, beaten, put in prison, house-bombed, cursed at and called names–he never retaliated with violence. He was even accused of not being a Christian, but King thoroughly believed in Jesus for salvation for all mankind, and that is the message which he preached:–”Bound by the chains of his own sin and finiteness, man needs a Savior…. Man cannot save himself, for man is not the measure of all things and humanity is not God.”

Dr. King had a personal relationship with God. In his famous speech in Memphis that fateful April 3, King summed up his mission to serve his Lord. He said: “I don’t know what will happen now. We’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn’t matter with me now. Because I’ve been to the mountaintop. And I don’t mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life… But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will.”

King’s words echo the words and life of his Savior, Jesus Christ. “And he [Jesus] … fell on his face, and prayed, saying, ‘O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.” Matthew 26:39

Like Christ, Dr. King spent his life in service to those who suffered. He worked to change not only the laws that oppressed people, but the thinking that held them back as well. His love for Jesus was reflected in his teachings, but more importantly, it was manifested by what he stepped out and accomplished.

Dr. King willingly admitted, “Bound by the chains of his own sin and finiteness, man needs a Savior.” By “Savior” King was referring to Jesus Christ, God’s Son. Martin Luther King was committed to Jesus, to His church, and to His cause.

Do you know Jesus in this way? You can meet the One Dr. King loved and served when you realize:

“…that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.” 1 Corinthians 15:3-4

1) You are a sinner.

“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23

2) Your unforgiven sin leads to death.

“For the wages of sin is death.” Romans 6:23

3) Jesus died for your sin.

“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8

4) You are saved because of Jesus’ death and resurrection.

“For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.” Romans 5:10

You can tell God of your decision through a prayer like this one:

Dear God, I know I’m a sinner and that I’ve fallen short in my life by living without You.

I believe your Son, Jesus, died on the cross and rose again to purchase my forgiveness and set me free from the penalty of sin. Thank You, Lord, for loving me so much. Amen.

 

Source: Dr. Robert C. Smith, ATS Tracts

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