|
They Shall Cease |
|
They Shall Cease |
|
John Ortberg has given us what he calls the "Seven True Spiritual Gifts for Today's Church:"
In 1 Corinthians 12-14 Paul has speaking about Spiritual Gifts. His desire is that the church at Corinth, as well as all believers, have a proper understanding of these gifts. In the passage before us we have the great love chapter of the Bible. The Corinthian believers were sadly lacking in love. In 1 Corinthian 13 Paul shows that the spiritual gifts lose their effectiveness if they do not operate in love. In verses 8-13 Paul stresses the importance of love by stating there is permanence about love. We read in verse 8, "Charity never faileth." The word "faileth" was used of a flower or leaf that withers away, falls to the ground and decays. Paul was simply saying that love is a permanent part of the Christian life. Then to reinforce the permanence of love he speaks of the impermanence of certain spiritual gifts. Paul shows that there are certain spiritual gifts that are temporary in nature. There are 3 particular gifts that Paul points out as being temporary: prophecy, knowledge, and tongues. What Paul had to say about these three gifts is important in having a proper understanding of spiritual gifts. Lets look at what Paul said and consider two thoughts. 1. THAT WHICH WILL CEASE Again notice verse 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." He mentions three gifts (prophecy, knowledge, tongues). These three gifts can be put into two categories. A key to understanding the temporary nature of these three gifts is in the two verbs Paul uses to describe their temporary nature. A. THE GIFTS THAT WILL BECOME UNNECESSARY Notice the statements, "whether there be prophecies, they shall fail" and "whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away." The words "fail" and "vanish away" are the same word. It is a verb that means, "to render useless, to make inoperative, reduce to inactivity." The ideal is that at some point these gifts would become unnecessary. The tense of the verb indicates that something or someone would cause them to become inoperative. What that something is, is mentioned in verse 10 as that which is perfect. We will look at that later but the Paul is stating that when that which is perfect has come then the gift of prophecy and knowledge will be render inoperative or no longer necessary. Now let me once again remind you what the gifts of prophesy and knowledge are. The word prophecy means "to speak forth, to proclaim." It has nothing to do with prediction. The gift of prophecy was the gift of proclaiming God's revealed truth. It is one of the speaking gifts. At times those with the gift of prophesy received revelation from God and then communicated that revelation. In most cases, those with this gift simply declared what was already revealed. In either case Paul was saying that when the perfect came the gift of prophesy would be no longer necessary. He also mentioned the gift of knowledge. As we have seen in previous studies this gift is the divine ability to grasp the meaning of God's revelation. It is the ability to comprehend revealed truth. It indicates a special spiritual knowledge. Again, Paul declares that when the perfect had come, this gift would no longer be necessary for then one would have complete knowledge. The point Paul makes is that at a certain time neither of these gifts would be necessary. B. THE GIFT THAT WOULD BECOME UNUSED In verse 8 we see that Paul refers to a third gift, the gift of tongues. We read, "…whether there be tongues, they shall cease…" The verb "cease" that is used here is quite different from the verb "fail" and "vanishes away." It is a word that means, "to stop, to leave off, come to an end." The tense of the verb indicates that the gift of tongues would automatically cease of themselves. When used of a person it indicated an intentional and voluntary action upon oneself. When used of inanimate objects it indicates a self-causing action. The difference between the two verbs is that the word used to speak of prophecy and knowledge is that they will be stopped by something outside of themselves such as when the perfect comes. But the word used for tongues means that they would stop of themselves. John MacArthur in his commentary on I Corinthians gives an excellent example of what is meant. He describes the gift of tongues as being like a battery which has limited energy and a limited life-span. ("The MacArthur New Testament Commentary-I Corinthians") A battery ceases to work in and of its self. Paul is declaring the same of tongues. Verse 8 is telling us that tongues had a limited life-span and would of and in itself cease to exist. He was simply declaring that there would come a time that the gift of tongues would no longer be used. As for the gift of prophecy and knowledge, they would no longer be necessary when that which is perfect is come. But notice carefully that the ceasing of the gift of tongues is not related to that which is perfect. Notice verse 9: "For we know (gift of knowledge) in part, and we prophesy (gift of prophesy) in part." Then in verse 10 he states that which is in part, referring to the gift of knowledge and the gift of prophecy, would cease with the coming of the perfect. He is no longer talking about tongues. The reason is that tongues would cease in and of themselves. They would not need something from outside itself to cease to exist. They would cease themselves. Paul is making it clear that the gift of tongues was a temporary gift that would cease to exist and be used. As we have seen, the gift of tongues was a sign gift which meant that the gift ceased with the apostolic age. This is borne out by looking at the subject of tongues in the Bible. When you look at the Scriptures you find tongues is only mentioned in the earlier New Testament books. The book of 1 Corinthians was one of the earlier books, if not the first, that was written. You do not find it mentioned the other books such as 1&2 Timothy, 1&2 Peter, Titus, etc. The fact that it is not mentioned is an indication that the gift was ceasing to be used or no longer being used. Even in the book of Acts, after chapter 19, the gift is no longer mentioned. It appears in the book of Acts in a limited usage and for a limited time. After a certain point it is no longer mentioned, again, indicating that the gift was ceasing to be used and if not unused altogether. There is an interesting, and in my opinion, an enlightening statement found in Hebrews 2:3-4, "How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; [4] God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will?" First, it is clear by what is said that certain gifts were sign gifts. They were the means by which God bore witness that the message of a so great salvation was of God. It is also clear from the statement that those who had such gifts were the apostles. The verse is speaking of those that had heard the Lord or been with the Lord which was one of the requirements of an apostle. Such gifts were uniquely tied to an apostle. But notice carefully that the writer speaks of the confirmation brought by these gifts in the past tense. He says, "was confirmed" which is past tense. The book of Hebrews was written around 67 or 68 A.D. What the writer is suggesting is that by that time these sign gifts were no longer being used or rarely used. It is interesting that as you look at Church history that these sign gifts quickly ceased in importance and usage and were practically unused throughout nineteen hundred years of church history. You take the early church fathers and you find that the gift of tongues is never advocated or condoned. Clement of Rome wrote a letter to the Corinthian church in the year 95, only about 80 years after Paul wrote the letter we are studying, discussing problems in the church. He did not even mention the matter of tongues. It would seem that the use and misuse of tongues had ceased by then in the church of Corinth. Justin Martyr, of the second century, visited many of the churches in his day, and yet in large volumes of writings he never mentioned tongues. He did mention several lists of spiritual gifts, but tongues was not among them. Origen, a brilliant church scholar who lived during the third century made no mention of tongues. In fact, in his polemic against Celsus he explicitly argued that the sign gifts of the apostolic age were temporary and were not exercised by Christians of his day. Chrysostom, consider by some to be the greatest of the post-New Testament writers, lived from 347 until 407. Writing on 1 Corinthians 12, he stated that tongues and the other miraculous gifts not only had ceased but could not even be accurately defined. Augustine, in his comments on Acts 2:4, wrote: "In the earliest times the Holy Spirit fell on them that believed and they spoke with tongues. These were signs adapted to that time, for there behooved to be that betokening of the Holy Spirit. That thing was done for betokening and it passed away." A look at church history finds that the church 60 to 70 years after the resurrection of Christ no longer practiced the gift of tongues and the early church fathers did not teach that such a gift was in use. The only exception in those first few hundred years was in a movement by one Montanus who was considered a heretic that believed that divine revelation continued through him beyond the New Testament. It was not until the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries that any tongues were practiced and that among several Roman Catholic groups in Europe (Cevenols and Jansenists) and among the Shakers in New England. In the nineteenth century the Irvingites of London practiced tongues. But for nearly 1800 years the gift of tongues along with the other miraculous gifts was unknown in Church life and doctrine. It was not until 1906 and Azusa Street that tongues became a major emphasis among certain groups and turned into what it is today. But church history shows that just as Paul declared, tongues would cease to be used. There are the gifts that would cease. Certain gifts would become unnecessary and a certain gift would be no longer used. 2. THAT WHICH WOULD COME Beginning in verse 9 Paul leaves the subject of tongues and focuses upon the gifts of prophecy and knowledge. He speaks of them in light of that which would come and the knowledge that is partial and perfect. A. A PARTIAL KNOWLEDGE We read in verse 9, "For we know in part, and we prophesy in part." Bearing in mind that the gifts of knowledge and prophecy had to do with comprehension of truth and proclamation of truth, Paul declares that we know in part and prophesy in part. We have limited knowledge and therefore are limited in what we proclaim. In verse 12 Paul explains this partial knowledge. We read, "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." The words "glass darkly" speak of a mirror. The Corinthians were famous for their highly polished metal mirrors. As you can imagine, a metal mirror would give a reflection but an imperfect reflection. The word "darkly" gives us our word "enigma." It is a word that means "obscurely, that with only partial accuracy." Paul said in 1 Corinthians 8:2, "And if any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know." There is much that God has revealed to us, yet even with all that is revealed it leaves us with only a partial knowledge. All that God wants us to know He had revealed to us in His Word. Even though His Word is complete, God has not revealed all there is to know about Himself and many eternal things. Heaven is a good example of our imperfect knowledge. We know a lot about heaven as revealed in God's Word, but there are many things about heaven we don't know. It is like looking in a metal mirror. We can a good image but yet an imperfect image. Ours is an imperfect and partial knowledge. But Paul tells us that the partial will be become a perfect knowledge. B. A PERFECT KNOWLEDGE Notice verse 10, "But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away." Paul declares that our partial knowledge will become a perfect knowledge. In verse 11 Paul gives an illustration of what he is saying. We read, "When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things." Paul is no doubt thinking of the Jewish custom of a boy becoming a man. A Jewish male was considered a boy until his bar mitzvah ("son of the law"). Afterwards he was considered a man. Paul says that when he was a child he talked like a child, had the comprehension of a child, had the mind of a child, and thus acted as a child. But when he became a man he put away childish things. In other words, he began to act like a man. With our partial knowledge we are as a child. Our comprehension is as of a child. But when that which is perfect is come we will no longer have a limited knowledge but a mature and complete knowledge. Now the question is, what is that which is perfect. There are differences of opinions. Most hold to the view that it is speaking of the completed Word of God. Others believe that it is speaking of the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus. Still others hold to the view that it is the eternal state of the believer, an eternal state that is entered either at death or the rapture. The closer I look at the passage and consider the subject the more I lean in the direction that Paul is speaking of the eternal state of the believer. Paul says "For now" and "but then." The phrase "face to face" and "then shall I know as I am known" would seem to suggest our eternal state. In our eternal state we will have a complete knowledge. We will no know longer have an incomplete knowledge and no longer need the proclamation of God's revealed truth for we will then know in full and abide in what we proclaim in the present. When Paul declared that the gift of prophecy and knowledge would become inoperative for then such gifts would no longer be necessary. Notice verse 13, "And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity." The point that Paul is making to the Corinthian believers is that all gifts are temporary, some such as tongues, with a shorter life span than others, but love will always abide. To a self-centered and selfish bunch of Christians in Corinth that was so lacking in love, Paul in effect said, "Talk about your gifts all you want to, but that which will last through out the ages is love." They shall cease but love will abide. |
