First Principles

Below is but a small measure of revelation that my father had received from the Lord. I hope this will be a blessing to you. All that is written below are the words of my father.

April 13, 2023 

In loving memory of my father
Robert Louis (Bob) Padgett
July 28, 1931-May 22, 2023

In the King James version, only two places in the bible use the word "principle" or "principles." These are found in Hebrews 5:12 and Hebrews 6:1, just 3 verses apart from each other. I believe the book of Hebrews was written by Paul to the Diaspora, the Messianic Jews of his day who were scattered from Jerusalem throughout the known world. 

2 Peter 3:15-16, "And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction." 

If Hebrews is not the letter written by Paul that Peter refers to, where is it? Also, Paul had a God-given burden for the new Christians in the churches of Galatia.

Galatians 2:14, "But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews?"

Paul was saying in Galatians 2:14 that no one should ever mix any part of Judaism with Christianity. There is no such thing as Judeo-Christianity. You are either a Jew or you are a Christian. The epistle to the Hebrews was specifically written to Jewish converts who were tempted to revert to Judaism or to Judaize the gospel. The book of Hebrews also was written to all Christians over all of time, including us today, because many Christians have fallen into the snare of mixing parts of the Mosaic law with the true gospel. I have known several people who openly walked in that mixture. Scripture says, in 

Galatians 3:27-28, "For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus." 

By the same token, there is no Baptist in Christ, no Methodist in Christ, no Anglican in Christ.

Hebrews 5:10-14, "Called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec. Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing. For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil."

Continuing in Hebrews 6:1-3, "Therefore leaving [or having left] the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And this will we do, if God permit." 

Perhaps some of you old-timers, like me, know that Derek Prince wrote his Foundation Series booklets covering those six principles plus one more, titled "Purposes of Pentecost," in 1966. I have no intention of talking about those six principles except for one thought. Repentance from dead works (or works of the flesh) still pop up in too many instances with too many Christians today. To the best of my knowledge, I have not re-read any of those 7 booklets since 1968.

Derek Prince was always considered to be a very good teacher and I assume the great majority of what he wrote in those booklets was very good. However, it is all too easy to focus on doctrines rather on the weightier matters of the gospel. Further, although anyone can discern that which is evil, far too many of us Christians cannot discern the difference between that which is good (in the sight of man) and the will of God because our spiritual senses have not been exercised sufficiently. We might recall that Adam was forbidden to eat of the tree of the knowledge of both good and evil. I believe that the major significance of Hebrews 5:12 and Hebrews 6:1-3 may have been missed.

I assume that almost every Christian who has read the Bible would agree that there is a great difference between the operation of the church after Pentecost as recorded in the Book of Acts and the operation of our churches today. Therefore, it is important to understand why those differences exist and what we can do about it. Those are the reasons for this message.

Let us look first at Hebrews 5:12 more closely. 

"For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat."

Perhaps a better translation of "first principles" in Hebrews 5:12 is "rudiments of the beginning of the oracles of God." The word "principles" in Hebrews 5:12 is NOT the same Greek word as the word "principles" in Hebrews 6:1. In Hebrews 5:12, the word translated "principles" is stoicheion, which denotes the irreducible basic components or the foundations of Being.

Paul says that the recipients, chosen people of God, have been graced with sufficient knowledge of God that they ought to be teachers. Of course, we all should be teachers by our example to others. Being or becoming always trumps speaking and doing. Sadly, the recipients still need milk, but not strong meat. Someone needs to teach them again about the first principles of the oracles of God. In the Old Testament, oracles of God refer to the words or messages that God gave to His chosen people through prophets or priests, such as Moses, Samuel, or David. In the New Testament, oracles of God refer to the words or messages that God gave initially through Jesus and then the early apostles as Peter, Paul, and John. The only difference between the two is the manner of implementation of the nature or character of the Lord that is worked within us.

In every generation, there are those who serve the Lord and those who thought they serve the Lord but did not.

Malachi 3:16-18, "Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon His name. And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth Him not."

Those verses seem to give God's prescription for being able to discern between the righteous and the wicked and between him that serveth God and him that serveth Him not ... namely, to fear the LORD, to think upon His name, and to speak often one to another. To speak often one to another does not mean that we talk about the next big game or whether we will go to the next big sale or our job situation. Most of what we Christians talk about after our church service is not fellowship; it is simply socialization at the natural level. From my limited observation, a lot of what Christians put on Facebook has to do with natural-level topics. I also believe the understanding of the fear of the Lord is rather lacking. We seldom hear any minister talk about the fear of the Lord but we hear many messages about the love of God. We need a balance.

Many years ago, a very mature pastor and brother told me that from his many years of walking with the Lord, he had seen experientially that when a church starts talking a lot about the love of God, it was a sure sign that the church was about to split up. Yes, God is love, but He also is a consuming fire.

The word "first" in Hebrews 5:12 is significant. If we want to "rightly divide the word of truth," a solid "first principle" is to go back into scripture and see where God first talks about a particular topic. The book of Genesis contains MANY such "first principles." Also, in scripture, what is mentioned first is generally more important or significant to us.

Genesis 1:1, "In the beginning, God." 

1 Corinthians 15:3, "For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;" 

Mark 12:28-31, "And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, Which is the first commandment of all? And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these."

1 Timothy 2:1, "I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men:"

It is only after we are thoroughly grounded in the first principles that we are prepared for strong meat. The question is, "What are the first principles of the oracles of God?" 

Jeremiah 48:11, "Moab hath been at ease from his youth, and he hath settled on his lees, and hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither hath he gone into captivity: therefore his taste remained in him, and his scent is not changed."

The temptation for us Christians to settle down is very strong. We have become satisfied with words. What occupies most of the time in the worship services of our churches? words ... teaching, preaching, oral testimonies, perhaps a prophecy or two, pre-printed prayers, most of which never reach the ceiling ... words. But Paul told us, in 

1 Corinthians 4:19-21, "But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord will, and will know, not the speech of them which are puffed up, but the power. For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power. What will ye? shall I come unto you with a rod, or in love, and in the spirit of meekness?"

The Septuagint says that the name Moab means "he is of my father," a perpetual reminder of Moab's incestuous beginning through Lot and his oldest daughter. Another possible meaning of the name Moab is "water of a father of desire." Lot is a type of a Christian with a worldly mind. Moab's incestuous beginning is a type of inbreeding in the churches throughout the ages. Us four and no more. That attitude is particularly prevalent with, but not limited to, Evangelical Christians today. A number of years ago an Evangelical Christian asked me to mail to him 24 copies of a Christian book, so I did. A few weeks later he mailed all of those books back to me because one of the 38 chapters in the book did not agree with his Evangelical traditional teachings. Compare that attitude with the will of God as clearly revealed in 2 Corinthians 3:18,

"But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord."

A similar analogy is in 1 John, 2:12-14, 

"I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for His name's sake. I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known Him that is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one. I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the Father. I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known Him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one."

In other words, it is time, and past time, for all professing Christians to grow up. How long did it take for Paul or the first apostles to grow up? Obviously, there are always more little children than young men and more young men than fathers. Young men know the reality of 

Galatians 2:20-21, "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me. I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain."

Paul said, in 1 Corinthians 4:15, 

"For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel." 

Colossians 2:8-10, "Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in Him, which is the head of all principality and power:"

The word "rudiments" is the same Greek word as in Hebrews 5:12, which is there translated as "principles." So just as we have the rudiments of Christ, there are also rudiments of the world.

Galatians 4:9-11, "But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain."

Galatians 4:1-3, "Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all; But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father. Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world:"

The phrase "weak and beggarly elements" in Galatians 4:9 and the word "elements" in Galatians 4:3 are the same Greek word as "principles" in Hebrews 5:12. They both refer to the elements of the world of the Mosaic law. They refer to the oral law or the traditions of men or the Jewish rituals to be followed or externalism or ceremony or formality or surface religion. The great majority of professing Christians would be amazed at the traditions of men which are commonly practiced in almost every church.

Now let us look at Hebrews 6: 1-3, 

"Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And this will we do, if God permit." 

We can do nothing except by the grace of God. We cannot even take our next breath except for the grace of God.

Perhaps a better translation of "principles of the doctrine" in Hebrews 6:1 is "the word of the beginning of Christ." In Hebrews 6:1 the word translated as "principles" is arche, which means "the word of the beginning of Christ" or "the doctrine of the elementary principles relating to Christ."

Because of our human nature, far too many professing Christians have, perhaps unknowingly, reverted to legalism or what could be called externalism. That mode of living was highly prevalent when Jesus walked the face of the earth.

Matthew 23:13-31, "But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves. Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor! Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold? And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty. Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift? Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon. And whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein. And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by Him that sitteth thereon. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets. Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?"

1 Corinthians 2:1-5, "And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God."

A radical reformation is needed. Without a reformation there can be no regeneration or revival or restoration. Religions invariably degenerate because of a spirit of degeneration and deterioration. Then, after a while, the love of God for His people sends someone along who starts a small revival. For example, just follow the story of the Hebrews as they came out of Egypt. Then follow the story of the Hebrews in the time of the judges and the time of the kings. Then there was no prophet in Israel for 400 years after Malachi. We all know the state of God's chosen people when Jesus came to earth. Then a man named Peter came along. God used him to bring thousands of folks to the knowledge of the saving grace of God. After that God sent a man named Paul to strengthen and enlighten the church. But in less than one century after Paul, the church at Ephesus, the premiere church at that time, degenerated. The last great revival in the United States began in the late 18th century. Why? We Christians don't like change. We prefer the status quo. Don't rock the boat. All is well. Evangelism rocks along and produces a lot of professing Christians who have never been born again. Leonard Ravenhill once said that the so-called "sinners' prayer" has sent more people to hell than all of the taverns in America.

But we continue to say that all is well. There are only two times in all of scripture when someone said "all is well." In both cases, all was not at all well ... just the opposite. The first occasion is recorded in 2 Samuel 18:28 when Ahimaaz brought news to David that Absalom had been killed. The name Ahimaaz means "brother of closed eyes." In reality, Ahimaaz had seen nothing. He just reported hearsay news to David. The other occasion is recorded in 2 Kings, chapter 5, after Elisha had healed Naaman, the Syrian of leprosy. Elisha refused to accept any reward from Naaman, but Elisha's servant, Gehazi, ran after Naaman and said, "All is well." Gehazi then accepted the reward for himself. For that, the Lord struck Gehazi with leprosy forever. A number of years ago I heard with my natural ears a believer of some substance say, "All is well." Today some professing Christians say the equivalent of "all is well." After all, we are "saved" and we will go to heaven one day, so what's the problem?

People just assume their church is ok. But where are the saints today who are producing fruit through their examples? Today's church produces few examples ... those who are willing to hear the voice of God. Instead, we have plenty of babies ... those who drink milk ... those who have closed eyes, know nothing, are irresponsible, and are content with their life of ease.

Today we have many substitutes for the fire from off the altar. Substitutes are first mentioned in

Genesis 11:3-4, "And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter. And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth." 

The location was Shinar, the beginning of Babylon. Today, many church structures have tall spires or towers that point to heaven. And the great majority of churches have made themselves a name, such as The First Baptist Church or The Church at Fairfax County. However, there is NEVER a substitute (Or perhaps I should say there never SHOULD be a substitute) for hearing the voice of the Lord for yourself.

Every Sunday morning millions of professing Christians go faithfully to their church, as if an hour or two of church life is sufficient to carry us through until the next Sunday, where we repeat the process. We have form without worship. We don't live the doctrines that we teach. Meanwhile, God gets the leftovers. Surface religion. Externalism, based on the traditions of men and pretense. When we don't have something on the inside, we turn to accept what we can have on the outside.

Where are the Ezras today? Where are the Nehemiahs today? Where are the Elijahs today? Where art those ministers of the Lord who weep between the porch and the altar on behalf of God's chosen people? Where are those who seek after God? Where are those who say, let us go on? Where are those who identify with 

Psalm 42:1-4, "As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God? My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God? When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me: for I had gone with the multitude, I went with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holyday."

The same Holy Spirit who gives joy will also give us the grief and burden that the Lord feels for His chosen vessels.

When the times of apostasy overtake God's chosen people, the Lord says, as in 

Hosea 5:15, "I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early." 

Many such times are recorded in scripture. I believe we are living in such a time today. Now for the good news. After some period of time, God always raises up a prophetic voice to stir up His people. That is the love of God in action. God has his people everywhere. They are not many in number but they are sufficient. They have all pleaded for a deeper life in the Spirit. There were 7,000 more that Elijah did not know about. I have a suggestion for you. If you have access to the internet on a computer or on a cell phone, go to sermonindex.com. At that site you will find tens of thousands of messages preached by various ministers over the years. Some of the messages are not worth listening to. But you can specify the messages from specific ministers. Two of the very best preachers on that site are A.W. Tozer and Leonard Ravenhill, who were 20" century preachers and authors. They both have about 500 different messages which will keep you busy for quite a while. Why do I specifically recommend them? because they both preached the truth, in love, in the right spirit. Neither did they shun to declare all the counsel of God. They called a spade a spade. Very few preachers today measure up to Tozer and Ravenhill in character or in understanding or in boldness.

Now, we have not yet declared what are the first principles of the oracles of God. First of all, we should see and understand the utter simplicity of the carly saints as recorded in the Book of Acts. Granted, since then the devil has added all sorts of distractions, like TV, worldly entertainment, and cell phones. David Wilkerson once said that he would never have a TV in his house. But there is forever a simplicity that is in Christ. Paul said, in 2 Corinthians 11:2-3,

"For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ."

Those early Christians led a simple life, but a life filled with the love of God, grace, mercy, faith, worship and the power of the Holy Ghost. There we see the first principles of the oracles of God over all generations. God always uses prophets to try to bring us back to the reality of God. True prophets always protest against hollow words and external forms and traditions of men. Those early Christians had only one source of riches ... Christ Himself. He is our shield and our exceeding great reward. They were never concerned about obtaining a reputation with men. They never sought a high position. Paul said, in

Galatians 1:10, "For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ."

Paul also said, in 

Philippians 3:7-11, "But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, And be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead."

Paul was never concerned about his ultimate salvation. He had already been caught up to the third heaven. His focus was always about pleasing the Lord, doing His will. Paul, and many others before and since, have learned the secret of true communion with God. That secret has nothing to do with eating a little piece of bread and drinking a sip of wine or grape juice once a week or once a month. Perhaps one day the Lord will allow me to expand on that truth.

Once more, who is seeking God? Who wants to know God? Have I described you in anything I have shared tonight? Are you satisfied with the status quo? Or do you long for more of the reality of God in your life? It is not a question of how far we have already come. The real question is who is headed in the right direction? The word "prize" occurs only two times in scripture. One occurrence is in 

Philippians 3:13-14, "Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." 

The other occurrence is in 

1 Corinthians 9:24, "Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain." 

Who can identify with that attitude that Paul had? And what is the prize? Christ in you, the hope of glory. It is because I have such a hope for the body of Christ that I speak with such boldness.

By the grace and power of God may we all go on unto perfection. Amen and amen.