1. "When you ask the question, what's your secret? In a positive sense, you're looking for something distinctive and decisive. You're looking for the key for something essential that makes all the difference."

2. "When Paul uses the word mystery, he doesn't mean a riddle, like a crime that drives the plot of a detective novel. A mystery in that sense is only a mystery because you don't have all the information yet. Instead, when Paul says mystery, he means something that God has always planned to accomplish, but that has only recently been revealed."

3. "The mystery of godliness is not fundamentally an idea. It's a person. God the Son incarnate, revealed, crucified, and resurrected. Jesus Christ is God's mystery in the flesh. This mystery is not against reason, but it does surpass reason. As Christians we always believe farther than we can explain."

4. "If you're struggling with doubt, doubt about the faith, doubt about whether the gospel is really true, bring your doubts to these past tense verbs. He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit. These things happened."

5. "Our claim as Christians is that the story of Jesus' incarnation, life, death, resurrection and ascension is the key to the meaning of the universe. That story tells us the ultimate meaning of the story of all of our lives."

6. "Many people today combine a so-called scientific, naturalistic, materialist view of the world with a commitment to liberal humanist ethics. We're all just cosmic dust decaying matter in a universe that is set eventually to expire. So we should live lives of celebration, inclusion, diversity and love, right? But where does that so come from?"

7. "From the beginning, Christianity has been a global religion. And today, 2,000 years later, it remains the world's only truly global religion."

8. "Faith also is a mystery. Why do some believe and not others? Faith is not a human achievement but a divine gift. If you have received Christ by faith, thank God for giving you that faith."

9. "Don't gaze at circumstances and glance at Christ. Instead, gaze at Christ and glance at your circumstances."

10. "Like Christ's own life, the shape of our existence is first suffering, then glory. Self-denial, then reward. Suffering, then satisfaction. Endurance, then rest. Striving, then having. Glory is coming, so hold on to your hope."

Observation Questions

1. In 1 Timothy 3:15, what three descriptions does Paul give for the church, and what is the stated purpose of his letter to Timothy?

2. According to 1 Timothy 3:16, what does the first line of the confession say happened to Christ "in the flesh," and what does the second line say happened "by the Spirit"?

3. What two audiences are mentioned in lines three and four of the confession in verse 16 as those who witnessed or heard about Christ?

4. In 2 Corinthians 4:2, what practices does Paul say he has renounced, and what does he say he commends himself by instead?

5. According to Romans 1:16, what does Paul say the gospel is, and to whom does it bring salvation?

6. In Romans 15:7, what command does Paul give about how believers should treat one another, and what example does he point to as the basis for this command?

Interpretation Questions

1. When Paul uses the word "mystery" in verse 16, he does not mean a riddle to be solved. How does the sermon explain what Paul means by "mystery," and why is this significant for understanding the Christian faith?

2. The confession states that Christ was "vindicated by the Spirit." How does the resurrection serve as God's vindication of Jesus, especially in light of the guilty verdict the world passed on him at the cross?

3. The sermon argues that Christianity became a global religion "virtually overnight" not by compulsion but by proclamation. What does this tell us about the nature of God's power and the means by which he accomplishes his purposes?

4. Why does the sermon emphasize that the "mystery of godliness" is fundamentally a person rather than an idea? How does this shape the way Christians should understand and relate to their faith?

5. The sermon contrasts a naturalistic worldview with liberal humanist ethics, quoting Solovyov: "Man descended from the apes, therefore we must love one another." What point is the sermon making about the coherence between one's worldview and one's ethics, and how does Christianity offer a different foundation?

Application Questions

1. The sermon urges believers to "gaze at Christ and glance at circumstances" rather than the reverse. What specific circumstance in your life right now tends to dominate your attention, and what would it look like this week to refocus your gaze on Christ and his finished work?

2. The preacher asks whether fellow church members walk away from disagreements confident that you cherish Christ and them more than winning the argument. Think of a recent disagreement with another believer—how can you demonstrate that your unity in Christ matters more than your secondary convictions?

3. The sermon calls believers to share the gospel with family, friends, neighbors, coworkers, and those from other nations. Identify one person in your life who does not know Christ—what is one practical step you can take this week to share the good news with them or show them the love of Christ?

4. Paul says that faith is a divine gift, not a human achievement. If you are a Christian, how does recognizing faith as a gift change the way you pray for unbelievers in your life and guard against spiritual pride in yourself?

5. The sermon describes the Christian pattern as "first suffering, then glory." In what area of your life are you tempted to give up or grow impatient because of present difficulty? How does the promise of future glory in Christ encourage you to persevere and hold on to hope?

Additional Bible Reading

1. Philippians 2:5–11 — This hymn-like passage parallels the confession in 1 Timothy 3:16, tracing Christ's incarnation, humiliation, and exaltation, and calling believers to adopt his mindset.

2. Colossians 1:15–20 — Paul presents Christ as the image of the invisible God and the one in whom all things hold together, reinforcing the sermon's emphasis on Christ as the center of all creation and history.

3. John 1:1–18 — John's prologue declares that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, expanding on the theme of Christ manifested in the flesh and revealing God's glory.

4. Acts 1:1–11 — This passage recounts Christ's ascension and the promise of his return, connecting to the sermon's discussion of Christ being "taken up in glory" and received into heaven.

5. Psalm 2:1–12 — Referenced in the sermon regarding Christ's enthronement, this psalm declares God's installation of his anointed King and calls the nations to submit to him.

Sermon Main Topics

I. The Question: "What's Your Secret?" (1 Timothy 3:14-16)

II. Point One: Christ Revealed

III. Point Two: Christ Proclaimed

IV. Point Three: Christ Received

V. Christ Himself Is the Secret of Christianity

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Detailed Sermon Outline

What's your secret?

What's your secret? I see the rain. If it continues and gets heavier, we'll certainly stop. If you need to leave, totally fine. For now, we'll press on.

What is your secret? The question could be a threat. It could be asking, what about you do you not want anyone else to know? But the question, what's your secret? could also be a compliment.

Someone might say, those are the best chocolate chip cookies I've ever tasted in my life. What's your secret?

People from different regions of our country fiercely debate who boasts the best burger. What a burger? Five Guys. In and Out. I will not enter that divisive dispute now.

I will simply point out that In and Out has not only a secret sauce but a secret menu.

When you ask the question, what's your secret? In a positive sense, you're looking for something distinctive and decisive. You're looking for the key for something essential that makes all the difference. Does Christianity have a secret? In one sense, no.

Biblical Christianity conceals no hidden costs. There's no bait and switch. The Apostle Paul insists in 2 Corinthians 4:2, But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's word. But by the open statement of the truth, we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of But is there a secret to Christianity's success?

Is there something distinctive and decisive, something essential that makes all the difference? That's what our passage for this afternoon shows us. 1 Timothy 3:16. I'll start reading in verse 14 so we can see the context.

I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things so that, if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth. Great indeed we confess is the mystery of godliness. He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.

In this letter, the Apostle Paul is instructing his co-worker Timothy about how to lead the church in Ephesus. And in verse 15, Paul tells us the point of the whole letter. To tell us how a church should live together. Then in verse 16, Paul tells us the heart of the matter, that's the kind of source of energy and vitality for that life together. Paul unveils the secret of Christianity.

All of 1 Timothy spells out what godliness looks like. Then our verse, verse 16, tells us what makes godliness possible, what powers and promotes godliness.

That's why Paul calls this brief hymn-like confession the mystery of godliness. When Paul uses the word mystery, he doesn't mean a riddle, like a crime that drives the plot of a detective novel. A mystery in that sense is only a mystery because you don't have all the information yet. Instead, throughout his letters, when Paul says mystery, he means something that God has always planned to accomplish, but that has only recently been revealed.

When you see mystery in Paul's letters, think once hidden, now revealed. And even when the mystery is revealed, there remain depths of meaning that we can never swim to the bottom of. The revealed mystery remains a mystery. Our verse is something like a New Testament confession of faith. That's why Paul prefaces it with, Great indeed we confess.

And then in six brief phrases, this verse distills the essence of Christianity. So our verse is an ancient ancestor of and precedent for our statement of faith, especially a portion like what we just confessed together a few minutes ago. Paul is doing in this verse what we just did together. So what is the secret of Christianity? Three points and a bit of water before I get to point one.

What is the secret of Christianity? Point one, Christ revealed. Christ revealed. Point one comes from the first two lines of this confession. He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit.

The first line names Christ's incarnation. But it isn't just about Christ's act of becoming human, it's about his whole earthly life. In the flesh means that Christ became human and his entire human life revealed his divinity. To say that Christ was manifested in the flesh implies that before and apart from his incarnation, there was something there, something that was prior to and independent of his humanity that could be revealed and is now revealed. And that something is his eternal divine life as the second person of the Trinity.

The first and greatest mystery of godliness is the mystery of God become man. As Gregory of Nazianzus proclaimed in the fourth century, the fleshless one is made flesh. The word becomes material. The invisible is seen. The intangible is touched.

The timeless has a beginning. The Son of God becomes Son of Man.

The second line, vindicated by the Spirit, names Christ's resurrection. By raising Jesus from the dead in the power of the Holy Spirit, God the Father overturned the world's verdict on his Son. Jesus was condemned as a criminal and crucified as a pretender, a failure, an enemy of the state. His crucifixion brutally declared the verdict guilty. But was he?

Yes, he was. Not with his own guilt, of course, but with ours. As we considered last week, all of us have sinned against God. By fallen nature, all of our hearts and minds are set against God. What we all deserve from God is eternal condemnation.

But God is not only just, as Mark preached to us a few weeks ago, he is also gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. So God sent his eternal son into the world to redeem us from sin and restore us to fellowship with him. By crucifying Jesus on the cross, the rulers of this world passed a truer sentence than they intended. New. Jesus did die laden with guilt, but it wasn't his guilt.

It was mine and yours. Jesus' death paid for our sins. And then Jesus' resurrection vindicated him. It declared him to be righteous. By raising Jesus from the dead, God openly proclaimed his endorsement of Christ as this world's true ruler and only Savior.

So what should you do with that news, that announcement? You should turn from sin. You should turn from trying to live as your own God, following your own rules and putting yourself first. And you should trust in Christ. Come to him, give yourself to him, believe in him, rely on him fully.

Embrace him as God incarnate, as God become man to save you.

The mystery of godliness is not fundamentally an idea. It's a person. God the Son incarnate, revealed, crucified, and resurrected. Jesus Christ is God's mystery in the flesh. This mystery is not against reason, but it does surpass reason.

As Christians we always believe farther than we can explain. If you're struggling with doubt, doubt about the faith, doubt about whether the gospel is really true, bring your doubts to these past tense verbs. He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit. These things happened. Jesus lived a human life that revealed God's own life.

He died and his death decisively dealt with sin. He rose again and his resurrection openly identified him as the only way to God. What should you trust more? Your doubts or the witness the father bore to the son when he raised him from the dead? If you're not a Christian, We're glad you've joined us today.

Thank you for going through the effort and hassle to be here with us. I hope that in this sermon you've already noticed something distinctive about Christianity. That is, it is rooted in events. Christianity exists because of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. If those things didn't happen, there would be no Christian faith.

Everything about our way of life as Christians derives from and fits with those events. That's what Paul is saying in this verse. Our claim as Christians is that the story of Jesus' incarnation, life, death, resurrection and ascension is the key to the meaning of the universe. That story tells us the ultimate meaning of the story of all of our lives.

What's your overall story of where we've come from and where we're going? Can you prove that whole story in all of its details? Do you take any of that story on faith? If you say that the universe exploded into existence 14.6 billion years ago and organic life emerged on this planet 4.5 billion years ago, eventually evolving into creatures like us, Can you prove any of those claims? Whose testimony are you relying on when you make those claims?

And further, how does your way of life fit with the story you say we're all living in? Many people today combine a so-called scientific, naturalistic, materialist view of the world with a commitment to liberal humanist ethics. We're all just cosmic dust decaying matter in a universe that is set eventually to expire. So we should live lives of celebration, inclusion, diversity and love, right? But where does that so come from?

The Russian philosopher Vladimir Solovyov captured this contradiction between a naturalistic evolutionary worldview and liberal humanism. He said, Man descended from the apes, therefore we must love one another.

What story are you living in? Does your vision of a good human life fit with What you say a human being is.

Jesus Christ, God manifest in flesh, is the true human being and shows us what it means to be human. And his saving mission from incarnation to ascension restores us to fellowship with God. As Charles Spurgeon put it, Man is royal now that Christ is human. Man is exalted since Christ is humiliated.

Man may go up to God now that God has come down to man. The mystery that enables a life pleasing to God is Christ revealed. The secret of Christianity is Christ revealed. The key to the meaning of the universe and the meaning of your life is Christ revealed. Point two, Christ proclaimed.

Christ proclaimed. Look at the third and fourth lines of our verse's confession.

He was seen by angels proclaimed among the nations. Of course, Christ was seen by angels at many times throughout His earthly life, but since Paul just referred to Christ's resurrection, the phrase seen by angels here seems to refer to Christ's ascension. His human bodily entry to God's presence in heaven. There angels saw the incarnate Christ ascend the throne of heaven. At his ascension and enthronement, Jesus received as man what he always possessed as God.

Angels attended the inauguration ceremony of Christ as the ruler of all kings and nations.

Angels witnessed God's act of installing Christ as his appointed king, like we read about in Psalm 2 a few minutes ago. This appointed king rules over all things from the heavenly Mount Zion. At that heavenly installation, Christ's glory was published and proclaimed even to angels. And the fourth line tells us that Christ was proclaimed among the nations. After Christ's resurrection and the pouring out of the Holy Spirit, Jewish apostles took this good news of the Messiah not just to fellow Jews, but to every nation under heaven.

From the beginning, Christianity has been a global religion. And today, 2,000 years later, it remains the world's only truly global religion. While statistics always have to be taken with some grain of salt, the big picture is striking. As one recent writer summarized, over 90% of Muslims live in a band from Southeast Asia to the Middle East and Northern Africa. Over 95% of all Hindus are in India and immediate environs.

Some 88% of Buddhists are in East Asia. However, About 25% of Christians live in Europe, 25% in Central and South America, 22% in Africa, 15% and growing fast in Asia, and 12% in North America. As New Testament professor Richard Bauckham put it, Christianity was a world religion long before it was a European one. How did Christianity become a global religion? Not by compulsion or forced subjugation.

Instead, Christianity became a global religion virtually overnight by proclamation, persuasion, and the conviction of the Holy Spirit. He was proclaimed among the nations. How is this a mystery? In one sense, this is a mystery because it's the means by which what was hidden and is now revealed is made known to those who need to hear it. But in a deeper theological sense, Christ's being proclaimed among the nations is a mystery because it is a demonstration of God's power through human weakness.

As Paul says in Romans 1:16, which we plan to return to in this Wednesday's Bible study, For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Wherever Christ is proclaimed among the nations, the mystery of God's power is at work through weak, trembling human messengers. So what should we do? We should keep proclaiming Christ among the nations, including those nations who are in our backyard. Share the gospel with your family and friends, with neighbors and coworkers.

Especially share the gospel with those from other nations and cultures. And consider how you can contribute to our church's efforts to advance the gospel among other nations. Your faithful giving to the church budget enables us to support many missionaries who are planting churches in places where Christ is barely known. Pray for those workers. Encourage them when they come to visit.

What's the secret of Christianity? Not just Christ revealed, but Christ proclaimed. And how should we respond to that proclamation? That brings us to our third point. Point three, Christ received.

Christ received.

Look at the last two lines of the verse. He was believed on in the world and taken up in glory. Faith also is a mystery. Why do some believe and not others?

Faith is not a human achievement but a divine gift. If you have received Christ by faith, thank God for giving you that faith. And if you have received Christ by faith, keep on receiving him by faith. Devote yourself to studying his word. Hold on to his promises, no matter what seems to contradict them.

What has happened to Christ, in Christ, and through Christ is far more important for your present and eternal happiness than anything that is happening in the world right now. What has happened through Christ's life, death, resurrection, and ascension redefines your past, defines your identity in the present and determines your future.

How can you have stability, confidence, patience, cheerfulness, and comfort in the midst of trials and uncertainty? Keep receiving Christ. Don't gaze at circumstances and glance at Christ. Instead, gaze at Christ and glance at your circumstances. Did you notice that Christ is the subject of all six lines in this mini confession?

Our faith centers on Christ. All of history pivots on Christ. All of creation is summed up and fulfilled in Christ. So our corporate life as a church should be centered on Christ, saturated with Christ, and fixed on Christ. Christ should be the dominant theme in our praise, our constant topic of conversation, and the obsession of our preaching and teaching.

Brothers and sisters, members of CHBC, is your life centered on Christ? Does your speech magnify Christ? Is your identity defined by Christ? Are you more loyal to Christ than you are to any political cause or philosophy, any party, any candidate? When you disagree with a fellow church member about something that is not the gospel, does that other church member walk away confident that you cherish Christ more than you cherish that secondary conviction.

Does that other church member walk away confident that because of Christ, you cherish them more than you care about winning the argument? If you receive Christ, you will also receive all who receive him. As Paul exhorts us in Romans 15:7, Welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.

The sixth and final line of this confession bears witness to a different kind of receiving. He was taken up in glory. In Acts 3 verse 20, the apostle Peter says that heaven must receive Christ until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago. At His ascension, Christ was taken up in glory. There was a visible manifestation of God's glory at Christ's physical departure from earth and Christ will one day be revealed in glory.

Christ's present glory in heaven is the guarantee of our future glory, not only in heaven, but in a new earth. Christ's glory now is the pledge of our glory Glory then. Brothers and sisters, like Christ's own life, the shape of our existence is first suffering, then glory. Self-denial, then reward. Suffering, then satisfaction.

Endurance, then rest. Striving, then having. Glory is coming, so hold on to your hope. Christ has been received into heaven and has himself received glory in order to one day give you glory and receive you into his presence forever. Brothers and sisters, take a glance back at page three in your bulletin.

Earlier in our service, we confessed that our salvation is holy of grace through the mediatorial offices of the Son of God. By the Father's appointment, the Son freely took upon him our nature yet without sin.

He fulfilled God's law and by his death made a full atonement for our sins. We also confess that having risen from the dead, he is now enthroned in heaven. And then look at that last paragraph which sums it up. In uniting in his wonderful person, the tenderest sympathies with divine perfections, he is every way qualified to be a suitable, a compassionate, and an all sufficient savior. What is the secret of Christianity?

Christ Himself. Christ, our suitable, compassionate, and all-sufficient Savior. Christ revealed, Christ proclaimed, and Christ received. In Christ, God's eternal purpose for creation has now been realized. In Christ, people from every nation have been united into one body by faith in Him.

In Christ, our sins have been wiped out and death itself has been abolished. In Christ we've been reconciled to God and have become heirs of eternal glory. In Christ, God's radiant glory has shone out through frail human flesh. Come behold the wondrous mystery in the dawning of the King. He, the theme of heaven's praises, robed in frail humanity.

Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, we thank you for revealing your eternal plan of salvation in Christ. We thank you for manifesting him in the flesh, vindicating him in the spirit, and receiving him up into glory as the pledge of the glory you've promised to us. We pray that you would enable us to live in light of this glory and to glorify you by our lives this week. In Jesus name, Amen.