SERMON OUTLINE FOR DIGITAL DOWNLOAD

Lesson Eight: The Author and Finisher of Our Faith

🗓️ Date: November 2, 2026

📖 Text: Jude 24–25

“Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy…”

I. INTRO: THE GOD WHO COMPLETES WHAT HE STARTS

1 Thess. 5:23–24 / 2 Tim. 1:9–12 / Psalm 138:8

Every verse declares the same truth:

God starts it. He keeps it. He completes it.

Take this to heart: God doesn’t start what He won’t finish.

Salvation is God’s initiative, backed by His keeping power, and fulfilled by His promise.

II. GOD BEGINS BY INITIATIVE

Initiative = to act first, without being prompted.

Creation – “In the beginning, God…” (Gen. 1:1)

Redemption – “While we were still sinners, Christ died…” (Rom. 5:8)

Calling – Abraham, Israel, Jeremiah — all called before action.

Truth: God does not react — He acts.

We are a result of His divine initiative, not our effort.

Eph. 1:4–5

“He chose us… before the foundation of the world…”

Key Words:

eklegomai = deliberately chosen

proorizō = marked out in advance

God’s initiative has purpose — to call, sanctify, and send us.

III. GOD’S INITIATIVE IS FUELED BY HIS LOVE

God’s love is:

Causative, not reactive

Initiating, not conditional

Proactive, not passive

1 John 4:19 – “We love Him because He first loved us.”

Jer. 31:3 – “I have loved you… therefore I have drawn you.”

Key Truths:

Love decided before time began.

Love provided before sin.

Love carried us before we turned to Him.

IV. WHY WE STRUGGLE TO EXPERIENCE THIS TRANSFORMING POWER OF HIS LOVE

We confuse awareness with experience.

We filter His love through our wounds.

We relate by performance, not position.

We fail to abide. (John 15:9)

Truth: Love transforms in the presence it’s revealed in — not the one we occasionally visit.

V. THE PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS: HE KEEPS

The same love that started it sustains it.

If salvation started with God, it must be sustained by God.

Phil. 1:6 – “He who began… will complete it…”

enarchomai = to initiate something sacred

epiteleō = to complete, bring to maturity

Remember:

Romans 8:30 – He called, justified, glorified.

VI. JUDE 24: THE POWER TO KEEP AND COMPLETE

“Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling…”

Able – dunamai = inherent, continual power

Keep – phulassō = to guard, preserve, protect with purpose

Two key ideas:

Protection from Falling – God keeps us from total ruin.

Preservation for Glory – He will present us faultless before His glory.

God’s keeping is not passive — it’s active, vigilant, intentional.

VII. GOD’S KEEPING IS HIS COMPLETING

He keeps while He completes.

phulassō (keep) + epiteleō (complete) =

Preservation + Perfection

God doesn’t just hold you — He develops you.

Romans 8:30 – “Whom He justified, these He also glorified.”

VIII. OUR RESPONSE TO HIS KEEPING POWER

Perseverance is God’s work — but we respond in:

Abiding – Stay connected (John 15:4–5)

Endurance – Continue in faith (Heb. 10:36–39)

Stewardship – Guard the truth (2 Tim. 1:13–14 AMP)

Be Loyal to the Faith!

2 Tim. 1:14 (AMP)

“Keep and follow the pattern of sound teaching (doctrine) which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. Guard [with greatest care] and keep unchanged, the treasure [that precious truth] which has been entrusted to you [that is, the good news about salvation through personal faith in Christ Jesus], through [the help of] the Holy Spirit who dwells in us.”