Martin Luther King - But if Not - FULL SERMON

A sermon given by Martin Luther King, Jr. at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta in November, 1967. The title, "But if Not", comes from Daniel chapter 3, verse 18 in the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego.

Audio is from the Internet Archive: http://www.archive.org/details/MlkButIfNot
Picture is from the Library of Congress via wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Martin_Luther_King_Jr_NYWTS.jpg

Full transcription available on my blog: http://notoriousbiggins.blogspot.com/2010/01/but-if-not-sermon-by-martin-luth...

One great quote:
I want to say to you this morning, my friends, that somewhere along the way you should discover something that's so dear, so precious to you, that is so eternally worthful, that you will never give it up. You ought to discover some principle, you ought to have some great faith that grips you so much that you will never give it up. Somehow you go on and say "I know that the God that I worship is able to deliver me, but if not, I'm going on anyhow, I'm going to stand up for it anyway. What does this mean? It means, in the final analysis, you do right not to avoid hell. If you're doing right merely to keep from going to something that traditional theology has called hell then you aren't doing right. If you do right merely to go to a condition that theologians have called heaven, you aren't doing right. If you are doing right to avoid pain and to achieve happiness and pleasure then you aren't doing right. Ultimately you must do right because it's right to do right. And you got to say "But if not." You must love ultimately because it's lovely to love. You must be just because it's right to be just. You must be honest because it's right to be honest. This is what this text is saying more than anything else. And finally, you must do it because it has gripped you so much that you are willing to die for it if necessary. And I say to you this morning, that if you have never found something so dear and so precious to you that you will die for it, then you aren't fit to live. You may be 38 years old as I happen to be, and one day some great opportunity stands before you and calls upon you to stand up for some great principle, some great issue, some great cause--and you refuse to do it because you are afraid; you refuse to do it because you want to live longer; you're afraid that you will lose your job, or you're afraid that you will be criticized or that you will lose your popularity or you're afraid that somebody will stab you or shoot at you or bomb your house, and so you refuse to take the stand. Well you may go on and live until you are 90, but you're just as dead at 38 as you would be at 90! And the cessation of breathing in your life is but the belated announcement of an earlier death of the spirit. You died when you refused to stand up for right, you died when you refused to stand up for truth, you died when you refused to stand up for justice.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• civil rights
• civil disobedience
• MLK
• martin luther king
• jr
• racism
• bible
• sermon
• religion
• 1960s
• faith
• scripture
• inspiring
• history

[thinough]

love that guy in the audience that goes "yeah" all the time. What a bro!

[890bbailey]

As a recently converted Christian (7 months) I will often feel like giving up during a time in which it is hard to have faith. Now, Martin Luther King, Jr. has always been someone I held in high regard, but as a follower of Christ he continues to encourage me more and more as the challenges I face are more and more difficult. Today, on his day of remembrance, may we vow to never allow the United States to be as corrupt as it once was. And as followers of Christ, let's have "although" faiths.

[reginaDexant]

@hagamapama Come on and get color blind. Dr. Ron Paul and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had the same burning in their heart for liberty & equal justice for all. If you don't get it, please listen to Dr. Paul's speeches & read his writings that have been consistent for 30 yrs. He wants LIBERTY LIBERTY LIBERTY! He is a voice crying in the wilderness as was Dr. King. Can You hear it?

[hagamapama]

@reginaDexant Why on earth is this about Ron Paul to you? He's got nothing to do with this.

[luvalwaysfree]

you know what's really freaky? i'm doing a sermon tomorrow with the EXACT SAME title and the EXACT SAME chapter of Daniel...wow

[urantiruslan]

religion done good like this

[PrinceJLew]

This is epic, Dr. King's Legacy, awesome! Thanking God for such a legacy!!

[ithastobesaid1]

Why does he not mention the Holy Spirit, or God instead of the conscience and the Universe?

[MCulpa]

CHRIS-tee-ans is how I'm saying Christian from now on.

[233ninono]

Thank you for sharing this video. I do thank you, we all need inspriration from time to time.

[reginaDexant]

NO KING BUT JESUS!!! THAT WAS THE CRY OF THE REVOLUTION! THAT MUST BE OUR CRY NOW!

JOIN THE REVOLUTION-TAKE BACK THE CONSTITUTION-RON PAUL 2012!

YOU MUST NOT BELIEVE THE FILTHY LIES THAT PAUL IS A RACIST-HE WANTS TO FEDERALLY DECRIMINALIZE DRUGS-WHY?-IS IT BECAUSE HE TAKES DRUGS? NO!! BECAUSE THESE LAWS ARE USED TO OPPRESS,INCARCERATE, MOSTLY YOUNG BLACK MEN-NON-VIOLENT OFFENDERS. INEQUITY.

RON PAUL WILL ABOLISH THE FEDERAL DEATH PENALTY BECAUSE 90% OF THE TIME IT IS USED ON THE POOR BLACK.