Expert: Dr. Ronald E. Shultz - 4/13/2004

Question
1 Corinthians

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.

Can you please explain these verses to me. When shall the tongue cease and the knowledge vanish? When Christ returns?

Answer
Paul tells us a few verses later.

1 Cor 13:12-13
12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity. (KJV)

I only know what God has revealed through His Word.  I have Genesis to Revelation and all I really know is what is given to me there and there is much of that which must be given to me by illumination of the Spirit as the nature man cannot comprehend it and even the saints have too start out with milk and allow the Spirit to grow them to a place where they can handle meat.  Therefore I only know in part and will not know everything as it was, is and will become until we stand with Christ.

We preach/prophesy in part because again, we only know what He has chosen to reveal to us or what we allow Him to reveal to us by our obedience and diligence to study.  Even those who prophesied the future (OT Prophets, John)could only prophesy what God showed them and John was even told not to write down everything so even he prophesied in part. When Christ returns and especially after all things have come to pass and we start the new heaven and new earth then all those parts will be done away with.  They shall fail because they will be unecessary.  

Some have taught that the "perfect" means the full canon or body of Scripture.  I am sure that that fulfilled part of what Paul was taliking about but that which is perfect or complete can only mean the completion of all prophecies.  That will happen at the new heaven and earth stage for then all prophecies will be complete and we will know all things about that which we call time.  

Now, to the real reason for the question.  ;-)  Are tongues for today?  

3973  pauo (pow'-o);
a primary verb ("pause"); to stop (transitively or intransitively), i.e. restrain, quit, desist, come to an end:
KJV-- cease, leave, refrain.

First of all a tongue is a language and there will be only one language in eternity so in that times tongues shall cease for there shall only be one tongue and that may be Hebrew much to the chagrin of my Hispanic brethren.  

What about the miracle of language?  I did a long study on that but note that the verb means come to an end.  Those who know Greek better than I have said that in the language there is nothing that makes them cease they just quit of themselves.  So, from that perspective we are not waiting for the perfect to come for them.  They just halt.

Do we have some biblical support of this?  I believe so,  Romans 12:6-8 gives another list of the spiritual gifts and tongues is not there.  I Cor was written at least a couple of years before Romans.  Did the gift cease after it had fulfilled its use?  Seems so.  Maybe the Corinthians abused it so much that God cancelled it.  Note, the Greek word can mean pause.  The gift is primarily for Jews.  Paul tells us that Jews require a sign and Joel prophesied of tongues and Acts tells us that was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost. Once the church was established and folks from all "tongues" of the day had the Gospel so that no Jew in any spot could "hide" from it God may well have cut it off until the Tribulation period when again the Jews will be given the Gospel directly via the 144,000.  We know that the two witnesses will have a miracle ministry and tongues may well revive.  

What we have today is pretty much what Paul dealt with in his day.  The least of all gifts is exalted and abused, so that even if it were for today no one seems to be using it properly.  If there are no unsaved Jews or unsaved folks that do not speak the language of the church they are in then there is no real need for it and using it will most likely be an abuse especially if not interpreted.  There should  be no signs of uncontrolled action in it.  The Holy Spirit communicating through a gift is not going to be chaotic or throw someone around on the floor.  The only reference we have in Scripture of someone being torn and thrown around are people being tormented by demons. Being drunk in the Spirit means the flesh is not in control, but it does not mean that the Spirit is not and you won't need to grab people to keep them from hitting the floor or in other ways hurting themselves or in the case of women needing to throw things on them quickly for modesty's sake for the Spirit would never instigate immodesty or create a lustful situation.

The following is a part of a seven week New Members Class that I wrote.  If you would like all seven lessons, please write me at mavmin@earthlink.net and I will send them to you.  I also have another study on tonques that I could send you as well.

TONGUES

1085 genos (ghen'-os); from 1096; "kin" (abstract or concrete, literal or figurative, individual or collective): KJV-- born, country (-man), diversity, generation, kind (-red), nation, offspring, stock.

1100 glossa (gloce-sah'); of uncertain affinity; the tongue; by implication, a language (specially, one naturally unacquired): KJV-- tongue.

Finally, we come to the gift that Paul said was the least of all, but gets the most notoriety.  Least in that it appears last on the list. and Paul seems to be ranking these gifts in order of primacy, especially since he said that prophecy is the primary gift that we should seek.  It is also least in that it serves no use for edifying the Church, but can puff up the possessor or edify him alone if there is no interpretation.

As you can see from the two Greek words for diversity and tongues, we are talking about languages.  I did a study on this topic. Everywhere that the term tongue or tongues is used in both the Old and New Testament, outside of the books of Corinthians, the clear context shows that we are speaking about languages or the literal fleshly member.  There is no reason to believe it is any different in Corinthians, but some adherents to the tongues phenomena wish to make it so.  

Often, they emphasize the fact that it is an unknown tongue.  Although I am of Germanic descent, outside of a few words and phrases German is an unknown tongue to me.  If I woke up tomorrow speaking it fluently, I might be experiencing the biblical gift of tongues.  It is unknown naturally to the possessor of the gift, but it does not mean it is unknown to any man.

Communication would be a needed thing for the Gospel to spread throughout the world.  It would take a great deal of time for someone to learn all the necessary languages, and they had no language schools as we have now for missionaries.  Even if you learn a language, there are often different dialects.  Just think about the varying forms of English here in America, Britain and Australia.  The business language of the day, Koine Greek, was good to know, but in some areas it may not have been spoken.  Today, the business language of the world is English.

In order to expedite the spread of the Gospel, God gave a gift that would break down the barrier of language that He set up back at the tower of Babel.  In Acts 2:7-12 the audience on the Day of Pentecost was astounded that they heard the message in their native languages or tongues.  There are approximately eighteen different languages mentioned.  There were at least a hundred and twenty people in that room when the Holy Spirit was poured out.  To prevent total chaos some may have spoke the same new tongue as each other, but it would be possible to have 120 languages represented in that room.  We are not told exactly, but we are told of at least eighteen.

To the Galilaeans that were doing the speaking, these would certainly be unknown tongues.  Even if they had done business with some folks from some of these areas, they would not be speaking as a native.  I took two years of French in High School and was good enough to help third and fourth year students after I quit taking the course.  I guarantee you that if I had traveled to France, it would have taken two sentences or less for a native to know that I was a foreigner.  

I was passably fluent in Thai, but not like I was born there.  I met one woman in Thailand that spoke better English than most of us.  I was embarrassed, but she would be picked out immediately in the States as a foreigner because she spoke it too perfectly.  Judges 12:4-6 tells us that not saying a word correctly can get you killed.  This is why the miracle grabbed the attention of those in that audience.  Every nuance and idiom or slang was perfect, as if the disciples were homeboys of everyone there.

Some use I Corinthians 13:1 as a reason why their particular utterance cannot be understood as a human language.  They say that they are speaking the language of angels.  Paul is using hyperbole to get his point across that love is far greater than tongues.  It follows I Corinthians 12:31, where Paul says that he would show the Corinthians a more excellent way.  Because it is flashy, everyone wanted that gift in those days. I believe that not a few new converts in the last eighty years have sought it at least one time.

     
I Corinthians 14:21-25
21 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.
23 If therefore the whole church be come together into one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those that are unlearned, or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad?
24 But if all prophesy, and there come in one that believeth not, or one unlearned, he is convinced of all, he is judged of all:
25 And thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest; and so falling down on his face he will worship God, and report that God is in you of a truth.  

Verse 21 tells us that tongues were prophesied and to whom this sign was given.  

Isaiah 28:11-12
11 For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people.
12 To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear

This was a dual prophecy in that it portrayed Israel being conquered by a foreign power in Isaiah's time.  (Isaiah 33:19)  It was also a sign to the Jews that their Messiah had arrived.  The rest that they were seeking was in Him, if they would hear it.  We know that as a nation, they did not, but a remnant believed and the Church age that would be predominantly, a Gentile age, began.  (Isaiah 11:10; Romans 15:12)  Both were indications of judgment.  In the Old Testament, the Jews lost their freedom.  In the New Testament, they lost their birthright to be the sole spokesmen of God and possessors of His gifts.  Jews are now saved through Christ and placed into His Church.  The old covenant is passed away.  There are still many promises to the Jews that God will fulfill in the Millennium.  He still loves them and He will reach them.

Tongues are not a sign to those who believe, but for unbelievers. From the context of the prophecy and the fact that the Corinthian Church was a Gentile Church, it was for unbelieving Jews.  I maintain that if there are no unbelieving Jews, or one whose primary language is other than that which is spoken by the congregation in the service, then the use of tongues is unbiblical.  It is an evangelism tool for those kinds of folks and not a normative part of a worship service.   Even in a worship service, there are to be no more than three users of the gift. They must take turns and have another person give the interpretation to be sure it was of God and not the flesh. Otherwise, they must be quiet.  (I Corinthians 14:26-33)  That goes for preachers as well.  Hmm, we can have three sermons in one service and folks fuss about one long one. How about three twenty minute ones?

Prophesying or preaching is for the edification of the Body.  If unbelievers or ones unlearned come in and hear everyone speaking a different language, it will seem like chaos and madness to them. When everyone speaks the same language, teaching, preaching and testifying of Christ and the sinfulness of man, the heart of the unbeliever will come under conviction by all that he or she hears. His conscience is judged by what he hears from everyone and he will fall on his face in repentant worship of God, agreeing that you have spoken the truth because the Holy Spirit in you has used God's truth to win the person.

This is about all we can cover in this lesson.  So much for a short commentary. To close this out, I had best speak to I Corinthians 14:39.  I would never forbid biblical tongues, but I would call down anything else that did not meet the criteria.  However, I covet to prophesy and if I were you, I would heed Paul's exhortation and do the same.   

Blessings unto you as you study His Word!