THE NEED FOR AN INTIMATE RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD

[Acts 19: 13–14] Now, there were seven itinerant Jewish exorcists, sons of Sceva the high priest, who took it upon themselves to use the name and authority of Jesus over those who were demonized. They would say, “We cast you out in the name of the Jesus that Paul preaches!” 15 One day, when they said those words, the demon in the man replied, “I know about Jesus, and I recognize Paul, but who do you think you are?” 16 Then the demonized man jumped on them and threw them to the ground, beating them mercilessly. He overpowered the seven exorcists until they all ran out of the house naked and badly bruised.17 All of the people in Ephesus were awestruck, both Jews and non-Jews, when they heard about what had happened. Great fear fell over the entire city, and the authority of the name of Jesus was exalted. 18 Many believers publicly confessed their sins and disclosed their secrets. 19 Large numbers of those who had been practicing magic took all of their books and scrolls of spells and incantations and publicly burned them. When the value of all the books and scrolls was calculated, it all came to several million dollars. 20 The power of God caused the word to spread, and the people were greatly impacted.