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Working Hand in Hand with the Master
by Reinhard Bonnke
Go into all the world—but not on your own.
“Go into all the world.” Those words are the marching orders for the army of Christ. But an army is nothing more than the personnel enlisted—it needs a leader and it needs armament.
An army without weaponry is totally ineffective, doomed to lose every battle it ever fi ghts. And Jesus knows it! If Jesus has enlisted you in His army, then you need to know with absolute conviction that He has already provided the weapons. There is no reference to evangelism anywhere in Scripture without the equipment being provided to do the job. The Captain of our salvation not only said, “Go into all the world,” but also “You shall receive power”—firepower! 1
What’s more, Jesus Himself is our General.
He does not send us out on our own, expecting us somehow or other to make the best of things. He gives detailed instructions, leading us into battle with full assurance of victory. How could He do otherwise? He has promised,…I am with you always, even to the end of the age (Matthew 28:20 NLT). Without His generalship and firepower, nobody need ever go anywhere. But the assurance of both is surely every incentive to go wherever He sends!
In Mark 16:20 KJV we read, And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. This powerful verse makes it clear that Jesus never had any intention of letting His disciples do all the work while He reclined in glorious bliss. But there is something even more important: He worked with them everywhere. Everywhere is the crucial word. Wherever the disciples went, they relied on His being constantly with them.
Without Me you can do nothing.
To explain this reliance, Jesus used an allegory of the vine: Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing (John 15:4,5 NASB).
Jesus lived in a vine-growing area, so people understood what He was talking about. Vines were a part of everyday life. We live in a technological age, and vines mean little to vast numbers of people. Jesus would not have talked about vines in Silicon Valley. Today, in His illustrations and parables, He would more than likely have spoken of the microchip and certainly of electricity. Let me offer you a present-day parable.
The kingdom of God is like a man who went to the store and purchased a new electric light bulb, perfect in shape and quality. He took it home and put it in the lamp socket where it hung day and night. He found no fault with it but those who passed by did not notice it. Then one night the man pressed the light switch and the lamp glowed and gave light to all who were in the house.
A clear electric light bulb is one of the most transparent objects I know. We can see everything there is in it; if anything is wrong with it, it is visible to the naked eye. In itself it is perhaps the most useless artifact man ever made. What can you do with it? It isn’t much of an ornament. You cannot dig the garden or sow seeds with it, go fishing with it or wear it. It is useless until the power flows into its filament. Then we can see to do everything.
Jesus said in John 15:5, “Without Me you can do nothing.” We can be as transparent as the electric bulb—models of virtue—but without the power of God, we are only ornaments in the church. The electric bulb only becomes a lamp when electricity flows to it. It has no light of its own. It is only an accessory for current.
Christ said that we are the light of the world. However, we have no light in ourselves. We are only accessories for the divine energies. Ephesians 5:8 says, For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (NIV). That light is energized in us by the power of God’s Spirit. The filament glows white hot, incandescent. We cannot see the current and there is no material change in the lamp, but when electricity flows to it, it gives light.
Without us—God does nothing.
A lamp needs electricity to shed light. But what light can electricity give without a lamp? Likewise, what can God’s power do without God’s servants? As we have seen, without Him we can do nothing. But more astounding is that without us, God does nothing. Electricity in the wiring produces nothing that anyone can see or hear. If you handle the flex, it feels lifeless. Electricity needs a lamp, and a lamp needs electricity. God is effective in this world only through His instruments. Man needs God’s power, and God needs manpower. Salvation is a joint effort—the Spirit of God is waiting for us not to wait but to get on with the job. May God grant that we do not receive the grace of God in vain.
Our mission is all about power, not routine. Our role is that of
employees of the divine “electric company,” laying the power lines
into powerless lives. But we need to be aware of what kind of energy
or power is available to us. As Paul said, For the kingdom of
God is not in word, but in power! 2 
(1) See Mark 16:15; Acts 1:8. (2) See 1 Corinthians 4:20 ASV.
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