In the book of Revelation, Chapter 1, John saw a vision of the Lord Jesus Christ standing in the midst of seven golden candlesticks. And in verse 20, the Lord explained that the seven candlesticks represent seven churches in Asia (as John mentioned in verse 4).
A candlestick is a special Jewish lampstand that has seven lamps. It constitutes of a main stem, and six stems (which are three pairs of stems branching out from the left and right sides of the main stem). In chapter 4 of the book of Revelation, verse 5, the seven lamps are interpreted as the seven spirits of God. And in the book of Isaiah, chapter 11, verse 2, these seven spirits of God are listed as: the Spirit of the LORD (the main stem), the spirit of wisdom and understanding (first pair of stems), the spirit of counsel and might (second pair of stems), and the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD (third pair of stems).
In this Isaiah 11, the seven spirits of God are a description of the fullness of the Spirit that our Lord Jesus manifested when He came on earth. They are a description of the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ as all that He did were an outflow of these seven spirits.
As such, by using a candlestick (which represents the seven spirits of God) as a symbol for the church, God is saying that the church (as a body) is to express the same level of the fullness of the Spirit as Christ Jesus did. Paul in Ephesians 4:13 echoes this saying: “Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ:”. This is a truth that is central to our hearts as a church of people fellowshipping together under Christ.
The bible calls the church the bride and body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:27, Ephesians 5:22-32); BRIDE meaning we are married into His estate of life and glory; BODY meaning we are expressions of His exact level of life and power. It is God’s intent that every church of His people be an expression of the full measure of attributes of the Spirit that is present in our Lord Jesus. To this end, Ephesians 4 says He gave gifts to men, and Romans 8 says each man is a heir of God. We therefore encourage the spiritual growth of every person, knowing fully well that we are members fitly joined together to constitute the body of Christ, and thus the outflow of the Spirit from each person is necessary for the body to measure to the full stature of Christ.
In terms of administration, it is a scriptural principle that the elder teach and lead the younger. Eldership not necessarily defined in terms of physical age, but higher spiritual maturity relative to the maturity level of the persons in the house. And because no one man has all sufficiency to administer life to the house of God, except the Lord Jesus Christ, we do not emphasize singularity of leadership, but have a plural eldership as the principal expression of the leadership of God in the assembly.
Such is the pattern we have found in scriptures, and do earnestly adhere to, knowing that we are saved by the grace of God and conforming to His pattern is what will continue to ensure our access to His presence in our midst and the outflow of His life upon us, so that as Paul mentions in Colossians 1:28, we may be able to present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.
Amen!