Gateway Baptist Church
May 3, 2026
      • Bible Trivia
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      • Matthew 25:40NKJV

  • I Stand Amazed In The Presence
  • Praise Him! Praise Him!
  • Love Lifted Me
  • Worthy Of Worship (Judson)
  • Jesus Name Above All Names
  • Living for Jesus

  • Acts 9:19b-31

    When was the last time you were surprised? Maybe it was a gift or a visit from an old friend. Maybe a promotion at a job or your boss telling you, “You’re doing a fantastic job.” But that is not the surprise I am talking about. When was the last time the Holy Spirit used you to surprise someone who knew what the old self was like? This person said something like, “This is astonishing that you have changed.” Or maybe they said, “Was not this person the one who persecuted those people? Now they are one of them.”
    I grew up in the 90’s and listened to everything from country to alternative rock. One singer that came out in the late 90s and early 2000’s was Papa Roach. Papa Roach was not a Christian and never wanted to be one. But God in all His Sovereignty had a different plan for Papa Roach. I watched an interview with him and was surprised to learn that he is sober and a Christian, and now sings faith-based songs to use his platform for Jesus Christ. Talk about being shell-shocked. I now have some what of inclination of what those Jews felt when they heard Saul speak about Jesus Christ as being the One. That is the surprise I want us to be in this world for Jesus Christ.
    Luke shows us three credentials of someone who is a Surprise to the world. The first credential is that they went from opposing to advocating. The second credential is that the way you came in is not the way God will have you go out. The last credential is to speak with the authority God has given you.

    Opposing to Advocating:

    Saul was on his way as an opponent of the Way and all those who followed. He had received orders to arrest and imprison all those who believed in Christ. He was a Pharisee and was proud of his heritage, and no Jew from Nazarene was going to tarnish the Jewish lineage. But God, in all His foresight, already knew that Saul was going to be an instrument of his in spreading His Good News to the Gentiles. What does Saul do as soon as he regains his sight and strength? He begins to preach Jesus Christ. Saul is clear that he could not preach the Word (1 Cor. 9:16).
    He marches into the Synagogue and starts to preach to the Jews, and they are astonished, amazed, bewildered, and probably confused. I know they are surprised to hear this coming from Saul. You can hear it in their question. What in the world has happened? Did Saul hit his head, or is this some kind of scheme to lure them in? What did Saul preach? That Jesus Christ IS the One who is the Son of God. This title speaks of the Lord's deity (John 10:31-36).
    John 10:31–36 LSB
    The Jews picked up stones again to stone Him. Jesus answered them, “I showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me?” The Jews answered Him, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself God.” Jesus answered them, “Has it not been written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods’? “If he called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), do you say of Him, whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?
    I remember when the Lord transformed me from that old man to the new man in St. Catherine, Ontario. I knew that I could never go back, and I never wanted to go back to that person. But what I did not know was how many people who I thought were friends would leave me. At first, they believed this was a phase that would pass. But when it did not, they were surprised by my zeal for the Lord, and they left. I imagine all of us in this room could testify to this. Saul was going to understand the reality that he was now enemy number one to the Jews, who Satan was using. The way he came into town would not be the way he would leave town.

    Way you come in is not the Way you go out:

    Saul gets wind of their plot to kill him, and his disciples lower him in a basket outside the wall so he can escape. Could you imagine this for a minute? Saul walks into Damascus but has to be lowered in a basket to escape. There are two things that have stumped me. First, he had already gained disciples in a short time. Second, how can you upset a group of people so much that they want to kill you in a short time?
    When the Way gets hold of you, the transformation begins immediately. People should see something new in you, and the way you came in is not going to be the Way you go out. Saul was filthy of sin on his way into town, but on his Way out he was white as snow and sin was washed away. Hebrews 12:1-2 tells us to run the race, fixing our eyes on Jesus. He is our prize. He is the reason you and I will not leave the same way we entered.
    Hebrews 12:1–2 LSB
    Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, laying aside every weight and the sin which so easily entangles us, let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
    Saul was just beginning to run the race that was set before him. He entered through the gates but was lowered in a basket to escape. God will always find a way for us to keep moving forward with His message until it is time for us to come home. During the race, we are to run it with authority.

    Authority:

    Saul spoke with such authority that it surprised not only Jews but Christians. Listen to the words of the Apostle John (1 John 4:4). We have inside us the Spirit of God, who is greater than all things in this world, including the enemy. Listen to the Words of our Lord and Savior, Matthew 28:18-20; Matthew 16:19. We have the authority and command to be His witness and spread the Good News. Nobody comes to the Father but through Jesus Christ, and nobody can come to Jesus but by the Father’s drawing, which is where you and I come in (Rom. 10:17).
    1 John 4:4 LSB
    You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.
    Matthew 28:18–20 LSB
    And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to keep all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
    Matthew 16:19 LSB
    “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.”
    Romans 10:17 LSB
    So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.
    When we finally use the authority that is inside us, the enemy will use all his weapons to try to silence us. The enemy will even use those that we think are like us to try to silence us. Saul was stirring up a hornet’s nest with the Jews in Jerusalem, and the church was ready for him to leave. When God gives a man authority to direct his people back to Him, they do not like that man. Why? Because it interrupts their leisure lifestyle, they have made for themselves. This life is not the life for us to get ourselves comfortable in; it’s the life we work for Christ. You and I are going to surprise people, and it will upset them because of the Way. Authority spoken with power invokes conviction from the Holy Spirit in you and others. This will make people angry with you.
    Remember what Christ told Pilate? John 19:10-11, nobody can do anything to us but what the Lord allows. If He allows it, He will get us through it. He did not bring us to it, to leave us at it. That is not the God we serve! He is the One who delivers His people. He is the One who has overcome the world. He is the One who is ALIVE and RISEN. He is the One who is coming back for His Bride. Listen, world, you have no power or dominion over us! We belong to Jesus Christ, who has bought us and washed us with His redeeming Blood. That is the authority we have in Him and by Him!
    John 19:10–11 LSB
    So Pilate said to Him, “You do not speak to me? Do You not know that I have authority to release You, and I have authority to crucify You?” Jesus answered, “You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above; for this reason he who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.”

      • John 10:31–36LGCYSTNDRDBBLSB

      • Hebrews 12:1–2LGCYSTNDRDBBLSB

      • 1 John 4:4LGCYSTNDRDBBLSB

      • Matthew 28:18–20LGCYSTNDRDBBLSB

      • Matthew 16:19LGCYSTNDRDBBLSB

      • Romans 10:17LGCYSTNDRDBBLSB

      • John 19:10–11LGCYSTNDRDBBLSB

Gateway Baptist Church
gatewaybaptistchurch@live.com
8128533787
11 members