“Depend on it, my hearer, you never will go to heaven unless you are prepared to worship Jesus Christ as God.“
C.H. Spurgeon
There is real power available in the name of Jesus. Scripture makes that unmistakably clear. But that power is not automatic, and it is not transferable through mere association or borrowed authority. It flows through relationship. This lesson examines what happens when people attempt to access spiritual power without actually knowing Christ, and what happens when someone genuinely does.
The book of Acts records an attempt to wield the name of Jesus like a formula rather than a relationship, and the outcome exposes exactly what religion can and cannot do.
Acts 19:13-16
“Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, ‘In the name of the Jesus whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out.’ Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. One day the evil spirit answered them, ‘Jesus I know, and Paul I know about, but who are you?’ Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.”
Sceva’s sons had watched the name of Jesus produce results in Paul’s ministry, so they borrowed it, assuming the words themselves carried the power. They had religious knowledge. They knew about Jesus, knew He was associated with authority over evil spirits, and knew the phrase that seemed to activate it. What they did not have was the relationship that name actually depends on, and the spirit they confronted knew the difference immediately. Jesus I know, and Paul I know about, but who are you. That question exposed the entire problem. Religion can teach a person the right words. It cannot introduce them to the person those words belong to, and without that introduction, the words are empty.
This gap between knowing about someone and actually knowing them runs through everything Jesus taught about spiritual authority. He told His disciples plainly that He had chosen them and appointed them so that they would bear fruit that lasts, and that whatever they asked in His name the Father would give them (John 15:16). This fruitfulness takes many forms across a believer’s life, prayer that is heard, character that is transformed, a life that produces lasting spiritual impact. It does not mean every believer should expect the specific kind of sign-miracle Peter performed, which carried its own purpose tied to authenticating the apostles’ early ministry. What John 15 does promise is the same relational foundation Peter’s miracle depended on. Being chosen and appointed comes first. Whatever a believer asks or does in Christ’s name flows out of that relationship, not out of technique or borrowed language. A person cannot reverse the sequence, learning the name first and hoping the relationship follows. Sceva’s sons proved that reversal does not work, whatever form the resulting authority is meant to take.
This raises an honest question for anyone newer to faith. If authority flows from relationship, does that mean a young or immature believer has no real access to it? Scripture’s answer is no, but the distinction matters. The measure was never how long someone had walked with Christ. It was whether they actually knew Him at all. A brand new believer who genuinely knows Christ stands in a completely different position than Sceva’s sons, who had years of religious familiarity with His reputation and no relationship with Him whatsoever. Depth of relationship can grow. But the relationship itself, however young, is what any spiritual authority was always tied to, not tenure in religious practice.
The contrast becomes vivid when someone who does have that relationship exercises the specific authority Sceva’s sons tried to fake.
Acts 3:6-9
“Then Peter said, ‘Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.’ Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God.”
Peter had nothing to offer in silver or gold, no religious credential beyond having walked with Jesus personally for years. That relationship was the foundation for what happened next, but it was not the only thing behind it. Christ had specifically given Peter and the other apostles authority to heal and to drive out unclean spirits, and God was using these early miracles to authenticate their ministry as the gospel took root. This was not a general guarantee available to every believer in every circumstance. It was tied to the specific commission Peter carried at that moment in the life of the early church. What still separates Peter from Sceva’s sons, though, is the relationship underneath the commission. An unclean spirit exposed Sceva’s sons because they had no relationship to back up the name they invoked. Peter’s authority to heal was given, but it was given to someone who actually knew the one giving it. Relationship was not the whole of what produced the miracle. It was what made the authority his to carry rather than something borrowed and hollow.
This exposes something important about religious activity that looks impressive on the surface. A person can memorize scripture, follow every prescribed practice, and even invoke the name of Jesus publicly, all while remaining a stranger to Him. That kind of religion produces nothing but exposure, the same exposure Sceva’s sons experienced when the very spirit they tried to command turned on them. Power in the name of Jesus was never meant to function like a spell available to anyone who learns the incantation. It flows from relationship, the kind Peter had built by walking with Christ, the kind John 15 says begins with being chosen and appointed rather than earned through religious performance.
Conclusion
Sceva’s sons had religious knowledge and borrowed authority, and it left them beaten and exposed. Peter had neither silver nor gold, but a relationship with Jesus and a specific commission given to authenticate the apostles’ ministry, and it produced a miracle. The difference exposed by Sceva’s sons was never about apostolic authority itself. It was that they had no relationship to stand on at all. Power in Jesus’ name has never been available through religious formula. Whatever form it takes, it flows only through actually knowing Him.
Moment Of Meditation
Are you be trying to produce results in your own strength rather than resting in your relationship with God?