Acts 5:16

News of the apostles’ powers was spreading beyond Jerusalem. People from outlying areas were bringing their sick friends to them just as people had brought sick friends to Jesus from miles around (cf. Luke 5:15). Luke probably meant that all whom the apostles sought to heal experienced restoration, not that they healed every single individual who was sick (cf. Matthew 8:16). Even Jesus’ healings were limited in their scope (cf. Luke 5:17). [Note: See Deere, pp. 58-64.] This verse is one of the texts that advocates of the "prosperity gospel" appeal to as proof that it is never God’s will for anyone to be sick. Other texts they use include Exodus 15:26; Exodus 23:25; Psalms 103:3; Proverbs 4:20-22; Isaiah 33:24; Jeremiah 30:17; Matthew 4:23; Matthew 10:1; Mark 16:16-18; Luke 6:17-19; and Acts 10:38. [Note: For a critique of this movement, see Ken L. Sarles, "A Theological Evaluation of the Prosperity Gospel," Bibliotheca Sacra 143:572 (October-December 1986):329-52.]

This section is very similar to Acts 4:32-35, though this summary shows the church gaining many more adherents and much greater influence than the former one documented.