On the contrary, “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.”Therefore “If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in doing so, you will heap coals of fire on his head.”Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.But if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him to drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head.
8 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. …
… but leave room for God's wrath for it's written it's mine to avenge I will repay says the Lord on the contrary if your enemy is hungry feed him if he is thirsty give him something to drink in doing this you will heap burning coals on his head do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good it gets a little sideways when it says you're heaping burning coals on people's heads heads. That's just an expression of the day that talked about the heat of shame that your enemy would feel if you did good to them and they didn't deserve it. So it's not saying you're actually going to do bad to someone, but look at this list. Keep it up there for a minute, if you will. What's the Holy Spirit speaking to you? What's stirring in your heart? What's the thing that is grabbing you? Obviously, none of us are going to reach this to perfection. We're not going to be able to attain this perfectly all the time? Of course not. But there is someone who embodied this to perfection. His name is Jesus. And we are under him and in him. And we have the power to be this. Maybe we're not doing it like checking it off, but we can be this church. …
… 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. So for all these reasons, we forgive. Because it's most like God, it avoids guilt, it makes sure that the one who is most forgiven, most offended, God forgives, and we also who are far less should forgive. We forgive to be forgiven. We forgive to worship. We forgive to avoid discipline. We forgive to grow in grace. We forgive to avoid the irreverence of taking God's place. Finally, we forgive, and here's the big one, because we have been forgiven. We forgive because we've been forgiven, and that's verse 32. …
… 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. So you can't pick a fight with me. I'm not going to fight. But what about the wrong they're doing? 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." You think God doesn't know? …
… look at what paul says here to the contrary as opposed to vengeance to the contrary if your enemy is hungry feed him if he is thirsty give him something to drink for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head this is counterintuitive why is it counterintuitive because i want to be avenged Thank you. what's the intuitive response your enemy is hungry good for him i hope he starves to death because he deserves it for what he did to me That is not Christ in us, the hope of glory. this is quoted from proverbs 25 21 and 22 if your enemy is hungry give him bread to eat if he is thirsty give him water to drink for you will heap burning coals on his head and the lord will reward you by the way that heaping burning coals on his head that is not another form of retribution. You are blessing your enemy with kindness in hopes that the kindness, the kindness, the kindness that you are showing will lead them to repentance. That kindness will bring them to repentance. …
… 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. …
… 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 NEXT TIME, I WENT STRAIGHT FOR HIM AND SAID, HOW ARE YOU DOING? GOOD TO SEE YOU. AND I REALLY MEANT IT FROM MY HEART. …
… 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 injunctions that we are to make manifest in the Christian life. And it's almost as if Paul had been a stenographer at the time Jesus preached his sermon on the mount, …