With A Father’s Heart

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​First Presbyterian Church of Blackwood                          
21 E. Church Street
Blackwood, NJ 08012                                                                              
Sermon Notes Sunday Service June 21 2026
Sermon Title–With A Father’s Heart
Text – Deuteronomy 4:1-8
Rev. Key Min Lee

​The Bible reveals the Father’s love from creation to the return of our Lord. Yet human knowledge and experience are inevitably limited when it comes to fully understanding God’s love. The reason is our sinful desires. These desires prevent us from receiving God’s love as it is and instead lead us to interpret Scripture according to our own understanding and knowledge. As a result, rather than walking in the direction God desires, people end up living according to the path they have chosen and interpreted for themselves.
When we look at such lives, they are often filled with complaints, blames, grumblings and dissatisfaction. They continually wrestle with questions such as, “Is God really exist?” and live with frustration and discouragement.
Therefore, if we are to understand God’s love, we must receive the Word God has given exactly as it is, without adding to it or taking away from it (v. 2). To add or subtract from God’s Word means accepting only the parts that make sense according to our own knowledge and understanding.
God’s Word includes unconditional obedience. That is why the Bible declares that even though “heaven and earth may pass away, the Lord’s Word will never pass away” (Matt. 24:35); though “the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the Word of our God stands forever” (Isa. 40:8); and “all Scripture is God-breathed and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work”(2 Tim. 3:16–17).
In other words, when we do not fully understand Scripture, we should not decide for ourselves what to accept and what to reject. Rather, we must live as those who have already received God’s promises, applying His Word to our daily lives.
For example, Mark 11:24 says, “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” The Bible clearly says that we have already received it. Then we are to believe. Therefore, we should pray, speak, and live as people who have already received what God has promised. This is what we call unconditional obedience.
Today’s passage records Moses’ final words before his death. With the heart of a loving father, he offers his last counsel to Israel. What kind of life did Moses live?
Moses lived a life of unconditional obedience. He applied God’s Word exactly as it was given to his life. He delivered every message God commanded him to deliver without leaving anything out. Even when God told him before his death, “You will not enter the land of Canaan. Joshua will lead the people into the Promised Land,” Moses humbly obeyed God’s Word. He demonstrated through his own life what it meant to submit to God, and he modeled that obedience for Joshua, the new leader.
Watching Moses’ example, Joshua became a leader who obeyed God until the very end of his life. In other words, God carries out His plans through leaders who lead by example. Never forget that each one of you has been called to be such a leader—a leader who demonstrates God’s truth through your life.
Moses also lived as a mediator between God and Israel. Through him, God even changed His intention to destroy Israel and turned His anger into blessing. In the same way, you are mediators like Moses. Through you, God opens and closes the doors of heaven. This means that you are not ordinary people.
Our lives, therefore, should be filled with the love of God. Furthermore, we are called to encourage people, understand them, and accept them. To do this, we must first live a life of unconditional obedience while also fulfilling the role of a mediator. Such people are not driven by their own desires. Rather, out of love for the Father, they live lives of complete obedience, submission, and sacrifice. They receive people with grace, seek to understand them, encourage them, and cover all of their shortcomings with the Father’s love.
We call such people parents - fathers and mothers.
In other words, the role of a parent is to lead by example, to serve as a mediator between God and their children, and regardless of what their children may do or how they may behave, to receive them with love, understand them, encourage them, and cover all of their shortcomings with God’s love. The Bible says, “Fathers, do not exasperate (provoke) your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord” (Eph. 6:4).
No parent desires for their child to fail (Luke 11:11). Parents always want to give the very best to their children. The greatest gift Moses emphasizes is “walking with God.”
That is why Moses says, “Do not add to or subtract from the commands I give you, but keep the commands of the LORD your God.” When God’s people do this, those who do not know God will see the wisdom and understanding of His people and be led to glorify the living God.
In other words, the example you set through your life opens the way for your children to become sons and daughters of God who serve as the light and salt of this dark world.
Beloved brothers and sisters, we must possess both the heart of a mother and the heart of a father. We need the heart of a mother who nurtures and prays for her children in love, and we need the heart of a father who keeps his children from going down the wrong path by leading through example, encouraging them, understanding them, and accepting them.
When we have both of these hearts, the next generation will live lives that proclaim the reality of the living God. Then many souls will come to encounter the living God through our lives.
It is my prayer that such grace may be upon all of us. I bless you in the name of the Lord.