Michael Brown, Authentic Fire, & John 14:12 - by Matt Waymeyer

 Found here. Our comments in bold.
----------------

The author will do his best to find work-arounds in order to stay true to his cessationist doctrine. The first step to confirming one's doctrine is to extract a verse out of its context. The second step is to explain away clear statements made by the verse. The third step is to claim that people who believe the clear statements are in error.

The author does all of this, as we will see. Plus, he will actually lie to us about the contents of a verse. 

This is beyond bad Bible teaching. The author is a false teacher.

Before we continue, let's provide an extended excerpt of the passage in question:

Jn. 14:8 -17 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”

9 Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, `Show us the Father’? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 

11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. 12 I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 

13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. 15 “If you love me, you will obey what I command. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counsellor to be with you for ever — 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.

---------------------------

In his new book, Authentic Fire: A Response to John MacArthur’s Strange Fire, charismatic radio show host Michael Brown (The author begins by immediately denigrating Dr. Brown, describing him as a mere radio host, and also branding him with the dreaded "charismatic" expletive. However, his credentials are rather extensive:

Michael L. Brown (PhD, New York University) is president and professor of practical theology at FIRE School of Ministry in Concord, NC. He has also served as visiting professor of Old Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois and visiting professor of Jewish apologetics at Fuller Theological Seminary, School of World Mission as well as several other seminaries.

Notice that Dr. Brown is not some sort of community college dropout, he possesses an earned doctorate. The author will not mention this. And from this point forward the author will exclusively refer to him as "Brown." We think this is a deliberate choice.)

points to his commitment to sola scriptura as the main reason he is a continuationist. Not only does Brown reject cessationism “because of the definite and clear testimony of the Word” (AF, 166), but he also finds the position “exegetically impossible” (AF, 165).

In chapter six of Authentic Fire, Brown presents the primary biblical arguments for the continuation of the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit. In one of these arguments, Brown appeals to the words of Jesus in John 14:12. In this verse, Jesus said: “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father” (John 14:12).

According to Brown, John 14:12a — “he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also” — contains a universal promise to the church of Jesus Christ that “whoever believes in the Son will also perform miraculous signs” (AF, 189). To support his conclusion, Brown notes that the immediate context emphasizes miracles as the works done by Jesus and that the phrase “he who believes in Me” (ho pisteuon eis eme) is universal in its scope when used elsewhere in the Gospel of John (6:35; 7:38; 11:25; 12:44, 46) (AF, 189). According to Brown, then, everyone who believes in Christ will perform miraculous signs.

Brown is correct in his assertion that Jesus was referring to miraculous works in John 14:12 when He spoke of “the works that I do.” This is clear not only from the immediate context of John 14 (see verses 10-11) but also from the greater context of John’s Gospel in which the miraculous works of Jesus gave evidence of His identity (see 5:36; 10:25; 20:30-31). And what miraculous works was Jesus referring to? He doesn’t name them, but the Gospel of John—which records only a fraction of the signs and wonders Jesus performed (21:25)—provides several examples: 

• Jesus changed water into wine (2:1-11).
• Jesus healed a boy who was about to die (4:46-54).
• Jesus healed a man who had been crippled and unable to walk for 38 years (5:1-9).
• Jesus fed 5,000 people with five loaves of bread and two fish (6:1-14).
• Jesus walked on water (6:16-21).
• Jesus healed a man born blind (9:1-41).
• Jesus resurrected a man who had been dead for four days (11:1-45).

According to John 14:12a, these are the kinds of miraculous works that will be performed by “he who believes” in Jesus.

Brown is also correct in his assertion that the other uses of “he who believes” in the Gospel of John are universal, applying to everyone who believes in Christ (6:35; 7:38; 11:25; 12:44, 46). In fact, seven other uses the substantival (sic) participle “he who believes” (ho pisteuon) (3:15; 3:16; 3:18; 3:36; 6:40; 6:47; 11:26) could be added to the five listed by Brown, and all of them are universal as well. Therefore, each of these twelve uses of the term “he who believes” (outside of John 14:12) introduces a promise that is unconditionally true for every single believer in Christ, and this is a valid argument for Brown’s position.

But what initially appears to be Brown’s strongest argument ultimately turns out to be the most significant problem for his view. By assuming that “he who believes” is also universal in John 14:12, Brown ends up arguing that every single believer in the history of the church has performed (or will perform) the same miraculous works as Jesus, works such as healing the crippled, giving sight to the blind, and raising people from the dead. (We finally arrive at the author's criticism, after his repeated agreements with Dr. Brown's explanations. 

The author's position is that if one applies the promise of the verse universally it would require that every Christian must perform miracles. This is a hollow and preposterous objection, not based on any principle of exegesis or even logic. Let's requote the verse:  

John 14:12 Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father.

Now let's compare to another verse that uses a similar phrase:

Ac. 13:22 After removing Saul, he made David their king. He testified concerning him: `I have found David son of Jesse a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’

Did David really do everything God wanted him to do? Of course not. Due to disobedience, he did many things God did not want him to do, and most certainly didn't do everything God wanted him to do. Similarly, Jesus' statement about those who believe must carry with it the possibility of disobedience. 

Indeed, the early Church quickly lost its power. People like the author would point to this as proof it was God's intent, but we believe the Church forfeited its power via lack of faith and apostasy.

Contemporary cessationists do not embrace Jesus' promise (command, actually) because they simply don't believe it. The lack of faith necessitates the need to explain it away.)

Apart from the obvious observation that there are more than a few believers in the past two thousand years who have never raised the dead or given sight to the blind, the apostle Paul made it clear in 1 Corinthians 12:27-30 that it was never God’s design to give every Christian the ability to perform the miraculous:

27 Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it. 28 And God has appointed in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, various kinds of tongues. 29 All are not apostles, are they? All are not prophets, are they? All are not teachers, are they? All are not workers of miracles, are they? 30 All do not have gifts of healings, do they? All do not speak with tongues, do they? All do not interpret, do they? (1 Cor. 12:27-30; emphasis added)

The implied answer to each of these rhetorical questions is, “No, of course not!” If it was never God’s design that all believers perform miracles and healings, how can Brown affirm an interpretation of John 14:12 which says that it was? (The author makes several errors:

1. Doing the things that Jesus did may or may not always involve the miraculous. No cessationist would reject a Christian washing someone's feet like Jesus did, but a Christian healing someone like Jesus did crosses the doctrinal line. This is arbitrary, based only on an preconception.
2. The author, a cessationist, does not accept 1 Cor. 12:27-30 as being for today's Christians. So the passage he presents as a proof text he doesn't believe. 
3. We can desire gifts we do not currently possess [1Co. 14:1]

Let's colloquialize Jesus' statement from John 14:12 and combine it with Paul's explanation to the Corinthian church:

All my believers will do these great things I've been doing [Jn. 14:12]. I will send you the Holy Spirit [Jn. 14:16-17, 1Co. 12:4], and He will give you spiritual gifts as He sees fit [1Co. 12:7]. Some of you will teach, or prophesy, or help people, plus other things [1Co. 12:28]. Not all of you will do all these things [1Co. 12:29-30], because the Body must work together and honor even the weakest of faith [1Co. 12:23]. But if you want another spiritual gift, you should ask for it [1Co. 14:1].

In actual fact, Jesus' statement fits together perfectly with Paul's detailed explanation. There is no tension here at all.)

Brown’s interpretation of John 14:12, then, faces a significant obstacle. Even though it is undoubtedly true that every single believer will have eternal life (John 3:15, 16, 36; 6:40, 47), is not judged (John 3:18), will never thirst (John 6:35), will experience the rivers of living water (John 7:38), will live even if he dies (John 11:25, 26), believes in the Father (John 12:44), and will not remain in darkness (John 12:46), it is simply not the case that every single believer does (or will do) the miraculous works that Jesus did (2:1-11; 4:46-54; 5:1-9; 6:1-14; 6:16-21; 9:1-41; 11:1-45). ("Every single." The author has been unable to demonstrate the necessity of this based on Jesus' words.)

This was never the sovereign design of God for the Body of Christ (1 Cor 12:27-30), and it was not promised by Jesus in John 14:12.

So what does Jesus mean when He says that “He who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also”? The key is found in remembering the original audience of Jesus. In John 14-16, Judas had already departed and Jesus was exclusively addressing the eleven disciples, the very ones He would soon send out as His apostles. Even though much of John 14-16 can be applied to every believer by extension, (The author concedes his entire case.)

all of what Jesus says in these chapters applies directly to the apostles and some of what He says applies only to the apostles (e.g., John 14:25-26; 16:13). (These verses refer to the sending of the Holy Spirit. But only the apostles received the Holy Spirit? What?)

John 14:12 falls into this latter category. (The author's assertion is not enough. If some of what Jesus said applies to all Christians and some does not, the author will need to explain a useful means to make this determination. Otherwise, "anyone" apparently means "only the apostles.")

In John 14, Philip asked Jesus to show them the Father (v. 8). Jesus responded by rebuking Philip (v. 9) and asking him whether or not he believed that He is in the Father and the Father is in Him (v. 10). Then Jesus widened the scope of His instruction (the Greek transitions from singular to plural) by addressing all of the disciples and exhorting them twice to “believe” in Him (v. 11). Therefore, when Jesus referred to “he who believes in Me” in the very next verse (v. 12), it makes good sense to conclude that the scope of that phrase is limited to those whom Jesus was addressing, namely the eleven disciples. As Richard Mayhue writes, “Christ’s charge to the disciples [in John 14:12] should not automatically be assigned to all believers throughout the ages unless specifically indicated by the text. (Yeah, about that. First, dear reader, go back to the top and read the whole passage.

In the subject verse [12] Jesus used the words "anyone" and "he."  One would think that He was making the promise to the disciples only and not for "anyone" that He would have used the word "you" (which He did starting in verse 13). But Jesus doesn't say,  

12 YOU who have faith in me will do what I have been doing. YOU will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 

Why would He change from "anyone" in vs. 12 to "you" in vs. 13? Well, because Jesus says what He means. He wasn't speaking of the disciples in verse 12. He made the general statement, then He turned the focus to the disciples.  

Here's another example of this:

Lk. 12:38-40 It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the second or third watch of the night. 39 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. 40 YOU ALSO [emphasis added] must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. 

"You also." From the general to the specific. It's that simple.)

Nothing here points beyond the disciples” (The Healing Promise, 162). The promise of John 14:12, then, is that once Jesus sends the disciples out as His apostles, they will be empowered by the Holy Spirit to perform miraculous works just like He did. Not only does this interpretation fit the immediate context of John 14-16, but the Book of Acts records that the apostles did indeed perform the miraculous works promised by Jesus in John 14:12: “many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles” (Acts 2:43; emphasis added). If the promise of John 14:12 is universal and every believer performed signs and wonders, why does Luke single out the apostles in Acts 2:43? (There's a reason  it's titled "The Acts of the Apostles." We therefore should expect that the predominate focus would be upon the apostles.

Further, the author is making an Argument From Silence. "The apostles did miracles" does not mean "no one else but the apostles did miracles.")

Where is the biblical account that “many wonders and signs were taking place through all the brethren”? (Again the author makes an Argument From Silence. Stephen [Ac. 6:8] and Ananias [Ac. 9:17-18] are two examples of non-apostles doing miracles. Let's also mention some other examples of the supernatural Church:

 

1Co. 14:26 What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church.

 

Ep. 1:17 I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. 

 

1Co. 14:1 Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy.

 

Ep. 6:10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.

Ja. 5:15 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven.)

In Acts 5:12-16, Luke fills in some detail on these apostolic miracles, providing a lengthy description of their ministry in the early church:

At the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were taking place among the people; and they were all with one accord in Solomon’s portico. But none of the rest dared to associate with them; however, the people held them in high esteem. And all the more believers in the Lord, multitudes of men and women, were constantly added to their number, to such an extent that they even carried the sick out into the streets and laid them on cots and pallets, so that when Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on any one of them. Also the people from the cities in the vicinity of Jerusalem were coming together, bringing people who were sick or afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all being healed (Acts 5:12-16; emphasis added).

Notice that these miraculous works did not simply consist of the apostles praying that sick people would get well, with varying degrees of success, depending on the faith of the one who was ill. Their miraculous power was so conspicuously obvious that the crowds were bringing the sick to the apostles and “they were all being healed” (Acts 5:16). (And sometimes it was only "many" who were healed: 

Ac. 8:7 With shrieks, evil spirits came out of many, and many paralytics and cripples were healed. 

So, the author's argument is that everyone was being healed, yet he does not insist that everyone was saved [i.e. Ac. 4:4, Ac. 9:42]. Further, cessationists like the author will tell us the ability to perform miracles faded out relatively early. So on one hand the apostles healed everyone, even though they were unable to heal everyone.

These sorts of logical gymnastics are required to be a cessationist.)

The reason the apostles were given these miraculous gifts was to authenticate them as authorized representatives of Christ who received and proclaimed divine revelation to the early church (Eph 2:20; 3:5; Acts 2:42). (Ho-boy. This is completely false. Let's quote the author's verses: 

Ep. 2:20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 

Ep. 3:5 which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets. 

Ac. 2:42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

Does the reader see anything in these verses about the miraculous authenticating the apostles? Neither do we. In fact, there isn't a single verse in the NT that tells us what the author asserted. Not one. He completely made this up.)

This is why 2 Corinthians 12:12 identifies signs, wonders, and miracles as “signs of a true apostle,” (*Sigh*. Again, let's quote the verse: 

2Co. 12:12 The things that mark an apostle — signs, wonders and miracles — were done among you with great perseverance. 

Notice that the verse does not tell us that only apostles could do miracles. As we mentioned above, Stephen [Ac. 6:8] and Ananias [Ac. 9:17-18] are two examples of non-apostles doing miracles. 

Notice also that Paul was defending his standing among the apostles against the accusations of the Corinthian church, who claimed he was a sub-standard apostle. He pointed to his miracles to prove that he belonged to the company of "super apostles." [2Co. 12:11], not to prove he was an apostle.

In fact, there is no verse in the Bible that tells us that the apostles were asked to perform a miracle to prove they were apostles. There is no verse in the Bible that records a miracle being being performed to demonstrate apostleship. And, there is no verse in the Bible that tells us that miracles could only be done by apostles.)

and this is why Hebrews 2:3-4 speaks of God testifying to their apostleship “by signs and wonders and by various miracles.” (Oh, my. The author has now turned to lying. Let's quote the verses: 

He. 2:3-4 how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. 4 God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.

"God also testified to it..." What is "it," the apostles? Nope. "It" is this "great salvation." Apparently the author was counting on no one actually reading the verse. 

As a deceiver, he has now disqualified himself from being a Bible teacher.)

Brown insists that the promise of John 14:12 cannot be limited to the apostles (AF, 189, 205), but a closer look shows that this verse does not apply to every believer. Sadly, Christians today who claim this promise for themselves—and who are unable to perform the kinds of signs and wonders that Jesus did—may find that they are tempted either to water down the biblical definition of a miracle or to waver in their commitment to sola scriptura. Better to maintain confidence in the Bible’s sufficiency and to interpret this verse in its original context. There is no support for continuationism in John 14:12. (And the author closes out, completely failing to bolster his false doctrine.)

* * * * *

NOTE: Incidentally, I did not comment on the “greater works” in the second half of John 14:12 for two reasons: (a) this is not part of Brown’s argument for continuationism in Authentic Fire, and (b) many interpreters on both side of the debate—including both Brown and MacArthur—agree that it goes beyond physical miracles to the spiritual miracle of conversion that God accomplishes through the proclamation of the Gospel (Brown, Authentic Fire, 189; MacArthur, John 12-21, 106-07).