1 Cor. 13:8 Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.
9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.
10 But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.
13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.
Notice that the greatest gift is charity (love). Let's try and understand why. There are three groups of gifts: 1) temporary sign gifts (tongues, prophecies, and revelatory knowledge),
2) semi-permanent gifts (faith and hope), and
3) permanent gift (love).
The greatest of all of these is love because it will endure forever through all eternity. It will never end.
What about faith. (2 Cor 5:7 KJV) " (For we walk by faith, not by sight)" That is, when we see Jesus, we will no longer have need of faith.
Heb.11:1 "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."
Likewise hope:
Rom.8:24 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
25 But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.
--Hope that is seen is not hope. Thus when we see Jesus our hope will end. He is our hope. We will no longer have to hope for him to come. Thus at His Coming, faith and hope will end. Only love will continue. That is why love is the greatest. It only is permanent. Faith and hope are semi-permanent gifts ceasing at the second coming.
Verse 8 of 1Cor.13, says that prophecies shall fail, tongues shall cease, and knowledge shall vanish away. The question is "when?" Verse 9 says we know in part and we prophesy in part. The New Testament believers did not have all of the Word of God. They had the Old Testament, and maybe one or two of the New Testament books, like Matthew or James which were written earlier than the others. Therefore they knew in part. They only had "part" of the Word of God. Thus, they had the gift of prophesy (as well as tongues and revelatory knowledge) to give them further revelation of the Word of God. They knew in part and they prophesied in part.
Now verse 10 says, "But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away." The pronoun "that," in the Greek is in the neuter gender, not in the masculine. It therefore cannot refer to Jesus Christ, otherwise the Holy Spirit would have used a masculine pronoun to refer to Him. The word ‘that,' ("that which is perfect"), refers to the Word of God. The old English Word "perfect" means "complete." When the Word of God is completed then that which is in part (the temporary sign gifts of tongues, prophesying, and revelatory knowledge), shall be done away.
When that which is perfect (complete) is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.
The Word of God was completed about 95-98 a.d. when John finished the Book of Revelation. All the sign gifts ceased by the end of the first century. They were not needed any more. The only revelation that we need now is contained within the pages of the Bible. And the Lord gives a stern warning about adding to that (Rev. 22:18,19).
However the greatest argument against tongues is its other purpose found in 1Cor.14:21,22
1 Corinthians 14:21-22 In the law it is written, With men of other tongues and other lips will I speak unto this people; and yet for all that will they not hear me, saith the Lord.
22 Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not: but prophesying serveth not for them that believe not, but for them which believe.
Paul, in verse 21, quotes from the law (specifically Isaiah 28:11,12), When he refers to "this people" which people is he referring to? It is the nation of Israel. He is saying that in the O.T. prophecies men will speak with other lips or tongues to the nation of Israel and still they will not believe. The gift of tongues was a sign to the nation of Israel. This is clear from this verse of Scripture.
Verse 22 goes on to make even clearer. It starts witht the word "Wherefore," connecting verse 22 with verse 21. And then says that tongues are a sign, not for them that believe, but for them that believe not. It is a sign to them that believe not, but not just for any unbeliever. In context is is for the Jewish unbeliever, specifically those of the first century who actually were responsible for crucifying the Lord.
This sign was given to the Apostles and first century Christians to authenticate the gospel message for the unbelieving Jews that the gospel message was indeed from God. Even with the sign of tongues they still did not believe. And as the O.T. prophecy indicated judgement would fall upon them, and it did. The gift not only ceased, but the city of Jerusalem was razed to the ground and the Temple was destroyed. It was shortly after that, that tongues had completely ceased.
It was not until 1800 years later in 1906 in the Asuza Street "revivals" so-called that there was a resurgence of the tongues movement. But this was not Biblical tongues. This was an ecstatic gibberish that was being spoken, not a real language at all. It edified (or gave an emotional high) to the individual) instead of edifying the church, as the gift was intended. It is used as a prayer language, something the original gift was never intended to do. God never created a selfish spiritual gift--one for only the user's purpose.
Today's speaking in tongues in is simply a cheap imitation of the Biblical gift of 2,000 years ago. It is not the real thing.
DHK