speratus said: When Holy Scripture is read in a Christian assembly, it is God speaking to us not a man. When Christ says "This is My body", it is His body. We must firmly believe His word and the promise in His word.
True. But Christians are never told to repeat "words of institution" before partaking of the Lord's Supper, and to think that repeating a certain set of words somehow invokes the presence of Christ in the observance of the sacrament is superstitious.
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Stuart DiNenno said: How does this verse support your view that only elders may administer baptism and the Lord's Supper?
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speratus said: There may be exceptions in cases of necesssity but that is outside the scope of this thread.
Before you talk about exceptions to the rule, you have to establish the validity of the rule itself.
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speratus said: 1 Cor 4:1 and Acts 20:28 describe the same office. Acts 20:28 says how a man is placed in the office and describes the pastoral function; 1 Cor. 4:1 makes the man a servent and describes other functions of the office.
Acts 20:28 certainly does refer to elders and perhaps 1 Cor. 4:1 does also. But neither verse gives an explicit description of any church function.
"Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God." (1 Cor. 4:1)
"Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood." (Acts 20:28)
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speratus said: On second thought, cases of necessity may not beyond the scope of this thread. The word must be continually preached and the lambs of Christ baptized even when there no called minister available. The person performing these functions, in essence, becomes a minister. However, the Supper should be delayed until the congregation has a steward of the mysteries.
Even if I were to concede that "stewards" refers only to ordained elders, and that "mysteries" includes baptism and the Lord's Supper (I'm unsure), I think you could not show that oversight of the administering of the sacrament by others, rather than active participation in administering them, is not being a "steward of the mysteries" (if that is what you believe).
And I'm not sure how you are defining a "called minister" but I do believe that the Word of God ought to be continually preached and the lambs of Christ baptized regardless of the presence or absence of church officers. However, I don't see any biblical justification for refraining from observing the Lord's Supper in the same situation.
