Seven confident men walked into a house in Ephesus where a demon-possessed man was terrorizing the neighborhood. These weren’t just any men. They were the sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest.
And they had been watching something incredible happen in their city. They had seen the Apostle Paul perform the most amazing miracles just by using the name of Jesus. Handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched Paul’s body were being sent to sick people, and diseases were leaving them. Evil spirits were coming out of them.
This is easy, they thought to themselves. It’s all in the name. We’ve been watching him, and every time he sends out those cloths, he just says, In the name of the Lord Jesus, I command the evil spirit to come out.
That’s all there is to it, just the name. So, these seven sons confidently approached the demon-possessed man and declared with authority, we charge you in the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, to come out.
To their surprise, Evil Spirit looked right at them and said something that would change everything. Jesus, I know, and Paul I know, but who are you?
Acts 19:15 records this confrontation that reveals why most Christians today have no power over the kingdom of darkness.
Acts 19: 13 But also some of the Jewish exorcists, who went from place to place, attempted to name over those who had the evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, “I adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches.” 14 Seven sons of one Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. 15 And the evil spirit answered and said to them, “I recognize Jesus, and I know about Paul, but who are you?” 16 And the man, in whom was the evil spirit, leaped on them and subdued all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.
Let me tell you what happens when religious people use Jesus’ name without having the relationship to back it up.
Those seven sons thought they had figured out the secret to Paul’s power, but they were about to learn the most painful lesson of their lives.
That demon-possessed man suddenly leaped on all seven of them with supernatural strength, overpowered them, and beat them so badly that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. The whole city was shaken by this event. Word spread like wildfire. Did you hear what happened to the sons of Siva?
They tried to use Jesus’ name like Paul does, and they got torn up. Fear fell on everyone both Jews and Greeks, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.
Many who had been practicing magic brought their expensive spell books and burned them publicly. Fifty thousand pieces of silver worth of occult materials went up in flames.
But here’s what you won’t believe about what led to this dramatic confrontation.
Paul had arrived in Ephesus and found twelve men who thought they were disciples.
But something was missing. He asked them a question that every believer today needs to hear. Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?
Their answer revealed the problem. We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit. Paul immediately knew what was wrong.
These men had been baptized with John’s baptism of repentance, but they had never received the power that comes after salvation. So, Paul baptized them in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when he laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied. All twelve of them received the biblical evidence of the Spirit’s baptism.
This is where the story gets incredible. For two whole years, Paul reasoned daily in the school of Tyrannus, and everyone who lived in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.
But it wasn’t just his preaching that shook the region. God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul. Handkerchiefs and aprons were brought from his body to the sick, and diseases left them, and evil spirits went out of them.
Now, here’s the key that most people miss. Paul didn’t have any power of his own that enabled him to use the name of Jesus like that.
But when he had gone through trials and difficulties, when everything seemed shipwrecked, God stood by him and caused him to know that there was someone with him, supporting him all the time. He had become so unconsciously filled with the Holy Spirit that all that was needed was to bring cloths to him, and when they touched the needy, they were healed and demons were cast out.
The itinerant Jewish exorcists and the seven sons of Sceva had been watching all this happen, and they thought they had it figured out.
The power seems to be all in the name, they reasoned. When he sends out the handkerchiefs and aprons, he just says, ‘In the name of the Lord Jesus.’ That’s all that’s needed. Just the name.
What they didn’t understand is that it’s not just the name of Jesus that brings power over evil spirits. There’s something behind the name that makes all the difference.
There is the ministry of the name, and it’s the Holy Spirit who is behind that ministry. The power is in the knowledge of him, in the ministry of the knowledge of him. This connects to something that will transform how you see spiritual authority.
The difference between the sons of Siva and Paul was this. They said, It’s only the use of the name that’s important.
But Paul understood that to believe means to have the knowledge of him in whom you believe. It’s not believing in the word Jesus. It’s believing in the nature of Christ, believing in the revelation of Christ, for all power has been given unto him.
Here’s what shocks people about true spiritual authority. Shouting won’t cast out an evil spirit, but there is an anointing that is gloriously felt within and brings the act of casting out demons into perfect harmony with the will of God.
We can’t help shouting when the power flows, but the shouting itself doesn’t do it, the power over evil spirits is in the ministry of the knowledge that he is Lord over all demons over all powers of wickedness.
But here’s something that will amaze you about Paul’s ministry. Was his body full of power no he sent forth handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him and when they touched the needy, they were healed and demons were cast out. Was there power in his body no there was power in Jesus. Paul ministered through the power of the anointing of the Holy Spirit and through faith in the name of Jesus.
John 17:3 gives us the whole thing in a nutshell: And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
We must have the knowledge and power of God and the knowledge of Jesus Christ. The embodiment of God, in order to be clothed with God.
Acts 19:1-20 show us that there are those who have come into line. They have the blessed Christ within and the power of the baptism, which is the revelation of the Christ of God within.
This is so evidenced in the person who is baptized in the Spirit, and the Christ is so plainly abiding that the moment the person is confronted with evil, He is instantly sensitive to the nature of this confrontation, and he is able to deal with it accordingly.
Mark 16:17-18 declares, and these signs will follow those who believe. In my name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues, they will take up serpents, and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them. They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover. But you must understand this. There are volumes to be applied to the word believe. To believe is to believe in the majesty of the glory of the power of God. This is all power, and it brings all other powers into subjection.
1 John 4:4 reveals the secret: You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. Greater is he who is within you in the revelation of faith than he who is in the world, through the knowledge of Christ and through. faith in who he is. Demons must surrender. Demons must go out.
Romans 8:37 declares that we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
Ephesians 1:22 shows us that God put all things under his feet and gave him to be head over all things to the church. He has been crowned by the Father to bring everything into subjection.
Church hears what most Christians will never understand. They think they can use the name of Jesus like a magic formula without having the relationship and authority to back it up.
They’ve watched other believers cast out demons and heal the sick, and they think it’s just the name, that’s all that’s needed.
But when they try it and nothing happens, they get discouraged and give up.
Most believers today are like the sons of Sceva, They’re trying to use Jesus’ name without the knowledge of him behind it. They want the power without the relationship. They want the authority without being conquered by Christ first. They want to command demons while they can’t even master themselves.
Here’s the challenge I’m giving you. You are not going to oppose devils if you cannot master yourself, because you will soon find the devils to be bigger than yourself.
It is only when you are conquered by Christ that he is enthroned. Then, the embodiment of the Spirit gloriously covers your life so that Jesus is glorified to the full.
Most Christians will never seek the baptism of the Holy Spirit because they think they already have everything they need.
They’re like those twelve men Paul found in Ephesus who had never even heard there was a Holy Spirit. They’ve been baptized in water, they believe in Jesus, but they’ve never received the power that comes from on high.
The sobering truth is this: the devil is not afraid of most Christians today. Why?
Because Jesus doesn’t know them, and the devils don’t know them.
They’re trying to operate in spiritual authority without the spiritual power to back it up. They’re using the name without the anointing.
Most believers will never understand that there are two important things before them:
First, to master the situation of themselves.
Second, to lose themselves so that another can come in, the glorifying of Him that will fulfill all things.
When God gets hold of your life because you have yielded yourself to Him in this way, He will be delighted to allow Christ to be so manifested in you that it will be no difficulty for the devil to know who you are.
Here’s what most Christians avoid. They avoid the trials and difficulties that break them and make them desperate for God’s power.
They want the authority without the brokenness. They want the miracles without the surrendering of their own will.
But Paul had to go through privations and difficulties, even when all things seemed shipwrecked, before God could use him mightily.
Most believers will settle for religious activity instead of seeking the place where Christ is manifested in power.
They’ll attend services, say prayers, and read their Bibles, but they’ll never become people through whom Christ is so manifested that demons flee in terror.
The purpose of Pentecost is to re-establish God in human flesh. The power of the Holy Spirit must come to be enthroned in the human life so that it doesn’t matter where we find ourselves. Christ is manifested in the place where devils are, the place where religious devils are, the place where false religion and unbelief are, the place where formal religion has taken the place of holiness and righteousness.
You need to have the holiness, the righteousness, and the spirit of the Master, so that in every walk of life, everything that is not like our Lord Jesus will have to depart.
That is what is needed today. The question that should haunt every believer is the one the demon asked the sons of Sceva.
Jesus I know, and Paul I know, but who are you?
Does Jesus know you? Do the demons know you? Or are you trying to use his name without having the relationship and authority to back it up?
The time has come for you to stop playing religious games and seek the place where he is in power.
The Holy Spirit came into us to judge the world of sin, of unbelief, and of righteousness. He came to make us terrors of evildoers.
But first, you must be conquered by Christ. You must lose yourself so that another can be enthroned.
These bodies of ours are so constructed by God that we may be filled with the divine revelation of the Son of God until it is manifest to the devils we confront and they will have to go.
The Master must be in, and they must see the Master. When Christ is truly manifested in your human frame, every power of evil will be subject to the Christ who is manifested in you.
Let us pray. Father, in the name of Jesus, we confess that too many of us have been trying to use your name without the authority to back it up. We’ve been like the sons of Sceva, thinking it’s all about using the right words instead of having the right relationship.
Holy Spirit, we cry out for the baptism that will establish Christ as Lord in our lives.
Conquer us completely so that we are no longer trying to fight battles in our own strength.
Fill us with the knowledge of Jesus Christ until demons flee at the mention of his name through our lips.
Make us terrors of evildoers, not through our shouting, but through your anointing.
We surrender our will, our plans, our religious activity. We want you to be enthroned in these human bodies. Let Christ be so manifested in us that both Jesus and the demons will know who we are.
Break us, mold us, fill us until your power flows through handkerchiefs we touch, and every work of darkness must surrender to your authority. In the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.
I believe with all my heart that as you’ve learned about true spiritual authority today, you’ve been awakened to the difference between using Jesus’ name as a formula versus having the knowledge and relationship behind it.
The understanding you’ve gained about being conquered by Christ first is already working in your spirit. creating a hunger for the real baptism of power that makes demons flee.
Name one area where you’ve been trying to operate in your own strength instead of his authority.
This week, examine your spiritual life and ask yourself honestly: Am I trying to use Jesus’ name without the relationship to back it up?
Am I conquered by Christ, or still fighting battles in my own strength?
Spend time seeking the baptism of the Holy Spirit until you become someone whom both Jesus and demons recognize.
But here’s what I’m curious about. Once you understand that Jesus and demons must know who you are, what does that actually look like in daily life?
How do you access the power of Christ that’s already within you to overcome every attack of the enemy?
What happens when the Kingdom of Heaven inside you suffers violence from sickness, pain, or Satan’s oppression? And how do you fight back?
You need to discover the incredible truth about Christ in you, why greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world, and how to exercise violent faith against everything that tries to dethrone the Kingdom of Heaven within your own body.
By Smith Wigglesworth