Itvsimplybsay they “shall” fail and cease. It does not say they have failed or ceased yet.
At the time of Paul's writing the gifts of tongues and prophecy were still active in the church. So of course he uses the future tense with regard to them ceasing.
The time went they will be no more is when we see Jesus face to face as Paul mentions here.
No, the verse does not say 'when we see
Jesus face to face'. Jesus is never mentioned in this passage. Seeing 'face to face' is the contrasting analogy to seeing dimly in a mirror. It is saying our 'seeing' (whatever that is referring to) will be drastically improved.
Paul also says, when that which is perfect is come. This is not refering to the scriptures. But the word “perfect” in Greek is “teleios” meaning complete as I growth or full of age the perfect man is implied in vs”s 10,11.
Indeed teleios does mean complete. “Completeness” is the antithesis of “in part”, so it is obvious these two quantitative expressions are related. Whatever ‘in part’ is referring to, almost certainly applies to ‘completeness’. That which is ‘in part’ is the practice of the gifts of prophecy and words of knowledge (v9), both of which are revelations from God. It follows therefore that ‘completeness’ would also involve revelation. “In part” refers to the fact that the revelation communicated by these gifts was partial or piecemeal. The corresponding “completeness”, as the counterpart to “in part” must then refer to a full or complete revelation from God. This can only be seen as the completed revelation God as preserved in the New Testament. At the time of Paul's writing the early church needed prophecy and words of knowledge to guide them in the faith in the absence of a New Testament. However when a church had a completed canon, it would no longer need the gift of prophecy to guide them. Thus, the completed canon would replace the partial prophecies and words of knowledge.
The analogy of a child maturing into a man in v11 indicates that the process would not be an instantaneous one (as would happen at the 2nd coming) but rather something that occurs over a period of time - such as the completed canon being distributed among the churches. This ties in perfectly with church history where the early church fathers (100-200AD) said tongues were still active, the middle fathers (200-300 AD) saying they are rare, and the late fathers (300-400AD) saying the gift had ceased.
“
Ephesians 4 - 13. Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a
perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:”
So all the gifts in
Ephesians 4:11 are still needed one of them being apostles and prophets bytbalso pastors and evangelist and teachers. If we get rid of apostles and prophets (spoken of forvthe church after the resurrection) then we must get rid of pastors also.
This passage does not say that all those gifts will continue, it says that the equipping and building will continue. Apostles and prophets were active in the first century and they equipped the 1st century church. Their teachings were recorded in scripture and so they still continue to equip the church today.
"All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work." (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
The church was
"built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone," (Eph 2:20)