A Table Set

Order of Service

• Call to Worship — Revelation 5:11-14
• Hymn — Lift High the Cross
• Prayer of Invocation
• Confession of Faith — Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 75
• Scripture Reading — Hebrews 9:1-11
• Pastoral Prayer
• Offering
• Prayer
• Hymn — Bread of the World in Mercy Broken
• Sermon
• Lord's Supper — When I Survey the Wondrous Cross
• Prayer of Thanksgiving
• Hymn — When I Survey the Wondrous Cross (final stanzas)
• Benediction — 2 Corinthians 13:14

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Sermon Title: A Table Set

Scripture: Exodus 25:23-30

I. The Grace of the Lord's Presence

A. The Tabernacle was God's portable dwelling place, traveling with his people through the wilderness

1. The table was made movable — fitted with rings and poles — so the Lord's presence would accompany his people wherever they went (Numbers 4)
2. As the pillar of cloud and fire moved, the whole Tabernacle moved with it, emphasizing that where the people were, the Lord would be

B. The bread of the presence (literally, "bread of the faces") signified intimate covenant fellowship with God

1. Twelve loaves set in two piles of six, representing the twelve tribes of Israel (Leviticus 24)
2. Shared meals marked covenant fellowship throughout Scripture — e.g., the Lord dining with Abraham after the covenant (Genesis 18), and the covenant meal on Mount Sinai (Exodus 24)
3. This fellowship was undeserved — sin broke the communion enjoyed in Eden, yet God in grace came to walk with his sinful, chosen people

C. The table was made magnificent to reflect the worth and glory of the God who dwells with his people

1. Though modest in size (roughly the dimensions of a coffee table), it was overlaid entirely in pure gold
2. God was not making a crude, makeshift dwelling — the Tabernacle and all its furnishings were to be beautiful and worthy of the King of kings
3. Like Mephibosheth — lame in both feet, yet invited to dine always at King David's table — God's people are invited into a fellowship far above their station

II. The Grace of the Lord's Provision

A. The wilderness setting made the table's provision all the more striking

1. In a dry and barren land, fresh bread was to be set before the Lord regularly — a tangible sign that the Lord who gave his presence also supplied his people's daily needs
2. God sent food in abundance: the manna, the quail (Psalm 78)

B. The table served as a repeated, visible reminder of dependence on God's provision

1. Like the petition "give us this day our daily bread," the table called the people to ongoing trust in God as their provider
2. Hard hearts and short memories require more than one reminder — repetition is built into the rhythms of worship by God's design
3. The danger of prosperity: when Israel entered the land flowing with milk and honey, they would need this continuing reminder that all provision comes from the Lord

C. The bread on the table pointed forward to Christ

1. Christ is himself the bread that came down from heaven — he is both the Tabernacle of God's presence and the provision set upon the table
2. He perfectly trusted and gave thanks to the Father for provision (e.g., the feeding of the five thousand)
3. Christ sets before his people a table with bread and a cup, inviting all believers to eat and drink — no longer only the priests, but all who believe on him for forgiveness, adoption, and sanctification

D. Application: Coming to the Lord's Table

1. As believers eat the bread and drink the cup, Christ is present to faith as a sign of his continued presence by his Spirit
2. The Lord's Supper is the new covenant Passover meal — a perpetual reminder of what we once were (bond servants to sin and death) and what we now are in Christ (sons and daughters of the living God)
3. The table is for wandering wilderness sojourners who belong to a heavenly country, feeding on the King who reigns at the right hand of the Father