Do not avenge yourselves, beloved, but leave room for God’s wrath. For it is written: “Vengeance is Mine; I will repay, says the Lord.”Don’t seek revenge yourselves, beloved, but give place to God’s wrath. For it is written, “Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay, says the Lord.”Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.Avenge not yourselves, beloved, but give place unto the wrath of God: for it is written, Vengeance belongeth unto me; I will recompense, saith the Lord.
9 sermons cite this verse
… Paul would be beheaded in the city, and the Christians would be burned at the stake by Nero. But Paul says this, bless those who persecute you. Bless and do not curse them. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Beloved, never avenge yourselves. No, if your enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink. And then I love this last line. I want you to say it with me. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. This is the Christian strategy for winning. This is the Christian strategy for defeating evil, not giving in to the evil and becoming the evil itself, but instead overcoming the evil with good. This was Paul's strategy. This was Jesus' strategy. This is the strategy that we have. Today, we are suspicious of Muslims. We just have to admit that. After 9-11, we experienced a great pain in our country, and we still haven't figured out how to get over that. …
… I'm preaching, working like a slave up here trying to get it to y'all. Romans 12 verse 19 says this. Here's my third and final point. Beloved, verse 19 of Romans 12. Do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath, for it is written, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. I believe when you take up offense against a person and you try to pay them back and you wish harm on them and you praying for God to pay them back and you try to repay them what they did to you, God says, oh, I see you got this. so since you got it, I ain't going to do nothing about it. Since you, since you putting yourself in my role as God, I'm going to let you handle it. Can I tell you a secret? God can pay them back a whole lot better than you. I've seen God treat me wrong. I've seen people treat me wrong, but I've seen God pay them back even more than I could have ever paid them back. …
… If possible, as far as it depends on you, be at peace with all people. And don't avenge yourselves, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God. As it is written, vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. But if your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he's thirsty, give him something to drink. Doing so, you will be heaping burning coals on his head. Don't be conquered by evil, but conquer evil with good. Paul, inspired by God's team spirit, his Holy Spirit. Paul speaks to his fellow Christians in ancient Rome and he speaks to us today. He speaks like a coach. And like a good coach, he wants us to win, to win the battle. And the battle with evil is not against any individual or group or nation or team. The battle is against the source of evil. The battle is against a way of thinking that says, me first. God's wrath, God's eternal opposition is directed against this opponent, this mindset, this life wasted on the wrong name. …
Never. Verse 19, never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. That's why I say you forgive in order to avoid irreverence. Really, how irreverent could you possibly be if you tried to usurp the role of God? God is the one who will avenge. God is the one who possesses the authority and the knowledge, the omniscience, to bring about a just revenge. You don't do that. You don't set yourself up as God bringing revenge on people. But rather, verse 20, if your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he's thirsty, give him a drink. For in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head, an expression to say you'll make him embarrassed, you'll make him feel guilty for mistreating you if you return his mistreatment with loving forgiveness. And now let's go back to Ephesians chapter 4 for the final in this little list of nine, this quick list. …
… If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. But if your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him a drink. For in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. So when evil comes at you, don't let it overcome you. You overcome that evil with good. People have recently been saying to me, you're getting pretty hammered on the internet. People attacking you and assaulting you. Are you going to respond? Yes. The only thing I can say is I want to bless those who persecute me and not curse. I never want to pay back evil for evil to anyone. As much as is possible, as far as it depends on me, I want to be at peace with all men. …
… avenge yourselves but leave it to the wrath of God for it is written vengeance is mine I will repay says the Lord Do you believe that? because when you avenge yourself you testify that you don't believe that when you avenge yourself here's your testimony i do not believe that god is going to make this right or i do not believe that the punishment that god would inflict upon you is sufficient and what justice in this world really requires is for me to spit in your face or punch you in your face or take your life that's what justice in this world really requires because I don't believe that there's going to come a day when God will make all things right listen to this from thomas kelly's hymn that we love so much stricken smitten and afflicted ye who think of sin but lightly nor suppose the evil great here may view its nature rightly here its guilt may estimate mark the sacrifice appointed see who bears the awful load tis the word the Lord's anointed son of man and son of God. How seriously does God take sin so seriously that he crushed and killed his only begotten son as the only means by which you could be forgiven? …
… If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath. For it is written, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. Therefore, if your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him a drink. For in so doing, you will heap coals of fire on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Again, this teaching comes to us not from the cumulative wisdom of ancient sages, but it is the wisdom that comes from God Himself, who understands all things and who does all things well. Let us, as his children, receive it as such. Please be seated. Let us pray. Again, our Lord and our God, we invoke Your presence in our midst as we endeavor to sit at the feet of the apostles whom Thou hast anointed and given Your Word for our edification, our instruction, admonition, to the end that we might live by the light of that lamp that You have set before our feet, so that in the finalist analysis, Christ may be glorified through the obedience of His people. …
… SIDE OF ALL MEN, IF IT BE POSSIBLE, AS MUCH AS LIETH IN YOU, LIVE PEACEABLY WITH ALL MEN. DEARLY BELOVED, AVENGE NOT YOURSELVES, BUT RATHER GIVE PLACE TO WRATH. FOR WHAT IS WRITTEN, VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY, SAITH THE LORD. THEREFORE, IF THINE ENEMY HUNGER, FEED HIM. IF HE THIRST, GIVE HIM DRINK. FOR IN SO DOING, THOU SHALL HEAP COALS OF FIRE ON HIS HEAD. BE NOT OVERCOME OF EVIL, OVERCOME EVIL WITH GOOD. AND SO ALL OF US ARE GOING TO GET INSULTED. ALL OF US ARE GOING TO BE DEGRADED. ALL OF US ARE GOING TO BE LOOKED DOWN UPON SOMETIME. IF YOU WANT TO KNOW REALLY WHAT YOU'RE FULL OF, JUST SEE WHAT SPILLS OUT WHEN YOU GET JOSTLED. I, I'D NOT BEEN A, A, A PASTOR OF THIS CHURCH VERY LONG, UH, WHEN A MAN WROTE ME A LETTER. EVIDENTALLY HE DECIDED HE DIDN'T LIKE THE NEW PASTOR. AND HE WROTE ME A LETTER. IT WAS A DEGRADING LETTER. VERY FRANKLY, IT WAS AN UNFAIR LETTER. NOW, IF HE WANTED SOME GOOD THINGS TO CRITICIZE ME ABOUT, I COULD HAVE GIVEN HIM A LIST, BUT HE, HE DIDN'T GET ANY OF THE RIGHT THINGS. HE JUST GOT SOMETHING THAT WAS REALLY UNFAIR. AND, HE WROTE ME A LETTER, AND IT WAS AN ACCUSATORY LETTER, A VERY UNFAIR LETTER, AND A VERY HURTFUL LETTER. I DECIDED I'D TAKE THAT MAN AS A PROJECT. I WROTE HIM BACK, NOT, NOT A HYPOCRITICAL LETTER, BUT I WROTE HIM BACK A VERY KIND LETTER. AND WHEN I SAW HIM THE …
… And if it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath. For it is written, vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. Therefore, if your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him a drink. For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. The Word of God for his people. Please be seated. Let us pray. Father, even now as we contemplate these exhortations and injunctions that come to us from the pen of your anointed apostle, we pray that we may feel the weight of these mandates, that they may grasp us in our hearts and in our souls. For we ask it in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. This portion of chapter 12 indicates another shift in the literary style of Paul's writing in the very middle of this passage, where he has been throughout the book giving us lengthy, weighty concepts of the doctrines of grace spelled out with long sentences and paragraphs, and last week we looked at the responsibility on how people are to use the gifts that God gives to them in the church. And now it's like we get some staccato shots from the apostle, almost like bullet points in a power presentation that we might be familiar with in our day as he sets in pithy style in a terse manner one after another of these ethical …