The Nature Of The Local Church

Exodus 25:33 - "Three bowls shall be made like almond blossoms on one branch, with an ornamental knob and a flower, and three bowls made like almond blossoms on the other branch, with an ornamental knob and a flower - and so for the six branches that come out of the lampstand."

Like a blacksmith hammering out a lump of metal, we've used God's blueprint to lay out a pattern for the local church. We started with the raw material and began forming the basic profile (one center shaft, six branches). Now, we switch from heavy blows hammering out the shape, to focus on the finer details of the design.

We learned that there were eighteen almond blossoms formed on the branches:
Three blossoms on each branch...
Three branches on either side of the shaft...
So a total of nine almond blossoms on either side of the lampstand...

What are these blossoms? What do they represent for our New Testament churches?

Grown In The Congregation

One of the things we've learned already is that Jesus must be the center of the local church, and we (like the branches) must gather in His name. WE, the congregation of the local church, are the branches. This means, whatever these almond blossoms represent, they are intended to be among the people.

The number and grouping of these blossoms is also a significant detail - and will actually work to identify what they represent. 

Listen, I know that some have stretched out WAY too far in "numerology", and that has led so some very strange teachings about what numbers in the Bible are supposed to represent. But this is not one of those teachings. This isn't going to be a stretch... it will be a simple one-for-one comparison between the Old and the New Testament. 

In Exodus 25, we can easily see two distinct groups on either side of the center shaft..and each group has nine blossoms. Moving into the New Testament, we can also identify two separate lists of nine spiritual things God wants in our churches. Again, this is not a stretch - it's simply allowing Scripture to interpret Scripture.

The first group of nine blossoms can be found in Galatians 5:22-23.
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, and self-control. Against such there is no law."

God's plan is for each of His local churches to produce the Fruit of the Spirit - Jesus' very own nature - among the people in the congregation. As they relate to God, and to other believers, and to the world; the Fruit of the Spirit should define every congregation member in the local church!

The Fruit of the Spirit in the Local Church

Love

What is love? Biblical love is defined by God alone. We are NOT allowed to define love for ourselves - and we can NEVER rightly call something that God says "unloving".

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 is the most clear definition of what love is:
 - Love puts up with a lot and is still kind
 - Love does not envy
 - Love does not parade itself or act proudly
 - Love does not behave rudely
 - Love does not ask "what about me?"
 - Love is not irritable
 - Love does not wish evil on anyone
 - Love does not take part in sinful "fun"
 - Love celebrates the truth
 - Love will carry any weight
 - Love believes the best in people / is willing to give the benefit of the doubt
 - Love wants the best for people
 - Love will endure anything

THIS is how God defines love - and THIS is the love that should exist inside every local church.

Joy

Contrary to popular opinion: joy and happiness are not the same thing. 

Happiness is based on what's happening around you. It's subjective, and should never be used to decide if something is right or wrong.
Think about a bank robber who escapes with a million dollars - is he truly happy? Yes he is!
Now think about a detective who track the robber down and arrests him - is he truly happy. Yep!
Both would be happy; but only one would be right.

Instead of chasing happiness, Christians are called to live in joy. 
Joy is defined this way: A spiritual gladness that comes from trusting God.

When you know that God is true to His word (and when you know that He is in control), you can rejoice, even in difficult times!

Peace

Worldly peace is defined as the absence of conflict. But that will never actually happen, because "in this world, you will have tribulation." So how can we find peace in a troubled world? Only by receiving the peace of God.

God's peace isn't like the world's. Instead of avoiding outer conflict, the peace of God calms your inner man. In John 14:27, Jesus described it like this: "Peace I leave with you. MY peace I give unto you. Not like the world gives...let not your heart be troubled."

The peace of the believer is the God-given power to calm your own heart. And like joy, this peace comes from trusting in God. 

Patience

Biblical patience isn't just about a waiting game. Genuine patience that the Holy Spirit produces is a consistency and an unchanging-ness. It is constantly doing what's right, no matter what.

 - No matter what reward comes or doesn't come...
 - No matter what recognition you get or don't get...
 - No matter how long results may take...
True patience causes you to just keep doing what you know is right. 

Kindness

The fruit of kindness is exactly what it sounds like - essentially makes you a "nice" person.

When the Holy Spirit produces this in a believer's life, they will consistently be kind to others. No matter what the other person deserves; true kindness will keep your tone gentle, your attitude sweet, and your actions loving. 

However, this is one fruit that does not stand alone. It needs the next one in this list as a balance.

Goodness

If the fruit of kindness makes a believer "nice", then the fruit of goodness gives them a strong character. Someone with the fruit of goodness has an internal conviction of right and wrong. What's more, they will also put that conviction into action in their own life - choosing right, and shunning wrong. Going even further still, the fruit of goodness will also cause a person to openly oppose what is wrong around them.

This is why the these two fruit need each other.
Kindness toward an unjust or unrepentant man is not good.
But if unrestrained goodness causes you to be harsh toward an addict or broken sinner, that would not be kind.

Kindness without goodness is weak.
Goodness without kindness is harsh.
But together, God's people can be soft and strong.

Faithfulness

Faithfulness is defined as "reliability" or "trustworthiness". It is the quality that allows people to trust what you say. 

We can put our faith in God, because He is faithful. In the same way, faithfulness allows people to put their faith in you.
 - If you said you were going to be somewhere, they trust that you'll be there.
 - If you said you were going to do a certain job, they can trust you to get it done.
 - If you agreed to work for a certain amount of time, then they will know what you're doing during that time.

Meekness

The Greek word praotes is sometimes translated as gentleness, and other times you'll see "meekness" or "lowliness". The basic definition of this word has the meaning of selflessness. Someone who is meek is NOT a pushover, or a weakling. Far from it: A meek person has the ability to take what they want; but chooses to devote themselves to someone else instead.

Meekness is the opposite of selfishness. You can see it summed up in Philippians 2:4 - "Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others."

Self-Control

The world thinks of self-control as if it were "mind over matter" - as if the solution to all their problems is to let their mind control their impulses. Unfortunately, most of those impulses are actually found in their mind. For the world, mind over matter does not work...because their mind is the matter!

For a believer, self-control runs deeper. Self-control is the God-given, Spirit-produced power to reign yourself in. True self-control is when the power of God enables your re-created spirit to have dominion over your mind and your flesh.

When you awaken, hasten to obey!

What would the local church look like if everyone in the congregation was producing these fruit?

How wonderful would it be to have a congregation of loving, joyful, and peaceful believers; people who are patiently doing what is right, who are both kind AND morally good, who can be trusted to do what they say, who are selfless toward others, and who have a firm control over their own impulses?

THAT is the church I want to be a part of! THAT is how God wants His church to look.
And as we awaken to His word on these issues, we must immediately obey!