Now John answered Him, saying, “Teacher, we saw someone who does not follow us casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow us.” But Jesus said, “Do not forbid him, for no one who works a miracle in My name can soon afterward speak evil of Me. For he who is not against us is on our side. For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in My name, because you belong to Christ, assuredly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.” –Mark 9:38-41

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Thomas C. Oden, John Wesley’s Scriptural Christianity (Zondervan, 1994), pp. 91-98.

John Wesley, “A Caution Against Bigotry.”

—. “The Twenty-Five Articles of Religion.”

James Beilby, ed. Understanding Spiritual Warfare: Four Views (Baker, 2012).

John Wimber, Power Healing (HarperCollins, 1987).

Francis MacNutt, Deliverance from Evil Spirits (Chosen Books, 1995).

Donald Gee, The Fruit of the Spirit (Gospel Publishing House, 2012).

—. Concerning Spiritual Gifts (Gospel Publishing House, 1972).

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Exorcisms happen among Catholics, Calvinists, Pentecostals, and charismatics. And lordship salvation, or repentant faith in the cross that produces obedience to the Bible, can be found among all of them. “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” (Amos 3:3). According to Wesley, mean-spirited mainline liberals that reject the supernatural are the main people to be excluded from Christian fellowship, but also anyone who rejects lordship salvation and holds to cheap grace instead. So for Wesley, Christian fellowship boils down to two binding aspects:

1. The belief in the lordship of Christ over the individual believer. This meets the requirement of the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23).

2. The belief in the supernatural world and some amount of charismatic experiences of the Holy Spirit, especially a literal belief in the exorcism of evil spirits. This meets the requirement of the miraculous gifts of the Spirit (1 Cor. 12:8-10). –J.B.