SOMETHING IN THE WATER Larry W Peebles February 19, 2021 21.07
Bottled, filtered, or purified water is a popular topic these days. Set aside for a moment the pollution aspect of the plastic bottles being discarded instead of recycled. Today there is an appreciation for the health and hydration benefits of drinking enough water, as well as drinking quality water. We are concerned with avoiding contaminants in some water. We want the good things from the water, but we want to avoid the bad.
There is something good in the water at the North Georgia Revival in Dawsonville, Georgia. The Revival is entering its fourth year. Pastor Todd Smith describes how it all began in his book “Creating a Habitation for God’s Glory”. He describes an open vision that occurred over three years ago as he walked across the platform of the worship center at Christ Fellowship Church. The building was empty that morning, as was the large permanent baptistery. In the vision, which lasted 8-10 seconds, he saw the baptistery full of water, and fire on the water. He reports that the Lord spoke these words-“I am going to baptize people with Holy Spirit fire.”
The Sunday night service changed, and it was not long before things began to happen. Following worship and the message for the evening, baptisms began. They continued until everyone who wanted baptism had been in the water. Three years later, the many miracles are well documented, some in Pastor Smith’s book, some on x-rays and scans, in Dr.’s reports, and on video capturing the testimonies of what God did. There’s something in the water! Blind eyes and deaf ears have been opened, cancer healed, marriages restored, and addictions broken, to name a few. The revival continues today, supported by five prayer meetings each week, and a multitude of gracious people serving in the church who host several hundred baptisms each Sunday evening for people who have traveled from all over the U.S. and the world. The church has added a second temporary indoor pool to accommodate the crowds. More information can be found on the church’s website.
Historians of revival conclude that they have not heard of a revival centered on water baptism, although this is more than what we typically think of as baptism. The fire of the Holy Spirit comes in the water to meet the person, and miracles happen. Lives are changed forever. Miraculous healings with water are well-supported in Scripture.
First is the Pool of Bethesda, recorded in John 5: 1-9. Bethesda means “house of mercy.” At this pool in the City of Jerusalem, “an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had (v.4)”. Jesus healed a man sick for 38 years with an infirmity that kept him from getting into the water when it stirred. He healed him beside the water, without him actually getting into the water. In John 9:1-12, Jesus healed a man blind from birth with mud made from spit and clay, and told him to go wash his eyes in the Pool of Siloam. When he washed away the mud with the water from the pool, he could see. Both of these miracles involved water, but not a formal baptism.
Second, from the Old Testament, is the story of Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria. As we read in 2 Kings 5:1-19, Naaman was an honorable man of valor, favored by God with a great military victory, but he had leprosy. His wife had a servant girl from Israel, who told him of a prophet in Samaria (Israel) who could heal him. The king of Syria sent a letter to the king of Israel requesting that Naaman be healed. Not knowing how to do this, the king of Israel was distraught. Elisha the prophet heard of the letter, and asked that Naaman come to him “to show that there is a prophet in Israel.” Elisha told Naaman to dip seven times in the Jordan River. Though resistant at first because the Jordan was not as clean as the rivers at home, he ultimately obeyed, and his flesh “was restored like the flesh of a little child.” Again the miracle involved water, but not a formal baptism. However, this miracle and the one above begin to demonstrate the benefits of baptism, in that a new and transformed person comes up out of the water. The greater spiritual transformation occurs because of the physical transformation.
Third, again from the Old Testament, is a story that involves another type of miracle. It is well removed from what we consider baptism, yet may contain a deeper revelation of what actually occurs in baptism. It is no coincidence that it is found in the chapter following the story of Naaman. In 2 Kings 6:1-7 is the story of the floating axe head. Elisha’s school of prophets had grown to the point they needed a larger meeting place. They suggested going down by the Jordan and cutting trees for poles to build a building. In the process, an axe head came off the handle, and fell into the river. Elisha asked where it fell, and placing a stick at that location in the river, caused the axe head to float to the surface, where it could be retrieved. This was certainly a miracle, because we all know iron does not float.
There is an important detail I purposely skipped. It is the key to this story. When the axe head fell in the river, one of the students cried “Alas master, for it was borrowed (v.5).” The students did not have the money to rent or buy a building. They did not have the money to build a building out of stone or bricks. They had to cut poles from the forest, but they did not even have the tools to cut the poles. The axe was borrowed. They did not have the money to replace it. Due to their “poor” condition, losing the axe head created a debt they could not repay. As such, it represented a problem they could not solve, a situation they could not control, an event they could not undo, and an obligation to replace something they had broken and lost. They did not have enough money to fix what flew off the handle, or spun out of control. “Alas”, “woe is me”, and “what will I do” would all be expected responses.
What went into the water was a hopeless situation, akin to a person with a life-threatening disease, a broken marriage, an unbeatable addiction, the loss of a job or a home, a sick husband, wife or child, or any number of other plans of the devil to destroy us. What came out of the water was the solution. The problem was resolved—the debt was repaid. Everything was restored. The fire of God met that axe head in the water, and the ending to the story was forever changed. The impossible occurred.
Axe heads float to the surface at the North Georgia Revival. Desperate, life-threatening situations are met with the fire of God in the water. People go into the water with all kinds of issues money won’t fix. They are baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. When they come out of the water, incredible transformation occurs. Healing takes place, demons are driven out, and lives are saved. Not all are healed, and some, like Naaman, have gone into the water more than once to receive their miracle. But miracles are happening. The people walk away knowing God is real, and that He loves them and knows their name and situation. He is not far away. There’s something in the water. To God be all the glory.
