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in your memory, thank you, be my praise, amen. All right, amen, 1 Corinthians chapter number 13. Well, this evening, I'm gonna continue my charismatic rampage, because I feel like it, and the title of the sermon this evening is The Cessation of Speaking in Tongues. What I mean by that is the process of this gift, speaking in tongues, and just the other supernatural gifts, are brought to an end. Now, I'm just gonna start off by saying this, okay? I use 1 Corinthians chapter number 13 to prove this. There's a certain way that I see this chapter laid out. I believe it teaches that these gifts have stopped. Some of my colleagues do not agree, so I'm just throwing that out there, okay? There's no hate, there's nothing sinister about this. I am, I do have a bachelor's degree, and sometimes that hinders me, okay? So maybe they're right, maybe I'm wrong, but this is the way I see it, and I'm gonna preach it the way that I see it until I'm shown something convincing that it is the opposite. So with that being said, if somebody were to come up to you and say, do you have definite proof that the gift of tongues, the gift of knowledge, the gift of prophecy, that these things have ceased, would you be able to answer them, okay? And that's what I hope to accomplish tonight is to give you some things so that you could definitely prove that fact, because the way I see it, the modern day charismatic movement really is nothing more than a bunch of psychic mediums. It's no different than calling up the old 1-800 hotline or having your palm read and things like that. That's the way that I see it, and I think that's the way a lot of you guys see it as well. And so because of that, we believe that these people, these charismatic churches are misrepresenting the Bible, misrepresenting God, and I don't like it. In fact, I hate it with a passion, and I love to take every opportunity to try to smash it down when I can. And so therefore, the reason for my charismatic rampage, and I mentioned this when I was at Faithful Word, that it is about every 12 to 18 months, and I purposely plan to do this, and I will do this as long as God allows me to live on the earth. And so with that being said, we are gonna go through this chapter here just to get the overall context, and what I want you to see here, and hopefully what you already saw, is the main point, the main overall focus of this chapter is proving that charity, okay, which is a love that expects nothing in return, okay, that that is superior to anything else that is going on. That is superior to any gifts that the Corinthians might have had, that is superior to understanding the Bible, that is superior to everything. Without that, you have nothing, and that is the main point that Paul's gonna basically put forth. But I believe, if you pay attention to what I have to say, especially towards the end of this chapter, you're gonna have a great tool to be able to definitively show somebody that these things have stopped, that people today do not have the gift of speaking in tongues, which are what? Known languages on the earth, okay? So let's get ready and go through this here right now. Look down at verse number one. So Paul says this. Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels and have not, there it is, charity, I am become as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. Okay, now what in the world does that mean? Charismatics, Pentecostals, they will come to this chapter, I've had this happen to me on numerous occasions, and they'll say, okay, we'll see here, here it is. Okay, you have languages that people speak on the earth, but then you have another language that angels speak and angels are in heaven, and so you have this heavenly prayer language, and that's what you get when you get filled with the Holy Ghost and God comes upon you, you speak in a language that no man knows, it's just the angels, God, and you and him, and it's a language that the devil can't understand, okay? That is not true. There is no passage in the Bible from Genesis chapter one to the end of Revelation chapter 22 that talks about that, okay? There is no such thing as a heavenly prayer language. Now, if you think I've missed something, let me know. I know you're gonna do that anyways. This here is a hyperbole, okay? That's what this is here. Paul is speaking in a hyperbole, which is what? An exaggerated statement not meant to be taken literally, and he's gonna prove that to you in the very next verse. Now, look at chapter, I'm sorry, look at verse number two. It says, and though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith so that I could remove mountains and have not charity, I am nothing. So again, that proves right there that this is hyperbole, okay? This is meant to prove a point, and what is that point? Well, that point is the fact that charity, again, which is a love with expectations of getting nothing in return, and it's because you actually care, it's because you actually want to help the brothers and sisters in the church. He's simply saying if I could remove mountains. Now, is there anything written down in the Bible that said that Paul actually had enough faith to remove mountains? No, no one has been able to do that, okay? And so that kinda proves to you right there the mind frame and the tone of this passage here. He's not saying that I have all of these things, okay? He's saying even if I did but didn't have charity, okay, it wouldn't mean anything. It would still be obsolete. It would still be unprofitable. That is what Paul is trying to communicate. You say, why is he speaking to them like this? Well, because remember, the Corinthians were a very carnal church, which is the reason for this letter in the first place, okay? So what you have in the Corinthian church is you have people that are going, well, hey, I got baptized by Apollos. Other people are like, hey, well, Paul's my guy. Peter's my guy, and these people are like just fighting and bickering. They're putting up with fornication that's not even mentioned among the Gentiles. This church here and these saints are in absolute, just turmoil. Things are not going well. But as you can see from the tones in this passage, there were people there claiming to have these gifts, okay? And they were abusing them. And I talked about that last Sunday at Faithful Word if you have time to check that out. Now let's move on here to verse number three. He says, and though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing, okay? Now, again, a quick way to see whether or not this is meant to be taken literally or if we're supposed to extract another point is to ask yourself the question, did Paul give his body to be burned? And the answer is no, okay? He did not. Again, the point here is if you don't have charity, you don't have anything. So what he's saying is, look, guys, if you're going around saying that you have the gift of prophecy, you have the gift of knowledge, you have the gift of tongues, okay? And you have to understand that the New Testament is being rolled out at this time. It was the revelation, if you will, the complete canon of scripture had not been completed yet. As Paul's writing this, he doesn't have 2 Corinthians. He doesn't even have the Gospel of John written down yet. The Book of Acts hadn't been completed yet. I mean, give me a break, okay? He certainly didn't have the Book of Revelation completed. Okay, so keep that in mind. And so, as you guys know, I talked about this a couple weeks ago, the gift of tongues, the gifts of the Spirit, if you will, mentioned in 1 Corinthians chapter number 12, had fallen out upon the Gentiles as well as the Jews, as well as the Samaritans, and we talked about that, okay? And those things were happening for a reason. One of the reasons was to spread the Gospel, to spread the Word of God as quickly as possible, because obviously they didn't have the internet and things of that nature back then, but also to prop up and establish the gatherings, the local New Testament churches, okay? That was a big part of that. Now, there was another reason for these sign gifts, and we'll talk about that here in a moment, but hopefully you're tracking, okay? Paul is speaking in hyperbole. Back up to verse one real quick. He says, though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, okay? So he's saying here again, if I can speak with both, an angelic language and languages of men, but don't have charity, I'm absolutely nothing, okay? It's hyperbole. Verse two, verse three proves that beyond shadow of a doubt. Now let's look at verse four. He says, charity suffereth long, okay? So he's comparing and he's contrasting for you in this chapter, charity and what the benefits are of that versus these sign gifts, okay? So he says, charity suffereth long and is kind. Charity envieth not, charity vaunteth not itself is not puffed up. What does that word mean there, to vaunt? Well, it means to call attention to itself or to virtue signal, basically. That's the way I kind of explain that, okay? So a person that has true charity, who has a true love, who loves unconditionally without expecting things in return is gonna have these attributes, okay? They're gonna be long suffering, they're gonna have patience, they're gonna have the mind of Christ, okay? Look what it says next, is kind. That's a big word today. There's signs all over the place here in people's yards. Be kind, okay? We knock on doors all the time. Be kind, you already know what kind of person you're gonna be speaking with when they answer the door, don't you, okay? Well, I'll come back to that in a second. Charity envieth not, okay? Our enemies, okay? The freaks that often come here and harass us and cause problems for our church, okay? Can they really claim love? Can they really claim kindness? Absolutely not. Because it says charity envieth not. They are envious of the freedom of speech that we have in this country. They're envious of the joy and the fellowship that we have inside of this church. Look at what it says next. Charity vonteth not itself is not puffed up, okay? So just a good quick test there to see whether or not somebody is truly loving, okay? Look at verse number five. Doth not behave itself unseemly, okay? Where else can you think of that word in the Bible? Unseemly. Romans chapter one, okay? These things really do connect themselves, okay? So when these people out here in these sodomites of the world say, well, love is love and we're filled with love and you're hate-filled. It's like, excuse me, you have that backwards. Because the Bible says that charity doth not behave itself unseemly and your entire existence is all about unseemly, okay? Read the rest of the verse. Seeketh not her own. Is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, thinketh no hurt. So for example, when people come inside the body of Christ and they're going along and they're getting along and they're easily provoked, easily offended, okay? Or worse, they move on to this next step here and they think, how can I hurt this church? What can I do to constantly hurt this church? Who can I call to spread lies and rumors and so on and so forth? You understand now, hey, that person is not filled with charity, that person is a liar just like the sodomite, okay? So let's move on here, verse number six. So again, talking about what? Charity, verse six. Rejoiceth not in iniquity, okay? But rejoiceth in truth. Again, why do we have so many enemies just constantly coming at us? It's because we rejoice in truth, we have true charity because we're in fellowship with God, we're saved, we're born again, we have the standards, we have the Bible, we have the word of God, okay? What do they do? They rejoice in iniquity and evil and all the things that we're talking about. So again, proof that they don't love and that they cannot love. Verse seven, again, speaking about charity, beareth all things, look at this, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. So charity is an attribute that we oughta seek before, first and foremost, over these other things. Okay, and again, Paul's writing in this manner to the Corinthians because the Holy Ghost had fallen out upon them and had demonstrated signs and wonders and miracles among them, okay? But Paul also knows and he's gonna demonstrate that those things were for a reason, they were for a purpose and they were going to cease, they were going to come to an end. So let's get into this here. Look at verse number eight. Charity never faileth, charity never faileth, okay? But, look at this next word, weathered. Not talking about the weather, okay? It says but weather, so he's expressing doubt here. That's why that word is there. So look it up in the dictionary. This is used to express some doubt. He says, but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail. Whether there be tongues, they shall cease. Whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. Now I wanna highlight two groups of three here, okay? What do you have first? You have prophecies, okay? And what does it say about the prophecies that they're gonna fail? So you have prophecies, you have tongues and you have knowledge, okay? You have those three, listen to this word, things. Prophecies, tongues, knowledge, those are things, okay? We're all tracking here, those are things, nouns, right? Nouns, this is gonna be a little bit of a grammar lesson today, okay? Nouns, we have those three things. And what it said about all three of those things? Well, prophecies are gonna what? Fail, knowledge will, or speaking in tongues what? Shall cease and knowledge shall vanish away. Now, just in case someone tries to mess with you and says, okay, well, and someone did this to me once. They said, so when Jesus comes back in the second coming, okay, all know, I had this guy say this right to my face. He said, all prophecies are gonna fail, they're gonna be over with. All knowledge, you're not gonna know anything anymore and you're not gonna speak the same language. Like we might communicate by like a telepathy type thing. Seriously, it's what this guy told me because of what I'm about to tell you from this passage, okay? Absolutely ridiculous. Again, a few, I don't know, maybe it was like a month, month and a half ago, we did a sermon on how to study the Bible. And, you know, I told you one way to understand the Bible is to kind of plug things in and see if it makes sense. Okay, would it make sense that prophecies are gonna fail? Like mean, does that mean like they're gonna fail? Like God spoke all the stuff in Revelation that's just not gonna happen? No, that doesn't make any sense. Does it make sense that language is gonna cease? There's no way you can read the book of Revelation and come to that conclusion because in heaven there's people from every tongue and nation speaking and they're talking and they're saying things, okay? So come on, knowledge, okay? Do you really think we're gonna go to heaven and just not have any knowledge, not know what we're looking at, just be like this blob? Okay, so obviously what is he talking about here? He's talking about gifts. He's talking about the supernatural ability, prophecies, okay, having the gift of prophecy, having the gift to be able to speak in languages that you have not studied or did not grow up speaking and the gift of knowledge, okay? And we're gonna talk about this for a second here. Keep your place here, go to Revelation chapter number 19. Revelation chapter number 19. Let's start off here, we're gonna go through these one by one, prophecies, tongues, knowledge, okay? Remember, he's saying charity is not gonna fail, meaning charity is not gonna be obsolete, charity is not going anywhere. However, okay, understand that if there are prophecies, meaning supernatural prophecies, meaning if people are foretelling the word of God, meaning God's communicating to them, the Spirit's giving them truth and then they're giving it out, he's saying if that is going on, that will cease, okay? Same thing with the knowledge, okay? Those things will cease, but let's talk about prophecies here just for a second. Revelation 19, look at verse number 10, okay? John says this, and I fell at his feet to worship him and he said unto me, see thou do it not, I am thy fellow servant and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus worship God. And here's what I want you to see, last part of this verse here. For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. For the testimony of Jesus, the word of God, the revealed word of God collectively, the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy, okay? Why am I bringing that up? I'm bringing that up to show you the purpose of prophecy, that what Paul is saying is he's saying these prophecies aren't gonna fail in a negative way, meaning they're not gonna happen, but this gift of prophecy that you guys claim to have will cease, it will stop, it will go away. Back here to 1 Corinthians 13, and then we're gonna go to 2 Peter for a moment, so let's talk about this here some more, prophecies, okay? Paul says if there are prophecies, they will cease. Look at verse number two again, just to kind of remind us here of where we're at context-wise. He says, and though I have the gift of prophecy, right? You see that word gift there? So again, what's the subject that we're talking about in chapter 13? The gift, it's comparing gifts to charity, right? And though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith so that I can remove mountains and have not charity, I am nothing. And of course, you could go back to verse number one, and he's talking about the gift of tongues. So please understand that what he's saying in verse number eight, whether there be prophecies, they shall fail, whether there be tongues, they shall cease, whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. He's not talking about these things collectively or independently. He's talking about the gifts, okay? That is what he is talking about. He is talking about the gifts, okay? And here's a little bit more. Go to 2 Peter chapter number one, 2 Peter chapter number one, and let's see what Peter says about prophecies. 2 Peter chapter number one, look down at verse number 18, and so Peter's bringing up the situation where him and the sons of Zebedee, the inner circle, were with Jesus at the mount of transfiguration and how they saw Moses and how they saw Elijah and they saw Jesus glorified, okay? They saw him transfigured. Look what he says about that very event, verse 18. And this voice which came from heaven we heard when we were with him in the holy mount, verse 19. We have also a more sure word of prophecy, okay? You see that there, we have a more sure word of prophecy. Now what is that? Let's finish the verse. Whereunto ye do well that ye take heed as unto a light that shineth in a dark place until the day dawn and the day star arise in your hearts. Verse 20 ties it together. Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation, okay? So what is he saying there, okay? This is getting closer now to 70 AD that Peter had written this down. Peter's simply saying, I want you guys to remember and I want you guys to understand that the prophecies of scripture, okay, are what matter, not what somebody saw or necessarily says that they heard from God, which by the way, this also confirms that the events of the mountain of transfiguration are scripture. So just keep that in mind. Real quickly, verse 21. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. So again, just bringing that up to give you a background to kind of show you the priority, okay? The priority is always the word of God, the scripture. That was the whole point in the signs and wonders was to get penned down the scripture, the completed revelation, eternity past, eternity present, eternity future. That takes you from Genesis to right now into what we have not seen fulfilled yet in eternity future. So hopefully that kind of makes sense there. Now, if you would go to Acts chapter number 15, and I just want to kind of give you an example here of, and just make sure that you're aware that at the beginning of the New Testament, there were still prophets, okay? Now keep these two words in your thinking, okay? So you have the ability and you'll see this ability here in the Old Testament, especially a little bit in the New Testament, and that is the ability to foretell. You have two words that I'm gonna explain to you, foretell and forthtell, okay? Now, foretell is basically gonna be defined like this. So you're a prophet, a prophet gets a word directly from God gets revealed to him in the spirit, and then he communicates that. I'm gonna show you an example of that in the Bible. I'm gonna show you two in the book of Acts, okay? What we do today is we still prophesy, we still prophesy, but we do it in a forthtelling manner, meaning what? Meaning we take what is written down and expound it and explain it clearly. That is called forthtelling, okay? What psychics and mediums and witches, what they do today is foretelling, okay? Claiming, I got a word of knowledge, okay? God told me this, okay? What did Peter tell you? He said, under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, that no scripture is of any private interpretation, meaning we all as saints have access to the same truth. No one has more than the other, okay? That was done for a reason as the church was being established in the New Testament. Now, just to kind of prove this to you here, Acts chapter number 11, get there myself. Let's take a look at verse number 28, and I want you to see this prophet here, New Testament time, his name is Agabus, okay? Not a whole lot written about him, but I want you to notice this here, verse 28, Acts 11. This is an example of foretelling here. It says, and there stood up one of them named Agabus, and signified by the Spirit that there should be great dearth throughout all the world, now look at this next sentence here, this next phrase, rather, which came to pass in the days of Claudius Caesar, okay? So understand, New Testament being rolled out here, you still had people with the ability to foretell. Now, why is that? Because of their own tuition? No, because God is giving them that knowledge. He's revealing that to prophets during this time to help establish the churches, to help get the word of God completed, and the revelation completed. That is the idea here. Now, let's take a look at another prophecy here of Agabus. Go to Acts chapter number 21, Acts chapter number 21, and keep your place in Acts as we are gonna come back to it here in, or, yeah, we're gonna come back here one more time, but Acts chapter number 21, look at verse number 10. So the Bible says, and as we tarried there many days, there came down from Judea a certain prophet named Agabus, verse 11, and when he was come unto us, he took Paul's girdle and bound his own hands and feet, and said, thus saith the Holy Ghost, so shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle, and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles. And of course, we know that that did come to pass, okay? Quick example here of a prophet in the Old Testament. Now, I missed one here. Go back to Acts chapter number 15, Acts chapter number 15. While you're turning there, I'm just gonna summarize this chapter. So Acts chapter 15, Paul and Barnabas are gonna go to Jerusalem to dispute some things, because some guys had come down and said, you know, believers, Gentile believers need to follow the law of Moses, follow the commandments, and get circumcised. They hash that out and come to the conclusion that they're gonna write a clarifying letter to the Gentiles, and they're gonna send that out on foot, by hand. Acts chapter 15, look at verse 32. It says this, it says, and Judas and Silas, now look at these next two words, being prophets also themselves, exhorted the brethren, here it is, with many words, and confirmed them. So understand, as the New Testament's being rolled out, you're having scripture starting to be penned down and distributed to the saints, but you also, to fill in the gaps during this time, you have prophets that are also exhorting the brethren with many words, and these would be words, obviously, from God, okay? So go to 1 Corinthians 14, and let's talk about this. So that would be an example of gifts of prophecies, okay? Because remember, what is Paul telling us in chapter 13? He's saying that if there are prophecies, they shall fail. The word fail there is being used to be obsolete, to be rendered useless, no more need for that gift, okay? Same thing with tongues. What are the purpose of speaking in tongues? Known languages, what is the purpose of that? 1 Corinthians 14, look at verse number 22, and always remember this, okay, this is very important. Wherefore, tongues are for a sign, okay? If somebody asks you, what were the purpose of the gift of speaking in tongues? In fact, what does that even look like, okay? Well, for an example, let's say we had some Chinese folks visiting the church this evening, and I just started speaking Chinese to them, okay? And you guys are like, what is going on? Are you crazy? But they understood me in their own tongue, okay? That would be like the gift of tongues, okay? And then, of course, there's proceedings in this chapter on how to properly do that in a church setting, meaning somebody would have to get up and interpret or explain thoroughly to the rest of the congregation what I said and make sure it is correct, okay? But we don't have time to get into that. Right now, I want you to see the purpose of speaking in tongues. What I just told you, wherefore, tongues are for a sign. For a sign, not to them that believe. Tongues are not for believers, okay? It is to preach the gospel to get people saved. Go read all of Acts chapter two on your own time. Not to them that believe, but to them that believe not, okay? To them that believe not, well, who is that? We'll see that in a second. But prophesying serveth not for them that believe not, but for them which believe. So prophesying, preaching the word of God, forthtelling the word of God, taking the scripture and serving it up so that we can all be edified. That is for believers, why? Because them that believe not cannot understand the word of God without the Holy Spirit. You have to be saved to truly understand the Bible, okay? But again, verse 22. Wherefore, tongues are for a sign not to them that believe, but to them that believe not. The Bible is crystal clear. Tongues were for a sign to them that believe not. Go to chapter one real quick. First Corinthians chapter number one. And look at verse 22. Remember your 22s, okay? 1422 chapter one, verse 22. For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom. What was it that the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the scribes were always complaining about? What were they always going up to Jesus about? Show us a sign, give us a sign, give us a sign, right? Okay, now did God give the nation of Israel in the Old Testament signs when Moses showed up on the scene? Yes, he did, of course. And he said in the Old Testament in a few different places that I will speak unto this people by men of other lips and other tongues, okay? So the whole purpose of the gift of tongues is a sign to the Jew because the Jew requires a sign. So I would submit to you, and I would go as far as to say, unless you've got some 2,000 plus year old Jews sitting in your congregation, okay, you don't have the gift of tongues. Sorry, but that's what the Bible teaches. Go to 1 Corinthians chapter number 12 real quick. 1 Corinthians chapter number 12. So again, that's the purpose of tongues. It was a sign to them that believe not. By the way, Jesus said the only sign you're ultimately gonna get is the sign of the prophet Jonas, which is a picture of the gospel, the death, burial, resurrection, meaning the word of God, okay, that is something we need to understand. And again, Paul's telling us in 1 Corinthians 13 that tongues shall cease. The question is when, and I'm gonna answer that. So we covered prophecies, the gift of prophecy, showed you an example. Gift of tongues, okay, we've talked about that pretty much extensively. Look at the third one here, which is gonna be knowledge, and Paul said knowledge shall vanish away. Okay, again, the gift of knowledge is what he means. Look at verse number eight, 1 Corinthians 12 verse eight. For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom, to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit, okay? So again, that's where you can see a clear example of the gift of knowledge, okay? Now, has God given people alive today knowledge in certain things? Of course, okay, but we're talking about the supernatural gift of knowledge, okay? That is what Paul says, it shall vanish away. See, again, it wouldn't make sense if all knowledge is just gonna vanish away, okay? But look, sometimes, man, I'm telling you, you can get people backed up into such a corner that they will go to the most absurd places to try to discredit you, and it's just, it's sad, it's disheartening, like this guy who told me that all knowledge, you're not gonna know anything anymore. Like nothing, everything's gonna be new, and then maybe you'll learn some stuff. He's like, it's unclear, but in heaven, you're just a spirit, and you're just kind of, just kind of chilling, floating around. Okay, that is dumb, okay? That is absolutely ridiculous. Back to chapter 13. Let's really take this apart, gonna take some time, and I'm gonna show you why I believe that the gift of tongues has ceased. First Corinthians 13, look at verse number nine. For we, okay, that is Paul the saints, during this time, for we know in part, and we prophesy in part. Verse 10, but when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. Now, back up to verse number nine for a second. What does this mean here? For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. He's saying at this time, we have partial revelation. Again, I mentioned this earlier. As Paul is writing to the Corinthians, they don't have Romans, they don't have John, they don't have Acts, they don't have Revelation, they don't have the book of James, they don't have a lot yet. These things are ongoing, okay? And so he's saying we know in part. Again, remember the subject. What are we dealing with here? Verse eight, we're dealing with three what? Things, nouns, okay? Remember that, three things, nouns. Prophecies, tongues, and knowledge, which are what? Verse two, gifts, okay? Very clear, we're dealing with nouns. We are dealing with things. He confirms that here, for we know in part, and we prophesy in part. Verse 10, but when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. Now this is where you get into a little bit of difference in opinion, difference in reading. Some people will say, well that which is perfect is the second coming. I don't agree with that, I don't see it that way, okay? Why is that? Because the word that is a determiner. It is a demonstrative pronoun, okay? What does that mean, a demonstrative pronoun, or a determiner? Well a determiner is a word that's used at the beginning of a noun group, okay? So it could also be used to describe people, okay? I understand that, I get that. But as you've been reading through this passage here, that word that is a determiner. It is pointing us to something. Are there specific people in this passage? Is the second coming in this passage clearly? Is it talking about Jesus Christ in this passage? What is this pointing to? What is that word that they're determining? Well if you read the passage, it is determining those three nouns that you read in verse number eight. The fact that prophecies, tongues, knowledge, those three gifts will cease. They will become obsolete, why? Because when that which is perfect or complete, okay? Complete is come, then that which is in part, now what's in part? Their knowledge. They are partway through the completed revelation that God was going to give us, meaning the Bible, okay? But when that, by the way, you know, I don't think you're gonna be able to find a spot in the New Testament, maybe I'm wrong, I've read it a bunch of times, where Jesus is referred to as a that. Just, I mean, just throwing that out there, okay? But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part, what is in part? Is Jesus in part right here? No, is Christ in part? No, what's in part? Knowledge, prophecies, tongues, the completed canon of scripture, that is what is in part. They don't have 2 Corinthians, they do not have the Gospel of John written down yet, they do not have the book of Acts completed yet. Revelation, so on and so forth, okay? But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part, meaning what they know, shall be done away. So when we get the completed revelation of scripture, when everything is pinned down and God has told us everything that we need to know, and it's preserved and everything is complete, guess what, there's no more need for the gift of tongues, the gift of prophecies, and the gift of supernatural knowledge. There is no more need for that. People want there to be a need for that, because then they can get away with saying things that aren't in this book, that is why they do it. It is wrong, it is a lie, it is not true, okay? Back up one more time, verse number nine. For we know in part, and we prophecy in part, but when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. So very clear, if you ask me what that is talking about, it is talking about complete knowledge, complete revelation from God. Verse number 11, and we're getting close to being done. He says, 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. What does this mean? He's saying literally that these sign gifts are like the infant stage, the infancy stage, and when that which is perfect is come, which I believe is a reference to the full completed revelation from God, because he says that, and it's a determiner, it's pointing you to something. The only thing in this passage are those nouns. That is the subject, those three things. Paul's saying, look, that's in essence a childish thing. That is a small thing. When you get the completed revelation, it's time to put that away, and that's the way that God sees it. It's time for that to cease. That is going to stop. Look at verse number 12. For we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face. And people say, see, that's the face of Jesus. That doesn't make sense. It's not what he's talking about. That's not mentioned anywhere in this chapter here. This chapter is pitting something that will not fail versus three things that will cease, will be obsolete. Charity's here for the long haul. We've looked at all the benefits for that. I mean, that covers all the believing of the scriptures, the attributes, all that stuff. And then you have the sign gifts, which are going to be done away. Verse 12, for now we see through a glass darkly. For we, the same we that know in part. We see through a glass darkly, but then face to face. Look what he says next. Now I know in part. Paul's telling you, I know in part, okay? Because things are ongoing during this timeframe. For I, he says, now I know in part, but then shall I know even as also I am known. Keep your place there. Go to 2 Corinthians chapter number three real quick. 2 Corinthians chapter number three. Because people say, well, see right now, we see through a glass darkly. And in certain aspects, yes. You know, in certain aspects, I agree wholeheartedly. I understand that, okay? But you can't just look at that all face to face, okay? Well, let's talk about seeing the face of God. How did you come to that conclusion? That's all I'm asking. That's how did you come to that conclusion? 2 Corinthians chapter three, look at verse number 16. Nevertheless, when it shall turn to the Lord, it's talking about a person's heart here. Nevertheless, when it shall turn to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away, verse 17. Now the Lord is that spirit, and where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. Okay, that has always been the truth. That is true during this time, true in the Old Testament, true during our day. Now here it is, verse 18. But we all with open face beholding as in a glass, as in a glass, the glory of the Lord are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the spirit of the Lord. Why did I bring you here? What's the point of reading this verse here? Because people will say, Charismatics will say, no, you're wrong here. In verse number 12, we see through glass darkly. That's until Christ comes back. Well, I don't agree with that because here in 2 Corinthians, as he's rewriting to them, after they've gotten things corrected, he's letting them know, hey, verse 18, but we all with open face beholding as in a glass, the glory of the Lord are changed. So he's saying, hey, during Paul's day, guess what? It was still possible for people to see Christ and who he is by the word of God, which they had. Okay, so again, think about that, meditate on that and go back to 1 Corinthians 13 and read verse number 12 again. In context, okay, he's saying, for we see through a glass darkly. Why? Because he knows in part at this time. He knows in part, they only have the partial revelation revealed to them. Not everything had come out yet. Again, John's not on the Isle of Patmos yet. He's not, he has not been given, okay, the revelation that we've read in the book of Revelation that is still ongoing at this time that Paul's writing this. So he says, verse 12, for now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face, just simply saying that once these things are complete, when that which is perfect is come, when God is finally done revealing truth, okay, those sign gifts go away. And then you're gonna see the truth face to face. He says, now I know in part, but then shall I know even also as I am known. Verse 13, he says, and now, okay, so again, he's saying, and now, meaning he's pointing you back to his timeframe. And I'm not saying these aren't applicable, cause they are, but he says, and now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three. So again, what is the point of this chapter? It's contrasting three to three, when it's all said and done, faith, hope, charity. Is that not what we go out and preach? Does that not really sum up the twofold mission of the church? Yes, it does. Faith, hope, charity versus what? The gift of prophecies, the gift of tongues and the gift of knowledge supernaturally. He says, now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three, but the greatest of these is charity. And again, you're not gonna get far in faith and hope if you do not have charity, okay? So hopefully that makes sense there. Verse 10, again, but when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. Okay, people say, well, that's the second coming of Christ. Well, then what's that which is in part? What are you saying? Are you saying that that's the church? The church is gone, all the saints are gone, the Bible's gone completely. That doesn't make sense, okay? The Bible says until Christ comes back, there's not gonna be one jot or tittle that's gonna fail. Okay, so again, he's talking about the subject in this chapter, verse eight, three nouns. Remember that word, that there is a determiner. It is pointing you to something. It has to be either a noun or it has to be something else. And the only thing you're gonna find in this chapter are those things, okay? Those things that he mentioned in verse eight, which are not people, but gifts. Prophecies, tongues, and the gift of knowledge. So, but when that which is perfect is come, that which is perfect meaning complete, then that which is in part meaning those gifts which are revealing partial information until they're done shall be done away. So I believe that teaches the cessation of the gift of tongues, the gift of prophecies, the gift of knowledge. And I mean, I think it's pretty obvious, okay? Because nobody in here has ever met somebody who says they got a word from God and it matched up with the word of God. Anytime somebody says God communicated the gospel with me when I was in college, when I was in prison, when I was in the military, he audibly told me every time it's a lie, every time it is wrong, every time it is, because I always ask, what did he tell you? Well, he told me that I have to repent, okay? What does that mean? I have to turn for my sins. I have to give up my sins and he's greater than I and he gives me the power to do that. It's always a lie, always, always, always. We could spend weeks and weeks and weeks just going through YouTube videos, go visiting Pentecostal churches around here, you will find nothing but lies, all lies. So just logic should tell you that they have ceased. We have everything that God wants us to know. He has given us his word, he has given us the Bible and preserved it, okay? But again, this also goes back to what? What I'm always talking about, the two religions of the earth. You got human achievement, you've got divine accomplishment, okay? Pentecostals are in the human achievement camp. What can I do? Look at what I'm doing, look at these languages that I'm speaking, look at all my works, look at all my accolades, look at these things that I'm doing, okay? All that does is point you, is point humanity back to man, because now I gotta go to their church to get a word. Now I have to go to man to get the word of God. Contrary to what the Bible says, that we don't need a man to teach us, okay? You have the indwelling of the Holy Ghost, you're saved. Guess what? You can understand the Bible very clearly. So hopefully that makes sense. This is what I use to teach people that the gift of tongues has ceased. You may agree, you may disagree. Either way, as long as we're edifying, as long as charity is paramount and supreme, we're not gonna have a problem. Everything is gonna be good to go. So let's stop right there for this evening, bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Thank you so much, Lord, again, for allowing us to be able to gather here. We just pray that you would bless our week, Lord, help us to remember these things and apply them in our lives and to teach others. And we just pray that you would keep us safe as we travel back home, bring us back again safely next week. In Jesus' name, I pray, amen. ["O Come All Ye Faithful"]