Miracles And Exorcisms

As Paul and the Apostles ministered in the early church, God authenticated His Gospel message with miracles through His messengers.  One impressive sign was the exorcism of demons from those possessed.  This phenomenon caused certain phonies to want to jump on the bandwagon even if they didn't know the Savior.  In our passage the seven sons of Sceva thought that throwing the name of Christ would be enough to accomplish this task and the result was that the demon physically beat them.  But, the result caused many to turn away from the occult and instead turn to the Word and to Jesus Christ.