Acts 19:14-17 - Seven sons of Sceva

19:14-16

Demons are real, and spiritual warfare is real, and the demons know this. So when Paul used the name of Jesus “it worked”, the demons actually were encountering the authority if Chist. When the Seven Sons of Sceva used the name of Jesus it was just words, there was no power. Notice that the demons talks about knowing Jesus and knowing Paul. The power comes from Christ, without Him we can do nothing, but we do matter, our faith does matter. So the man possessed by demons jumped on the sons of Sceva and they fled naked and bleeding. The “name of Jesus” is not magic.

19:17

The outcome of this incident became known to the people around and the result was that fear fell on them. They recognised that playing around with demons was no laughing matter, and more importantly that the “name of Jesus” was a serious matter. So the greatness of the name of the Lord was known.