Ex 26:3, Five curtains shall be joined to one another; and the other five curtains shall be joined to one another. 
	We continue this morning with our look at the fabric of the tent of meeting as it represents the Body of Christ as the living temple of the indwelling Lord God Almighty. Again, we need to be very clear on the fact that we are not God and never will be. He, Alone; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is God. We are brought into a living relationship with Him and with each other through the working blood and power of Jesus Christ. In Christ, we are made to be the Living temple on this earth in which God dwells in a manifested rapport with His creation.
	We spent a portion of last time dealing with the Old Testament types of this temple and then body affiliation. Today, we will continue our time in the New Testament, picking up with the Apostle Paul’s description of who we are in the plan of God through Jesus Christ. 
The Apostle is very specific, as in 2 Cor 6:16-18, with respect to the manner in which we are to consider and conduct ourselves on this earth. 2 Cor 6:16-18, Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, "I will dwell in them and walk among them; And I will be their God, and they shall be My people. Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate," says the Lord. "And do not touch what is unclean; And I will welcome you. "And I will be a father to you, And you shall be sons and daughters to Me," Says the Lord Almighty. 
	It is readily apparent that we are to have a view of ourselves that is distinct and separated from the view of this age. When we realize that we are now made the living temple of God, that temple which contains Him in the every place we go and Whom we represent in the every interaction that is ours in this life, we need to be very careful and conscientious in the course of our time here. 
In Christ, we are now made to be the very family of God on this earth. We present to the lost and the prisoners of sin and death what true and free life in Jesus Christ involves. We are exhibit A of what God always intended in His creation of humanity. Therefore, our every action and reaction needs to be consciously at the forefront of what would please the One Who now indwells us.
	The Apostle, in Eph 2:19-22, reiterates this to the believers at Ephesus. Eph 2:19-22, So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God's household, having been built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together is growing into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit. 
	He brings to the forefront of our attention the fact that we are not going through this life by ourselves, in a vacuum, with no other focus than our own life experiences. What we do and how we conduct ourselves is fully set in the entire spectrum of the humanity of God’s creation from Adam until the end of this age of time. We are not to just look at life with the limited focal point of what we see with our finite perspective. We need to keep the whole picture at the conscious level of our activity. 
God has worked from the very beginning and will continue to work until the very end of time as we know it, to build upon the foundation of His Son. From the days of the prophets and throughout both the Old and the New Testament times, we are included in the great panorama of the grace and the mercy and the love of God expressed fully to humanity. Through Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, Our Heavenly Father has established the complete manifestation of His so great love for mankind. We are fit into that perfect expression as His own beloved people. This knowledge necessitates that we take into full consideration who we are and how we live in obedience and in absolute accordance to His Living Word.
	Again, pay attention to the urgent encouragement of the Apostle Paul as we read together Eph 4:1-6. Eph 4:1-6, I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance to one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. 
	Notice the full impact of the unity that we share together in Christ. We are connected to all those who have gone before us, the Children of Israel, the prophets of old, the early church and each of the saints of God who have their portion in Jesus Christ. As this is the manner of our lives, so must our interactions with our brothers and sisters in Him manifest the unity of those who are called out of this age. We are no longer to be subject to its emphasis on self and its defiled gods of pleasure and self-exaltation, putting our wants and our desires before the unity of Christ. We are to live unto others as did our Lord and Savior, and not unto ourselves and unto those things that promote us above all else. 
	We are to …walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called. That fully means that we are to honor God in the way that we treat, talk to, and think of others. We are to hold our brethren as more worthy of our attention and our efforts and our singleness of heart and purpose. We lay down our lives for one another, treating others with the same love with which we have been loved. This is emphasized and echoed and encouraged continually throughout the New Testament as the Holy Spirit manifests the revealed heart of God in Jesus Christ. 
	Again, the Holy Spirit emphasizes this attitude of selfless giving to the whole body of believers to whom we are joined, as the Apostle Paul continues in Eph 4:14-16. Eph 4:14-16, As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by that which every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love. 
	This details the very real aspect of growing up together into the maturity that is ours in Jesus Christ. We are not to be tossed to and fro, caught up in those concerns and fears and wiles of this age. Rather, as we learn, day-by-day, that our lives are no longer our own, we will be more and more cognizant of the needs of others. We will be enthralled with the manner in which God reveals Himself mighty to provide and to save as each moment on this earth unfolds to reveal His Hand operating supremely and effectively through each situation and crisis and tribulation. We are able to stand together in His wonderful working power and hearten and support one another in the fact that God has all things well in hand. There are times in which we need to be reminded of this, as do so many of our beloved fellow saints. God has given us to one another for this purpose and the opportunity to stand together in Him. As we do, we grow together into the deeper realities of the life that we are given in Jesus, Our Everything. 
	In Col 2:2+3, we read the following reality. Col 2:2+3, that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God's mystery, that is, Christ Himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Together, with each other, we grow into the fullness of the knowledge of Jesus Christ. To live in fellowship with God requires that we live in fellowship with each other and invest ourselves into one another as God has invested Himself into us. There is no other way of spiritual growth in Jesus Christ. All the treasures of His wisdom and knowledge are manifested as we deal with those with whom God has joined us.
	Consider the early church as recorded in Acts 2:42-47, Acts 2:42-47, And they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. And everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. And all those who had believed were together, and had all things in common; and they began selling their property and possessions, and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. And day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God, and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved. 
	The church grew in number and in knowledge and in courage and in quality of belief as they were united together for the sake of Jesus Christ. They did not have an easy time of it. They were persecuted by their former religious leaders as well as by the governmental authorities. Yet God kept increasing them in the quality of their faith as they stood together in Him.
	As we read in 1 Cor 1:9+10, this unity was further attested to and dealt with in that early church which had so many problems, the Church at Corinth. 1 Cor 1:9+10, God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree, and there be no divisions among you, but you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment. 
The Apostle, in his writing to them, stipulated the certain fact of their unity being the basis of their growth into the Lord Jesus Christ. They could not grow alone. They could not come into the full reality of what has been instituted in this relationship with God without being incorporated into a living relationship with each other in Jesus Christ. None of us were ever designed to be by ourselves, cut off from fellowship with one another.   
	The writer to the Hebrews emphasizes this in Heb 10:23-25, as he makes it very clear that we are to seek to join ourselves together rather than to be separated and self-absorbed in our times of worship. Heb 10:23-25, Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more, as you see the day drawing near. 
	We are intended to be the corporate expression of the working of God’s hands. That is why this importance of a building together as in the tent of meeting, the temple of God, the body relationship throughout the entirety of scripture, is stressed over and over again in so many different facets. We grow together and the maturity that we seek is not for ourselves, but for the sake of the very person of Jesus Christ in terms of what we show to the entirety of God’s creation. 
	The Apostle needed to deal with this in Corinth, in 1 Cor 14:12, encouraging those members who were seeking earnestly the gifts of the Spirit, that these gifts are not for the individual, but for the church and the building up together of the entire body. 1 Cor 14:12, So also you, since you are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek to abound for the edification of the church. 
	We hear once more this united stress and importance earnestly proclaimed by the Apostle Paul, in Phil 2:1-4, as he highlighted it for the readers of his letter to the Philippian Church. Phil 2:1-4, If therefore there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.
	We were not constituted as individuals, but as the people of God. Yes, we each individually come into this personal relationship, but it is for the sake of what God has fabricated as His dwelling place on this earth. His church is the expression of His complete plan and purpose for the revelation of His so great Love in Jesus Christ. This we will consider further as we continue next time, Lord willing. So be it!    
	Five curtains shall be joined to one another; and the other five curtains shall be joined to one another. Amen.

This morning’s benediction is Isa 40:3-5. A voice is calling, "Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness; Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God. "Let every valley be lifted up, And every mountain and hill be made low; And let the rough ground become a plain, And the rugged terrain a broad valley; Then the glory of the Lord will be revealed, And all flesh will see it together; For the mouth of the Lord has spoken." Amen.