Port City Faith Church
Sunday Morning - July 26th, 2026
  • Forever
  • Forever Reign
  • Way Maker
  • We are Continuing our series of the letters to the Corinthians.
    The Corinthian church had a lot of problems,
    As evidenced by Paul writing multiple letters to them, and the letters being some of the longest letters we have.
    They had divisions between which Apostle they liked better,
    But Paul said the Apostles were not competing teachers, but rather fellow workers
    There was a serious issue with Sexual immorality in the Church, and the church was defending a man who was in an illegal relationship even by Roman Standards.
    Paul said to get rid of sexual immorality, and that if your temptations to sexual sin were so great, then to get married.
    Today we continue onto the next of the Big issues within the Corinthian church, and that is in dealing with food.
    Now, before we get into all of it, we should note a couple of realities.
    1. Among the Jewish believers in the Corinthian church, there were Old testament food laws that they were likely observing,
    And so certain meats were completely off the table,
    But this was not so for the Gentile believers, who had no such command.
    2. Eating meat was a special thing, because prior to refrigeration, there was not a good way to preserve meat long term, outside of curing it, so most meat had to be cooked and eaten the same day the animal was killed.
    And most animals were killed during the sacrifices to the various greek idols across the city of corinth,
    But in order to not waste the excess meat from the sacrificed animals, it was then sold in the market.
    And so if you wanted to have meat, there were chances it was offered as a sacrifice to a false god.
    And this is what the next section of Corinthians deals with.
    1 Corinthians 8:1–6 ESV
    Now concerning food offered to idols: we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” This “knowledge” puffs up, but love builds up. If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. But if anyone loves God, he is known by God. Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “an idol has no real existence,” and that “there is no God but one.” For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”— yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.
    Paul presents the Corinthians Argument first, and affirms it.
    They Corinthian church knows that there is Only one true God so that when you think about it, the meat sacrificed to idols were not really sacrificed to anything, and so they are free to buy and eat the meat
    But notice Paul Started with a warning, that knowledge puffs up, whereas love build up.
    it is easier for someone who thinks he knows something to become prideful and conceited, even though he may be wrong.
    This is where thousands of online debates amongst Christians over theology, come from, and they always, always devolve into, “Well I know more than you so I’m right.”
    There has to be a constant reminder that our goal is not always to know more, but to love more.
    So the Corinthians thought they were completely right with eating food that was sacrificed to idols,
    And Paul says, your argument is fine, but hold on for one moment.
    1 Corinthians 8:7–13 ESV
    However, not all possess this knowledge. But some, through former association with idols, eat food as really offered to an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, will he not be encouraged, if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols? And so by your knowledge this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died. Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.
    You have a fine argument for why it is not technically wrong to eat food sacrificed to idols, but not everyone has your knowledge.
    there are plenty of people who are new to the faith that think of Jesus as one God among many, instead of the only true God.
    And if you are willfully eating food that they see as sacrificed to another god,
    They might think you are secretly worshiping other gods alongside Jesus,
    making you a hypocrite.
    or they may think it is okay to go and sacrifice to that other god, and then get caught in idolatry.
    Paul’s concern is not with having the right answer to the question “can I eat food sacrificed to idols?”
    It is with “well, does that make it easier or harder to reach people for Jesus” and if it makes it harder, then who cares if it is right?
    Paul then goes on throughout all of chapter 9 explaining how many “rights” he gave up for the sake of advancing the Gospel.
    1 Corinthians 9:1–7 ESV
    Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are not you my workmanship in the Lord? If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you, for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord. This is my defense to those who would examine me. Do we not have the right to eat and drink? Do we not have the right to take along a believing wife, as do the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas? Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a living? Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard without eating any of its fruit? Or who tends a flock without getting some of the milk?
    Paul notes that he is an Apostle and therefore has the right to claim certain privileges, but he has given them all up.
    He doesn’t eat and drink freely
    He doesn’t have a wife or a family, even though other Apostles do,
    He and Barnabas fund their own journeys by working as tradesmen, whereas other apostles make their income through gifts from the people.
    Paul gave up his ministry income.
    which is like serving in the military without receiving a paycheck, or running a vineyard without ever tasting the wine, or tending a flock of sheep without ever getting the milk or cheese or wool for yourself.
    he doesn’t have to give that up, it is his own choice, to make sharing the gospel easier.
    1 Corinthians 9:19–22 ESV
    For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some.
    And this is really his point,
    He is free in Christ to do whatever he wishes, so long as it honors Christ, and so he does whatever will help advance the Gospel.
    When he is with Jews he acts as a jew, and when he is with Gentiles he is like a gentile.
    1 Corinthians 9:24–27 ESV
    Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.
    Paul concludes this section by explain his reasoning,
    If life is a race, I want to win, and the way i win is by being a faithful servant to Christ and spreading the Gospel, and he had a singular focus in that regard, it encompassed his every decision.
    Oh church if only i had a 10th of that focus.
    But he also knows that as someone who preaches the Gospel, he is also called to a higher standard.
    and he doesn’t want to get disqualified.
    As though his increased Knowledge means he is more liable to failure.
    and he must be careful not to get puffed up, but rather to love others more.
    So having gone through all of that he returns to the matter at hand.
    1 Corinthians 10:23–24 ESV
    “All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up. Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor.
    Notice that the “All things are lawful” are in quotation marks. Paul is turning their argument that they should be free to eat meat sacrificed to false gods back upon them.
    It may be perfectly okay to do anything, but that does not mean it is helpful or beneficial.
    And it is okay to let go of some of your “rights” for the sake of the Gospel message.
    You shouldn’t be to concerned with your own rights, but with the benefit of those around you.
    Church we can apply this logic to so many things.
    Is it okay to drink Alcohol?
    Maybe, but what message are you sharing with those around you when you do?
    I personally do not drink alcohol, because I do not want that to be something people can use against me, but I see nothing wrong with people who use it in moderation.
    Is it okay to go see certain movies, or listen to certain music?
    Does doing so help you share the Gospel with you friends? does it help build you up into a better person?
    or we can go full theological - Is baptism required for salvation?
    well is there any benefit to not getting baptized? especially since Jesus commanded it?
    If its something you are supposed to do does it really matter if it is part of the act of salvation or not?
    90% of theological concerns can boil down to this:
    It is better to do what is good, rather than being 100% right and then forgetting the good.
    Jesus spoke to this issue with the religious leaders of his day.
    Matthew 23:23–24 ESV
    “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!
    The Pharisees knew they were supposed to tithe, so they even when into their spice cupboards and took 1 tenth of all their spices, 1/10th of all their belongings to give to the temple, but in making sure they were following the letter of the law, they forgot the spirit of the law, to not be so tied to stuff, so that when someone needs help, you can help them.
    In fact, earlier, he told the people how they should relate to the pharisees
    Matthew 23:2–3 ESV
    “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice.
    They know what is right, so listen to them and do what they say, but in their knowledge they were puffed up, and failed to practice the good that they were supposed to do.
    They sought being right, over showing love and doing good.
    Paul concludes this section of 1 Corinthians this way, with some practical advise:
    1 Corinthians 10:25–30 ESV
    Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience. For “the earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof.” If one of the unbelievers invites you to dinner and you are disposed to go, eat whatever is set before you without raising any question on the ground of conscience. But if someone says to you, “This has been offered in sacrifice,” then do not eat it, for the sake of the one who informed you, and for the sake of conscience— I do not mean your conscience, but his. For why should my liberty be determined by someone else’s conscience? If I partake with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of that for which I give thanks?
    So Yeah, if it is just you in your house, eat whatever you want.
    And if you are visiting someone eat whatever they give you, unless the specifically mention that the meat was sacrificed to an idol.
    For the sake of their Conscious,
    So that they will not be confused when it comes to serving Jesus.
    Now we don’t deal with having food sacrificed to idols,
    but we could look at similar things.
    1 Corinthians 10:31–11:1 ESV
    So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved. Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.
    Whatever you do, you do for God’s glory.

      • 1 Corinthians 8:1–6ESV

      • 1 Corinthians 8:7–13ESV

      • Acts 18:1–3ESV

      • 1 Corinthians 9:19–22ESV

      • 1 Corinthians 9:24–27ESV

      • 1 Corinthians 10:23–24ESV

      • Matthew 23:23–24ESV

      • Matthew 23:2–3ESV

      • 1 Corinthians 10:25–30ESV

      • 1 Corinthians 10:31–11:1ESV

  • Firm Foundation (He Won't)
Port City Faith Church
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