Really?
When the purpose of the gift was for unbelieving Jews (1Cor.14:21) who were suppose to receive signs (1Cor.1:22).
Now, in the initial stage of Christianity, the Gospel was to go first to the Jew and then to the Gentile.
It was only after the rejection by the Jew that the Gospel was to go to both equally.
Tongues was for the evangelism of the Jew and ceased when Israel ceased to be a nation in 70 AD.
Romans 11:29 "For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable."
Really?
So we still have Apostles?
We still have the gift of healing?
We still have people predicting the future?
So some gifts were transitional.
In fact, in Romans you do not see the gift of tongues even mentioned (it being a later book).
We know that Paul eventually lost the gift of healing because he could not heal his own friend (2Tim.4:20).
Romans 11 is speaking to the fact that God has made an unconditional Covenant with Israel, and that Covenant will be completed (Rom.11:25-26)
Tongues won't pass away until knowledge passes away, and that won't occur until Christ returns.
No Tongues, Prophecy and knowledge were temporary gifts, as Paul states in the next verse, they were for children, when I spake as a child (tongues), I understood as a child (prophecy), I thought as a child (knowledge) were all gifts that in function to stabilize the local church until the Canon of Scripture (NT) was complete.
Paul put away childish things and thought as a man, not as a child, that was his admonition against the Corinthians, to grow up, and go from milk to meat (1Cor.3:1-2)
1 Cor 1:7 "Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed."
And the Corinthians were rebuked in 1st Corinthians for their licentious and immature behavior.
Paul makes it very clear in 1Cor. that the issue is not the gift but the fruit one bears (1Cor.13).
Except he doesn't mention the canon of scripture in that passage. That's an interpretation with no support.
And the first thing he rebuked them for was their division resulting from having too many teachers, and exalting knowledge. In 1 Cor 4 he writes:
"I do not write these things to shame you, but as my beloved children I warn you. For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers;"
Then he writes this warning:
"But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord wills, and I will know, not the word of those who are puffed up, but the power. For the kingdom of God is not in word but in power."
Jews still exist today, so the sign gift to reach the Jews must still exist.
In 1 Cor 14:26, we are instructed to bring "psalm, has a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation" to the church service. The passage concludes with this:
"If anyone thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things which I write to you are the commandments of the Lord."
By trying to eliminate some of the gifts, you are nullifying the commandment of the Lord. That is dangerous territory. Jesus said many times, "If you love Me, keep my commandments."
...Acts 10:44-47 While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word. [45] And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. [46] For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then answered Peter, [47] Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?
As you can see by the above scripture they Holy Ghost fell upon gentiles and they spoke in tongues. The gift of the Holy Ghost was not just for the Apostles but for anyone who seeks for the gift.
The gifts are not the sole issue for the Christian. Salvation and the harvesting of souls IS. However, in order for a Christian to effectively and boldly bring the gospel message to a lost and dying world we need the gift of the Baptism of the Holy Ghost.
...Mark 16:15-18 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. [16] He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. [17] And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; [18] They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.
...Mark 16:19-20 So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. [20] And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.
Did you see the part that says: "And these signs shall follow THEM THAT BELIEVE.." It doesn't say only the origional 12 apostles, it doesn't say only to the jew or only to this person, or only at all. It says them that believe. Then down in verse 20 is the reason WHY we have been given the gift of the Holy Ghost."Confirming the word with signs following."
by the way, God still heals today. I have been healed by God and I have seen many miracles performed. Terminal cancer healed. Eye sight restored, marriages put back together, a woman literally on her death bed dying of Hep. C and she was HEALED. Even her doctors said it had to be God because she was literally at deaths door and there was nothing they could do for her. And there have been many, many other miracles too.
Prophecy also still goes forth. God still speaks to His people. At least for those who are seeking Him with their whole heart and who are listening--not with mans wisdom or intellect but with their heart(or spirit).
It's not a question of if you want God, its how much of God do you want?