Lesson 32

In I Corinthians 13:8-13, our text for today, the apostle Paul makes a contrast between the permanency of love and the temporary nature of some spiritual gifts. He writes, "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." Prophecies shall fail; tongues shall cease; knowledge shall vanish away. These three supernatural gifts, Paul says, at some point in time shall be abolished. The verb used to describe what will happen to prophecies and what will happen to knowledge are the same word. This verb is in the passive voice meaning that something will take place which will cause these gifts to be abolished.

We notice in verse 9 that Paul discusses the gifts of prophecy and knowledge. He writes, "We know in part and we prophesy in part." Verse 10 says that "then that which is in part shall be done away." When will that which is "in part" be abolished? The answer is in the first part of verse 10 - "When that which is perfect is come ..." The Greek word translated "that which is perfect" is a neuter word (neither male nor female in gender), which means "to complete, to fulfill, to mature." This same word is translated "of full age" in Hebrews 5:14. For instance, an oak tree is a mature form of an acorn; a man is the mature form of a boy. Paul is saying that there will be a time when that which is complete will come and that which is partial will disappear.

It is very important that we understand the phrase, "that which is perfect." What does Paul mean? Some say that this phrase refers to the Lord Jesus himself. Jesus is that which is perfect and when He comes, these gifts will cease. The problem with that interpretation is that Jesus is never referred to by a neuter pronoun. If Paul were speaking of Jesus, he would have said the Greek equivalent of "When He who is perfect is come." There are others who say, "Well, it may not be a reference to Jesus, but it is a reference to the event, the second coming of Christ." The problem with that interpretation is that there is absolutely no indication by the context that a reference to the second coming is intended. Paul is not writing about the second coming here; he is writing about the temporary nature of some spiritual gifts.

If you want to know the meaning of "that which is perfect" look at the illustration Paul uses in verse 12. "For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face." The word for glass refers to a mirror, a looking glass. In the ancient world they didn't make mirrors from glass but from highly polished pieces of metal. In fact, the city of Corinth was famous for these polished, metal mirrors. The reflection that you would get from such a mirror was less than perfect. Now, Paul is saying, through prophecies and knowledge the image that we see is dark, shadowed, veiled, less than perfect. On the other hand, "then", that is, when that which is perfect has come, we shall see a perfect image. Hold your place here, and turn to James 1:23-25 (read). The word of God, according to James, is the perfect law of liberty. It is like a perfect mirror.

II Corinthians 3:18 uses the words "glass" and "face" together. (Read). The born-again, Spirit indwelled Christian has the privilege of looking into the word of God with and open mind and seeing a perfect image of Christ and thus, that Christian is changed from one level of glory to another by Spirit.

By putting Paul's illustration with the rest of scripture, I conclude that "that which is perfect" refers to the completion of the Word of God. These gifts awaited the coming of the complete Word of God. And when the Word of God, is complete, Paul is saying, these gifts will disappear.

As has been noted in the past, some people in the church during the first century were gifted by the Holy Spirit with the ability to speak the Word of God directly from heaven. They were prophets, in the purest sense of the word. They spoke by revelation and said, "Thus saith the Lord." This was necessary because the written revelation was not complete. Preachers could not say, "Turn to Romans chapter 12" because the book of Romans had not yet been written by Paul and was not in their scriptures yet. Others, during that time period had the gift of knowledge or the word of knowledge as it is sometimes called. These were apostles and their immediate associates to whom the Spirit had given the ability to write down the literal Word of God. The gift of knowledge was the supernatural inspiration of the Holy Spirit so that God's word would be written. But when the complete canon of scriptures was fully revealed, these partial and temporary gifts were abolished. In the strict sense, there are no prophets today, and there is no gift of knowledge given to enable men to write scripture. The last paragraph of the Bible, Revelation 22:18 says that the scripture is complete. It says in part, "If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book."

But what about the gift of tongues? The subject of speaking in tongues has appeared during our days. At the turn of the century, in a little church on Azusa Street in Los Angeles, a group of people began to speak in tongues. Today, there are many denomination which claim to speak in tongues - Church of God, Assembly of God, Pentecostal, and Holiness congregations. Furthermore, the Charismatic movement has spread beyond these denominations to many other independent churches and even some mainline denominations. Today, there are even Catholic charismatics. Even in non-Christian religions there are people who speak in tongues - for instance there are Buddhists who claim to speak in tongues.

We need to take a little time and examine the subject of tongues in the whole Bible. As we examine this subject, we must all bring our experience under the Bible's authority.

Tongues in the Historical Books Of The New Testament. The first and only reference to speaking in tongues in the gospels is found in Mark 16:17-18. I believe that this promise of the Lord Jesus was fulfilled completely during the first century. If we demand that verse 17 is still for today, we must also demand that verse 18 still be for today. There are, in some remote parts of the south, people who claim these signs - and they handle deadly snakes and drink strychnine. A number of people in these churches have died. Again, I say that I believe Jesus' promise here was fulfilled in the first century.

Speaking in tongues occurred three times in the Book of Acts. The first was on the day of Pentecost, see Acts 2:1-11. It is clear by reading the entire passage that the "tongues" spoken were human languages. The miracle of Pentecost was that every man heard the message in his own language. The gift of tongues was the supernatural ability to speak in a foreign language. For a brief moment, what God had done at the tower of Babel - confounding the languages - was reversed, so that men from all over the world would hear the gospel message and a declaration that Jesus Christ is Lord. The second occurrence of speaking in tongues happened in Acts 10:43-46 at the house of Cornelius. It seems that in the early days, the apostles believed that church was going to be a Jewish institution. The Lord repeated Pentecost, so to speak, at the house of Cornelius so that all would know that the church was to include Gentiles as well, see Acts 11:15-17. What happened in Acts 10 was the same thing that had happened in Acts 2. The only other occurrence of tongues in the historical books is in Acts 19. Based on the paragraph that begins in Acts 18:24, I am led to believe that these men were not saved until this moment. The speaking in tongues here is a manifestation of the Holy Spirit as at Pentecost and at the house of Cornelius. It is noteworthy, that whenever tongues appear in the Book of Acts, there is always at least one apostle and Jews who are present.

Tongues In The Doctrinal Books Of The New Testament. Tongues are mentioned only in I Corinthians 12-14 and not in any other doctrinal books.

I Corinthians 14:22 declares that tongues are for a sign to unbelievers. In 1:22, Paul had already written that "the Jews require a sign." When the Pharisees confronted Jesus in Matthew 12:38, they said, "We would see a sign from thee." In other words, they wanted Jesus to prove by some miracle that He was the Messiah. Jesus replied, "There shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of Jonah the prophet." How were tongues a sign to unbelieving Jews? Returning to I Corinthians 14, verse 21 is a quotation of Isaiah 28:11-12. The prophets were predicting judgment upon Israel, in the form of foreign invaders. Jeremiah 5:15 says "I will bring a nation upon you ... whose language thou knowest not." Shortly thereafter, the Assyrians conquered Jerusalem. The same thing happened in the New Testament. The gift of tongues was a sign to unbelieving Jews that judgment was coming because of their rejection of Jesus as their Messiah. It happened in A.D. 70. The Romans leveled Jerusalem and God's judgment came to the Jews.

"Tongues shall cease". There are two reasons what tongues have ceased. First, they belonged to periods of authentication. Whenever God was ready to do something new on the earth, He authenticated it with signs. For example, at the giving of the law, Moses went to Mt. Sinai and Israel saw lightning and heard thunderings and voices, Exodus 19:16; 20:18. When Jesus was born, there was a special star in the sky and the appearances of angels. And the early days of the institution of the church - when the Holy Spirit came to empower it, God sent signs and wonders. The apostles and prophets were able to do miraculous things as an authentication by God, that this was of Him.

The second reason what tongues stopped is because they belong to a period in which the institution of the church was in an infant stage. Paul illustrates this in verse 11 of our text. (Read). Just as there is a difference between a child and man, Paul says there is a difference between the infant church period and the mature church period. The verb translated "put away" is the very same word used in verse 8 to speak of the cessation of these supernatural sign gifts.

A charismatic pastor, Neil Babcox, wrestled with this question of the cessation of these gifts upon the completion of the scriptures. His personal struggle became a book entitled A Search For Charismatic Reality. He concludes with these words

"The inescapable dilemma is this: if the mystery of

Christ has been fully revealed in scripture, then revelations can add nothing to it.

If, however, tongues and prophecies are confined to boundaries of scripture,

then they are not revelations - they are repetitions and as such are unnecessary.

Furthermore, since these gifts functioned to confirm the giving of new

revelation, then their purpose has been entirely fulfilled", p.69.

Allow me to conclude with this summary: we believe that the gift of tongues was the supernatural ability to speak in a foreign language. Further, we believe that these supernatural sign gifts ceased with passing on of the apostles and the completion of scriptures. We believe that the modern day charismatic movement is in doctrinal error and that in most instances, the expression of these gifts, since they ceased to be a manifestation of the Holy Spirit, are self-induced. I do not say this with any meanness in my heart or mockery in my words. Again, I would recommend to you for further study a couple of series from years past. The Gifts Of The Spirit and A Doctrinal Look At The Charismatic Movement.

I have yet to deal with chapter 14. But the gifts of tongues and prophecy will be addressed again in our study of that chapter.

Someone may wonder why I would take a Sunday morning sermon to teach these things. It's all so doctrinal. What about all the needs that are represented in the congregation. Why teach all this doctrinal stuff when there are hurting people in the pews? Why not be a little more relevant?

My answer is simple. I teach the Bible - line upon line; precept upon precept. Presently, I am preaching through I Corinthians. I have come to this passage. This is what the Bible says. This is what it means.

I make no apology for a doctrinal message. It is important that, as a church, we regularly affirm our doctrinal positions. We want those who visit and perhaps are seeking a church home to know this is who we are, this is what we believe, this is what we will teach. A pastor expressed his frustration to me when he said, "I feel like I pastor two churches. The majority of those who attend Sunday morning believe in eternal security and are not charismatic. But the Sunday night crowd doesn't believe in eternal security and believes in the charismatic gifts." That church is divided along doctrinal lines. We seek to articulate our doctrine so that we will not become a divided church with an unclear doctrinal identity.