And by faith in his name hath his name made this man strong, whom ye behold and know: yea, the faith which is through him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.

'AND BY FAITH IN HIS NAME HATH HIS NAME MADE THIS MAN STRONG'-

Points to Note:

The "faith" in this verse doesn't refer to the faith of the lame man, for: (1) He wasn't even. Christian. (2) He wasn't expecting to be healed.

Rather, the faith refers to the faith of Peter and John. Please note: (a) Faith wasn't the power that worked the miracle (God did that), but faith was necessary in those performing the miracles (Matthew 14:31; Matthew 17:20). (b) The only "failure" to heal recorded in the Gospels had to do with lack of faith-not in the person being healed, but in those doing the healing (Matthew 17:20). (c) 'no faith ever enabled one to work. miracle to whom such powers had not been imparted.' (McGarvey p. 56)

From this statement we also should note that the phrase, "in the name of Jesus", was not some sort of magic charm. (Acts 19:13) Again, if the power to work the miracles had not been imparted to you (Acts 8:15 ff), then this expression enabled you to do nothing. The simple phrase, "in the name of Jesus" has no inherent power.

'WHOM YE BEHOLD AND KNOW'-Which once again emphasizes the truth that this miracle hadn't been staged. Nobody could claim that the lame man had simply faked his illness or that his illness had been all in his head.

'THE FAITH WHICH IS THROUGH HIM'-The apostles faith in the risen Jesus. In other words, Peter is saying that if Jesus hadn't been risen, then they would have been helpless to heal this man. But the fact that the apostles could heal--was proof that the object of their faith (Jesus) had been raised.

'HATH GIVEN HIM'-the lame man.

'PERFECT SOUNDNESS'-3647. holokleria hol-ok-lay-ree'-ah; from 3648; integrity, i.e. physical wholeness: -perfect soundness.

-'The cure performed on the man was instantaneous, perfect, and entire.' (Reese p. 162) 'this complete cure' (TCNT)

'IN THE PRESENCE OF YOU ALL'-Consider how the apostles preached. They didn't try to convict people with highly subjective arguments. Instead they cited one obvious fact after another. The sermons were emotional, but they weren't based on emotionalism. They were charged with intense feelings, because the facts demanded such. reaction.

THE SECOND HALF OF THE SERMON:

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Old Testament