The writing about John Wesley and Methodism is very interesting, my brother. And there are many lessons we can learn from it. The movement that was started by John Wesley clearly came from the Holy Spirit. Many people believe that through John Wesley’s ministry, England was saved from destruction.

However, the history of Christianity always seems to repeat itself, where a movement that initially began through the Holy Spirit gradually turns into a “rigid structure.” When a movement that began by the Holy Spirit becomes a “rigid structure,” then the Holy Spirit starts a new and fresh movement “outside” the structure that has become rigid.

This is explained in Gospel of Matthew 9:17: “Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”

Indeed, the “new wine” (a movement begun by the Holy Spirit) cannot be contained within “old wineskins” (a structure that has become rigid). That is why new and fresh movements started by the Holy Spirit always take place outside structures that have become rigid. Thus, we can see that the history of Christianity continually repeats itself and follows this kind of pattern. A new movement of the Holy Spirit is always begun outside rigid structures.

May we receive His grace to always remain within the new and fresh movement of the Holy Spirit, and not remain within structures that have become rigid.