We often call the gift of tongues a “sign gift.” That is a good description. We know signs are welcomed because they point us to a destination. Yet when we arrive at the desired destination, there longer remains any need for the sign. Unlike the first century, we now know the Bible is complete, Israel is judged (Jer. 5:15; Isa. 28:11; 33:19) and the church is composed of Jew and Gentile. Therefore, the sign (for those purposes) has taken us to our destination and is no longer necessary – tongues have ceased (1 Cor. 13:8). So, any use of tongues spoken of in the Bible (and there are only two beyond Acts – an obscure passage in Mark 16 and the rebuke to the immature Corinthian church), must be interpreted in light of the Acts passages that clearly reveal a known language. Can God still enable a person to speak a previously unknown foreign language? Perhaps, but it is not “tongues” in the biblical sense.