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Limiting God (Singapore)
David Davis

David Davis (1938–2017). Born in 1938 in the United States, David Davis was the founding pastor of Kehilat HaCarmel, a Messianic congregation on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel. A former Broadway and off-Broadway actor and chairman of Fordham University’s Division of Arts at Lincoln Center, he experienced a dramatic conversion during a 1980s revival among New York’s performing artists, where he met his Jewish wife, Karen. Mentored by David Wilkerson of Times Square Church, he ministered to drug addicts and alcoholics before moving to Israel in 1989. In 1990, he and Karen founded Beit Nitzachon (House of Victory), Israel’s first Bible-based rehabilitation center for Jewish and Arab men, in Haifa. In 1991, with Peter Tsukahira, they established Kehilat HaCarmel, growing it from a Bible study above House of Victory into a vibrant congregation emphasizing the “one new man” vision of unity from Ephesians 2:15. Davis served as senior pastor for 25 years, known for his prophetic teaching, shepherd’s heart, and mentorship of leaders like Dani Sayag, who succeeded him. He authored no major books but inspired ministries like Or HaCarmel women’s shelter and Raven’s Basket feeding program. After battling cancer, he died on May 7, 2017, in Haifa, survived by Karen and two adopted sons, saying, “The Word of God is sufficient to change any life.”
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Sermon Summary
In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the importance of not limiting God and giving Him room to work. He encourages the audience to obey God's leading, even if it goes against their understanding or seems difficult. The speaker shares a personal story of adopting two teenage boys and how it was a breakthrough moment for him. He also highlights the example of Peter in the Bible, who did not limit God and saw the gospel explode as a result. The sermon concludes with a reminder of God's limitless power and His desire to bring His people into His goodness and promises.
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Hallelujah, Baruch Adonai Elohei Yisrael. That means blessed be the Lord God of Israel. Hallelujah. I want to, I want us to worship together in spirit and in truth, and in Hebrew and in English today. Hallelujah. I have a phrase that I'd like to use called celebration warfare. Hallelujah. Because when the joy of the Lord, pastor said this already this one, the joy of the Lord is our strength. Hallelujah. And when we celebrate by faith, the victory of the Lord, no matter what is going on around us, no matter what trials we're facing, that we see by faith, we see the Lord high and lifted up. And we, we, in our spirit, we know the victory of the Lord. Hallelujah. And so we can celebrate. And one way we do celebrate, we celebrate in the dance and we put the enemy under our feet. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. And he will prevail. And most of you know that we, the Lord has positioned us on the top of Mount Carmel on the highest point where Elijah called, confronted the powers of darkness. And that's what he's called us to do. And we are launching the word of God in the, it says in Ephesians 310, that the church, the intention that the Lord has for the church is to to make known to the principalities and powers of darkness, the manifold wisdom of God. And so that's what we do. When I woke up this morning and it was very early. You know, I just started to speak the word of God to my soul, to my spirit because it says the entrance of your word brings light. Hallelujah. And so we can exhort each other and admonish one another and speak to the principalities of darkness in our songs with the word of God. Hallelujah. So I'm going to ask you to stand. Praise God. And I want to put up the first slide of the first part of this song. Okay. Because I want to give you a little, this is teacher's day. Okay. I'm going to give you, I'm going to teach you a little Hebrew this morning. So really we can sing with understanding. Okay. Okay. Baruch Adonai. Can you say Baruch Adonai? Baruch Adonai means blessed be the Lord. Okay. Elohei Yisrael. Elohei Yisrael. Okay. The Lord God of Israel. May olam ad olam. May olam ad olam. That means from forever and ever. Hallelujah. Or from everlasting to everlasting. I like that. Let's say that again. May olam ad olam. Okay. Then it says Yomar kol haam. Yomar kol haam. That means that all the people will say amen, amen. And then it says hallelujah. And we all know what that means. Praise the Lord. Hallelujah. When we say amen, amen, we say so be it. You know, let it be as your word says, Lord, your word is settled in heaven. Hallelujah. Praise God. Okay. So let's start this song. Go ahead. And you'll add the... Baruch Adonai, Elohei Yisrael. May olam ad olam. Yomar kol haam, amen, amen. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Baruch Adonai, Elohei Yisrael. May olam ad olam. Yomar kol haam, amen, amen. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Baruch Adonai, Elohei Yisrael. May olam ad olam. Yomar kol haam, amen, amen. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Baruch Adonai, Elohei Yisrael. May olam ad olam. Yomar kol haam, amen, amen. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Baruch Adonai, Elohei Yisrael. May olam ad olam. Yomar kol haam, amen, amen. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Blessed be the Lord. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel. Forever and ever. Let all the people say amen, amen. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Sing unto the Lord. Sing unto the Lord. Bless His name. Declare His glory in the nations. Hallelujah. Say to them the Lord God reigns. Word will stand forever. His word will stand forever. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Baruch Adonai, Hallelujah. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, forever and ever. Let all the people say, Amen, Amen. Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah. Oh, Hallelujah. We lift up your name, high above every other name. Hallelujah. Baruch Adonai, blessed be the name. Baruch Adonai, God of Israel. Hallelujah. Baruch Adonai. Sing unto the Lord, bless His name. Declare His glory in the nations. Say to them, the Lord God reigns. His word will stand forever. His word will stand forever. Amen. Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Baruch Adonai. Lord, we declare your name in the nations, oh God. Oh, Hallelujah. Hallelujah, Hallelujah. Lord, from everlasting to everlasting, you are God. Hallelujah. Prayer of Moses, Psalm 90, Hallelujah. Thank you, Lord. You have been our dwelling place in every generation. Before the mountains were brought forth. Before the earth was formed. By your word, all things were made. You spoke and it was done. In the beginning was your word. Your word alone will withstand. From everlasting to everlasting, forever you are God. From everlasting to everlasting, forever you are God. My soul longs for your courts so long. Like a sparrow finds her home. My heart and flesh cry out for you. Cry out for you alone. From everlasting to everlasting, forever you are God. From everlasting to everlasting, forever you are God. We pray holy, holy, holy is the Lord. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord. Hallelujah. Lord, fill our hearts with your truth today. From everlasting to everlasting, forever you are God. From everlasting to everlasting, forever you are God. May your love and love never part us all. From everlasting to everlasting, forever you are God. Adonai Elohim. El Shaddai. You have been our dwelling place in every generation. Lord, we lift up your name, O God. Lord, we pray that your name would be known once again in Israel, O God. Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty. Holy, holy, holy, God of all the earth. Lord, who made the heavens and the earth. Shema Yisrael Adonai Eloheinu Adonai Echad. Hallelujah. Behold, I am setting this church as a cornerstone in Singapore. My house is in order. The pure word of God is preached from my house here. This brings me great pleasure. The full counsel of God is released. The order of the house is so beautiful to me. This is a place where I can move and reside. And I will break forth into new ground, into new territory. This house is too little for what I want to do here. I will move this congregation into a place where their tent pegs will be stretched out to impact Singapore. And their children shall impact the nations. I am pleased that this congregation loves my ancient people, Israel. I am pleased that they are going to the highways and the byways in Uganda, in Sri Lanka, in China, and other places. To the widows and the orphans that are so close to my heart. This will be the breakthrough church, the cornerstone of a national movement in Singapore, says the Lord. Amen. Please be seated. If you have your Bible, I'd like to read from Psalm 78. The 78th Psalm. The God we've been worshipping this morning. The God we love so much. The God we've been praying to. The God who gave us his word. Praise the Lord. He is limitless. There are no limits. Human beings have limits. But God has no limits. He always was. He always will be. In the beginning, God created. That was just the earth. But he was there long before in the beginning of the earth. He was there forever. He's omniscient. He knows everything. He's omnipresent. He's everywhere. The God we serve is limitless. And we need to know this about him. He has no limits. His love has no limits. His amazing love. His amazing grace. The translators of the Bible struggled to find words to say his loving kindnesses. They don't know how to say his graces. His grace is just so... We think of an ocean. That's just a drop in the bucket of his grace. His grace is limitless. And when we know this about him, we need to realize we don't want to limit God in any way. In our life. In our marriage. In our relationship with our children. In our church. And in Psalm 78. Verse 41. Or verse 40. How often they provoked him in the wilderness. And grieved him in the desert. Yes, again and again they tempted God. And they limited the Holy One of Israel. God brought the children of Israel. A nation of slaves. Out of bondage. Through the great miracle of the Red Sea. Took them into the desert. And they began limiting this God that had set them free. And it grieved his heart. For 40 years they wandered around in the desert. He took them right up to the borders. In fact, let's look at Exodus 15. They actually sang about it when they came out of Egypt. In Exodus chapter 15. They're singing on the. Miriam's leading with the tambourine like Karen does. Hallelujah. And they were dancing before the Lord. They had come out of bondage. They had the greatest army in the world. Had been stopped by the Lord. And they were delivered from an impossible situation. And the limitless God brought his people out. Exactly as he had told the patriarchs. 400 years after they'd gone into bondage. And as they came out. And they're singing in Exodus chapter 15. Verse 17. They sang this. And you will bring them in. And plant them in the mountain of your inheritance. Not only did he bring them out. Of bondage. But he brought them out. To bring them into the goodness. And the promises. And the grace. And the glory of God. Many believers. They've come out of some bondages. But have you really moved into all that God has for us? And it says. You bring them in. You plant them. In the mountain of your inheritance. In the place, O Lord, which you have made. For your own dwelling. The sanctuary, O Lord. Which your hands have established. They had these promises. They knew what God was going to do. He told them. Not only did he tell them. They sang about it. They danced about it. We're going to the promised land. We're going to be planted. We're going to have a place where we can worship. We're going to move into all these great promises of God. And yet they came right to the border. And none of them wanted to go in. Except Caleb and Joshua. They all missed the blessing. They died in the desert. Do you know that Moses and Aaron must have been doing funerals every day? I mean, they all died. They must have been. I don't know how they did it in the sand. And the only ones that said. Yes, there are problems. Yes, there are giants. But God is with us. We can go up and take the land. Caleb did not limit God. Caleb went into the promised land. Caleb got the mountain of Hebron. Hebron. He gave the upper springs and the lower springs to his daughter. Caleb brought a move of God into Israel. Because he didn't limit God. He believed what God said. But so often. The children of Israel limited God over and over. And it's disobedience. He says, this is my way. Walk in my ways. There's the blessing. And they didn't do it. Now, don't point the finger at the old ancient covenant people, the Jewish people. Because these things, Paul said, are written for our admonition. For our warning. For our instruction upon whom the ends of the earth have come. They're there. So we read them and say, we don't want to do that. Now, let's go to the New Testament for just a moment. In Acts chapter seven, we're talking about limiting God. In Acts chapter seven, it's the great scene where this young deacon named Stephen, which means crown. He was so filled with the Holy Spirit, this young man, Stephen. It says they were not able. All the doctors and the lawyers and the teachers and the Sanhedrin and the Pharisees and the Sadducees. They couldn't resist the wisdom and the power with which he spoke. He did not limit God. He had the anointing of the Holy Spirit on him that he could confront all these people that should have known the law and should have known the Psalms and should have known the prophets. And here he could stand there before them and bring one of the greatest messages the world ever heard. And at the end of his message in Acts chapter seven, verse 51, he says, you stiff necked and uncircumcised in hearts and ears. You always resist the Holy Spirit as your fathers did. So do you. The people of God, he says, you have always resisted the Holy Spirit. Now, we think, well, that was the Pharisees, the self-righteous Pharisees that thought they knew the law and so on. And it was. But I want to say this to you. From Adam. From Eve. To today, this morning. We resist the Holy Spirit. The church resists the Holy Spirit. Individually, I resist the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit tells me to pray and I don't do it, I'm resisting the Holy Spirit. When I'm too lazy to get on my knees and cry out for somebody, the Lord has put on my heart. I'm resisting the Holy Spirit. We don't want to be a people that he's limitless. If we would just take the limits off of God and allow him to take over our lives and govern our feelings and our thoughts. Oh, there's so much more he could do through all of us. That's what he wants to do in this church. He just spoke it to us. He wants to break out in individuals lives and in the corporate life of the church. He wants to take the worship team places you've never been before. Hallelujah for the worship is glorious here. It's it's it's it's worshiping it in spirit and truth. But there's don't limit yourself and say, oh, we've got it. No, no, no. He is eternal on Mount Carmel. Praise the Lord for all the CDs that have come out and all the our whole worship team, Jews and Arabs. They get songs. Karen records them. They go all over the world. But this is just the beginning. She's got to get on her face and get in the secret place, get more of the songs of the Lord. We don't want to limit God. We don't want to be careless. We don't want to be complacent. We don't want to be compromised. The people that really moved in the Holy Spirit like Stephen. And he was stoned for it. And when you really move in the power of the Holy Spirit, people will attack you. Those who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. It's part of it comes comes with the territory. It doesn't matter to the people that want all of God. They go on and the people want to go. Oh, God, go with them. The rest of them. It doesn't matter. You go to the promised land. You go to the promises of God. When we moved to Israel 21 years ago, the Lord told me he was going to give us this old building. It had been built by Christian missionaries. Doctor. It was a place of medical mission for doctors and nurses at the beginning of the 20th century. And everybody I spoke to said to me, you'll never get that building. You can't get that building. Those people that build it have a different theology than you. They don't speak in tongues. They want. You're not going to get that building. The Lord told me we were going to get that building. We've had it for 20 years and hundreds of Jews and Arabs have come off of drugs. And that place is filled right now with Jews and Arabs living together. We're getting set free from drugs. Listen, what if I said, you're right. I would have been limiting God when he said, this is the building. They sang at the Red Sea. I'm taking you in. I'll take you to the place. I'll have a congregation for you. There'll be a place where you can fellowship. They sang it. They saw it in the spirit. And yet they didn't do it. And they limited God. And so this morning. We need to look at ourselves and say, how am I limiting this limitless God. That wants to do great and awesome things in me and through me. But I haven't let him do everything. That's the way we want to live. In true freedom, in true liberty. Moving in the power of the Holy Spirit. Caleb said, if he goes with us, we'll take the giants. Hallelujah. And Caleb went in there and did it. Now look at Acts chapter 11 for a moment. Acts of the Apostles chapter 11. Verse. Well, let me just tell you the story without reading. Peter, the Jewish apostle, is in Jaffa, which is just south of Tel Aviv. It's where he was living. He was up on the roof at noontime. He was praying. Hallelujah. The reason this happened to him is because he was praying. He was fasting and praying. And all of it. And he's getting hungry. And he has a vision three times of this big sheet that comes down that has all this shellfish in it. Has crabs. And Peter, Peter doesn't eat crabs because he's an Orthodox, you know, he's a Jew and tries to keep kosher. He keeps seeing this thing come down, looking at all these crabs. Now, I think they were probably almost as good as the Chinese crabs we had last night. And I think Peter is probably saying that looks pretty good, but I can't eat that, you know. So he sees this vision. And the Lord says he's saying to Peter, this gospel isn't just for the Jews. It's for Singapore and the Chinese where they eat crabs. Hallelujah. Now, what if he said. I don't eat those kind of things. I'm a Jew and we're not supposed to eat crabs or shrimp or whatever. But Peter, as he's wondering, why is God keeping showing me this thing? And the Lord is trying to tell him, I am not partial to only the Jews. You're supposed to get the revelation of the gospel and take it to the nations. The gospels for the whole world. And then these these guys show up at the same time knocking on his door. And he meets these guys and they have come from a Roman officer who had occupied Israel. And he said this Roman officer, this centurion. He had a dream, he had a vision, an angel came and said a man named Peter who lived at this address. The angel gave him the address. That's why we're knocking at your door. That's why we walked down the beach from Caesarea all the way to Jaffa and wants you to come up there and tell him about Jesus. Now, what would you have done? Many of us would have said, no, no, no, no, no, no. This is breaking out of my box. This is the way I see things. Me, a Jew, go into a Roman officer's house. Jews aren't supposed to go into Gentiles houses and walk up the beach with these Gentiles, these Romans. But you know what? Look what it says. Verse 11. At that very moment, three men stood before the house where I was. Where I was having been sent to me from Caesarea. And then look at this. The spirit told me to go with them, doubting nothing. The spirit told Peter to go. And he went. He did not limit God. And what happened? He changed the world. The gospel exploded. He walked right into Cornelius's house. He started preaching before he could finish his message. The Holy Spirit fell on all those Romans. They all started speaking in tongues. And Peter went. Hallelujah. The gospel is for them to the power of the Holy Spirit is for the whole world. But God found a man who would not limit him. And he spoke into his heart and he knew the voice of the spirit. And he said, I went not doubting nothing. We have to walk in the word of the Lord, doubting nothing. Even when it doesn't look like it. How could it possibly happen? Look, when God gave us that building. Four young couples asked me to start a Bible study. Two Jews and two Arabs. And all the leaders in the land said, you can't work with Jews and Arabs. All of a sudden they were in our living room. Say, will you teach me? Will you be my pastor? We started teaching them. You know what happened? Within a month, 50 people were in the living room. Then they were all over the house. A congregation was born. But we were not limiting God. God said, I want you to go to Israel and reach Jews and Arabs. The gospel is to the Jew first and also to the Arabs. Reach them both. The one new man of Ephesians chapter two. And you know what happened from that? A congregation exploded. We were given a piece of land on the top of Mount Carmel. They gave it to us free. I didn't want to go up there. I wanted to be down in the streets of Haifa with all the drug addicts. But listen, if somebody ever offers you the highest point on Mount Carmel free. I think you ought to take it. It must be God. Hallelujah. And now we see all these Jews drive up there on the Shabbat that don't go to the synagogue. They turn in and it's easier for them to accept the Lord up there away from their neighbors and so on. Arabs come to the Lord. It was the wisdom of God all along. But what if we had said, thank you for the offer of the land. But I'm going to stay down in Haifa where I can get more drug addicts. We would have missed God. I didn't understand it. But he does because he's infinite. He's omniscient. He knows the beginning from the end. Now, it's so important that we don't limit. God. What he wants to do. Turn to 1st Corinthians chapter 2. Let me show you this. 1st Corinthians chapter 2. If you want to study about the Holy Spirit. Study 1st Corinthians chapter 2 for the rest of your life. Verse 7. We speak the wisdom of God in a mystery. The hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory. The wisdom of God. Wisdom in Hebrew or in Greek is Sophia. It means knowing what understanding but also the power to do it. It's a powerful word. You know, knowledge is knowing one thing. Wisdom is a wise man knows what to do and does it. The wisdom of Solomon when they came with those two babies. Solomon knew what to do and did it. And so the wisdom of God is infinite. It's a mystery. They're a mystery. The word for mystery here in the New Testament is something that has been hidden. But will be revealed by the Holy Spirit. For those who really have ears to hear and eyes to see. So Paul is saying this wisdom is being revealed to me by the Holy Spirit. Paul was standing there when Stephen brought that great message. Paul was holding the clothes of the people that threw the stones at Stephen. Paul was a self-righteous rabbi who thought he knew it all until Jesus knocked him down on the road to Damascus. And he realized now I can really know the wisdom of God through knowing Jesus, my Messiah. So he says here in 1 Corinthians chapter 2. Which none of the rulers of this age knew. For had they known they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written, verse 9. Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man. The things which God has prepared for those who love him. We don't even understand it. What he's prepared them for me. It's all prepared. My eye doesn't see, my ear doesn't understand, my heart doesn't feel. What God has prepared for you before the foundation of the world in eternity. That's his love, it's infinite. I mean when we get a grasp of this and realize it's for those who love him. If you don't love him you don't understand any of this. But as you get deeper and deeper in your love affair with him. You begin to realize oh my God. He told me to go to Israel. I didn't know why but I went. I had these encounters with Jesus all over Israel. He was preparing me to move there one day but I didn't know it. I just went. Then I come back all filled with fire for Israel. And the fire of God fell on me and Mount Carmel and my car and all these things that happened. And then I fall in love with a Jew. Hallelujah. God knew that in eternity. I didn't know it. And God had spoken to her and said one day you will go back to the land of your inheritance. And bring the gift of the love of the Messiah to your own people who don't know me. I didn't know that about her. When I sat in a restaurant with her and looked at her for the first time we were together. And the Holy Spirit said this is your wife. I knew it. And I'll tell you I ran after it nothing doubting just like Peter. I said to her can I see you again. And she said that would be nice. We didn't waste any time. When the Holy Spirit moves just hang on you know you're going for a ride. Hallelujah. And you go places you'd never ever you'll be up in the high places maybe even on Mount Carmel. Hallelujah. So the Lord has prepared for those who love him. You get more and more and more of his vision of his revelation. But it means developing your love affair with Jesus. Do you really I mean what this man comes to Jesus and says how do you keep the law. And he said love the Lord your God with all your heart mind soul and spirit love your neighbor as yourself. That's how you do it. And most of us we don't love God the way we should. I mean I've met people around the world where we're ministering. So and they said I never have felt God's love. Listen God loves you so much that he wants to touch you this morning with his love that you will. We love him because he first loved us. Can you imagine if I said to Karen when I asked her to marry me I went to her place her apartment. I had on a tuxedo. I had a dozen roses. I had a Bible. I had print print her name printed on this beautiful leather Bible in gold. But it was my name Karen Davis. I knew she was going to say yes. I had an oil lamp that was filled with oil because in Bible times the bride would put the oil lamp up in the window and keep it lit until the bridegroom came and the house was prepared and they came to the village and shouting and then she went out with him is what the Yeshua's Jesus is a parable of the virgins is all about. So I brought her this oil lamp that we were going to light. I got down on one knee and I said Karen. Will you marry me. And she said yes. Now what if I had said to her. Karen I love you with 60 percent of my heart. Can you imagine. We need to love the Lord with all our heart. He's our bridegroom. He's preparing us as his bride. Hallelujah. We don't want to limit God. We want to love him more and more and more and receive more of his love more of his grace more of his power. It's it is limitless. And so many believers limit God. We don't want to do that. We should expect great miracles. We should expect the Lord to move in great power. We should expect Jews to get saved when they're stiff necked and it's difficult. We should expect the veil to fall off. Even after people have called themselves Christians have done terrible things to the Jews for centuries. They don't want Jesus. But God says all Israel is going to get saved and I believe it. So we're going to see major miracles. We've seen a lot of this so much more coming. We don't want to limit him and say well we've done a good job. Let's take a break. Let's retire. You don't retire in the kingdom of God. You get refired. You don't get retired. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord. Now look at James chapter 4. Well, wait a minute. Yeah, verse 10. But God has revealed them through the spirit for the spirit searches the things. Yes, the deep things of God. You have got to walk in the spirit. If you want to know where is God taking me? What are we doing? And how do you do that? You fast and pray. You seek his face. You don't be a prayerless believer. You need to be a man and woman of prayer. You have got to spend time with God. With his word. And you will hear. He's always speaking to his children. His children know his voice. He's the good shepherd. He will lead you. He will pick you up and put you on his shoulders and say come on we're taking the promised land. Whatever it is in your life. I've been sitting here in this hotel room while we've been here saying Lord I'm going back to Israel tomorrow. What's next? What's next? That's what we were doing in a cabin up in the Alps before we came here. Lord show me what's next. I don't want to stay where we are. Praise God for what's happened. You know we have five buildings on Mount Carmel. We have a women's rehab. A women's shelter. And did you know when we came to Israel the Lord said go get Jews and Arabs. So we started with drug addicts. We got a women's shelter. Peter Sukahir's wife Rita runs it. He'll be here Wednesday night. She's a Jew from New York. And he's a Japanese American Israeli. So they're the one new man. Hallelujah. There's no other one that I know of. Maybe you know one. So we got a building for the women. We just got it. I don't know how God did it. He just did it. He told us I want a place for battered women that are beaten up. Women don't want to keep their babies. They don't want to have abortions. Jews and Arabs together. So we started doing it. We don't know how to do it. We just do it in the power of the Holy Spirit. Who's in charge there? The Holy Spirit needs to be in charge. And so you know what happened? Four years ago the terrible genocide that was happening in Darfur, in Africa, in Sudan. You know about it. All these poor Muslims were being slaughtered and nominal Christians and so on. They started fleeing by the thousands. And many of them fled into Egypt. And in Egypt they have been persecuted. There are refugee camps there. I know people that go in there. There's a revival broke out among them. But about 15,000 have come across the Sinai border in the desert into Israel. And they've asked the Israeli army and the border guards, we want to be refugees. We have no country. Will you take us in? And Israel started taking them in. The first place our government called was our women's shelter on Mount Carmel. That shelter for four years has been filled with Africans from Sudan. Single mothers, orphans. First little boy that I met when he came in, his name is Mohammed. Now we've had about 30 babies born there. They're not born in the place they go to the hospital. Israel government helps us. U.N. helps us and so on. You know what they're naming their children now, these ladies? Joshua. There's a Moses. They're not Mohammed anymore. They're Joshua. Freedom. One boy's name is Freedom. One boy's name is even named Zion. They're thankful. But we didn't know God was going to do that. What if we said to the government, no, no, no, this is for battered women. We don't take in orphans from Sudan. We don't know how to do that. That's limiting God. Listen. Years ago, a friend of mine called and said, I found these two boys, two brothers. One's 11 and one's 13. They're getting into trouble. Their parents have all kinds of problems. The government has taken them away from their parents. And would you take them at House of Victory, our drug rehab? I said, I can't take an 11-year-old boy at House of Victory. These are older men, drug addicts, Jews and Arabs. You know, they're coming through withdrawal, heroin addicts. He said, would you just meet them? So he brought them to House of Victory one morning. This little boy, 11 years old, and his brother's 13. And I said to them, boys, this isn't the place for you. We believe in Jesus. We teach the Bible. We only watch Christian television. You would have to go to school. I know you don't go to school anymore. And worst of all, you'd have to do dishes here. Get up early. You don't want to do dishes. I was trying to talk them out of it. The little boy, his name is David, looks at me and he says, we can do it. He broke my heart. So I told Karen, we're going to take those boys in. I told the staff. The staff said, we don't know anything about teenagers. I said, I know we don't. But he does. And what's the vision for this place? It's Isaiah 58. Whoever he sends, bring them in and feed them and clothe them and his light will shine. So we brought them in. And some of you know the story. They became our children. We adopted them. Hallelujah. Now, what if I hadn't done that? They're both married now. One of them has a baby. I had the privilege of marrying both of them up on Mount Carmel. What if we hadn't taken them in? I would have missed the privilege of fathering these two boys. The most difficult thing I've ever done. Hallelujah. But listen, don't limit God. If God says, bring in an 11-year-old boy, bring him in. Even if you say, my understanding, they can't figure this out. His ways are so, they are higher than our ways. Just obey him and don't limit him and give him room to work. Hallelujah. Now, James chapter 4. James, the fourth chapter. Oh, God, I don't want to limit you. I want to see you break forth and just get out of your way. James chapter 4, verse 5. Do you think that the scripture says in vain, the spirit who dwells in you, dwells in us, yearns jealously? Do you know that the Holy Spirit, if you're born again, if you've received the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit in you, he's crying Abba. He's crying Abba. He's talking to the Father. Just connect with him. What is the Holy Spirit praying? I believe the pastor heard from this morning we're supposed to pray for Uganda. You know, and so we did. Praise the Lord. It's God's heart for Uganda. And when the Lord says, pray for Uganda, pray for Uganda. Don't don't pray for your, you know, for your whatever, for a new car. Unless he tells you to, which reminds me now. But the Holy Spirit is yearning jealously. The Holy Spirit is in a love affair with you. The Holy Spirit loves you. Do you know the Holy Spirit? He yearns. Don't you love to be in the Holy Spirit? Don't you love to have those sweet moments where you know that? Oh, Holy Spirit, I love you. Oh, spirit of the living God. You came and lived in me. You're a temple of the Holy Spirit. Look, look around at somebody. Pastor. You are a temple of the Holy Spirit. Isn't this awesome? The Holy Spirit. Is living in you. Living in this baby. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. The Holy Spirit is yearning. It's trying to say to Peter, I'll give you three visions until you get it. You got to take this gospel to the Gentiles. And he said, I obey the spirit, doubting nothing. And he marched up that beach and took that gospel into Caesarea Cornelius's house. They called him in in Jerusalem and said, what are you doing going to the Gentiles and going into this guy's house? And he said, the Holy Spirit fell on him just the way it did at Pentecost. And they all there was silence. This is bigger than we thought. This is going all over the world. Hallelujah. Because God got a hold of somebody that wouldn't limit him. Took the limits off. Look, you have you. God is sovereign. He can do whatever he wants. But he's given us free will. We can make decisions and choose to go with all of him or only have part of him. You don't want to live that way. You don't want to be a part time believer. We need to be full time for God. Hallelujah. He goes on and he says. Verse. Draw near to God. Verse eight. And he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands. You sinners. Purify your hearts. You double minded. Listen, this is James, the apostle. Jacob was his name. Yaakov, Jesus's brother. He was saying to believers, some of you are double minded. You don't want all of the Holy Spirit. You got one foot in the world. You're doing this. You're doing that. And it's not what the Holy Spirit's telling you to do. This congregation that he's writing to. These people he's writing to. Jewish believers and also Gentiles. There's so much more. And when Paul got a hold of this and went into Ephesus. And took twelve baptized in the Holy Spirit messianic Jews into Ephesus. They turned the city upside down. Jews and Gentiles were coming to the Lord. Romans and Greeks. Because the stops were taken off of the Holy Spirit. That it was for Jews and Gentiles alike. And God is saying the Holy Spirit is yearning jealously for you and for me. Now when we woke up this morning. I had a kind of a rough night. I won't tell you why. Didn't get as much sleep as I would have liked to. I'm just laying there like this. And I hear my wife say. The entrance of your word brings light. She's proclaiming the word of God. It was like I'm coming up off the bed. The word of God. I mean because the Holy Spirit was yearning in me. He said get up. Let me speak to you about what to tell these people today. You're in Singapore. Forget about you know. Just clear your head. And let's go and do what I want you to do. And get out of my way. So here's my notes. Look. Oh church. Don't limit God. His love is everlasting. I love this lady. I don't know why I keep picking on you. I want to love her more. I tell her I love her every day. I'm talking to you. Well I love you too. Pastor said why is he pointing to my wife? Taking the limits off. No, no, no, no, no. Listen. There's so much more. The fruits of the Holy Spirit. I mean the Holy Spirit is saying love, joy, peace, kindness. One time Karen and I, we were exhausted after a meeting in Haifa. We took a, we laid down and were resting. And we heard these voices singing. And I was sort of half awake. And we heard righteousness, peace, joy in the Holy Ghost. Righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. That's the kingdom of God. I said Karen, there's angels in this place. And we looked in the window and some of our young leaders and their wives were standing, singing into our bedroom window going righteousness, peace, joy. And I was like what are you doing waking me up? Listen. The Holy Spirit yearns in us so that we can have more of the flow of the Holy Spirit. There are miracles to be done in Singapore that we don't know anything about. There is a harvest. I mean we walked through that place last night. And I saw all these idol worshippers and burning these things. And all these lost people. I mean there's a harvest out there. Of millions, millions, hundreds of thousands of people waiting to know about the love of Christ that we have. Because the love of Christ has been shed abroad in my heart by the Holy Spirit who's been given to me. Hallelujah. We don't want to grieve the Holy Spirit. Let no corrupt word proceed from your mouth, Paul says. Except which is good for edification and imparts grace. Or you will grieve the Holy Spirit. I'm quoting Ephesians chapter 4 verse 29 and 30. When you speak a harsh word, you're grieving the Holy Spirit. If I say something bad about this brother to this brother. First of all, I'm contaminating, defiling myself. Then I'm defiling him. Then I'm defiling him. And it grieves the Holy Spirit. And you need to know that. The Holy Spirit should be so alive in you. And you so in touch with the Holy Spirit. You know it immediately. I just did something that grieved the Holy Spirit. And what do you do? You just say, I'm sorry. And you go to the brother and say, I never should have. I'm sorry about that. And wow, the blood of Jesus covers us. You're walking in the Spirit. You're taking the limits off of God. You don't want to limit God with your mouth. We need to speak words of comfort and words of encouragement. Words of building up. Look, when we raised those two boys, they were doing everything wrong. Karen fixes them a salad. And they said, we don't eat salad. We eat pizza and Coca-Cola. They said, we know all about history. We've watched Sylvester Stallone movies. They didn't know geography. They didn't know anything. I have a PhD. You know, I have a lot of academic. And it was very difficult for somebody to sit there and say to me, who's lived in Israel all his life, and a 13-year-old said to me, where's Jerusalem? I went, where's Jerusalem? And yet, if I had to build them up, I couldn't just say, you're dumb. I couldn't just say, you're stupid. They hadn't been to school. We were teaching them the spell. And the older boy would make a spelling mistake. And I'd say, well, this is wrong. And he would say, well, it's only one letter. What's the problem? It changed the whole meaning of the word. But look, you build them up. Can you imagine Jesus, what he went through with those apostles? Peter thought he knew everything. I know how to fish. And this guy's saying, throw it over there, the net. There's no fish over there, but I'll do it anyway. And Jesus puts up with us and says, I want you to have my fullness. I don't want you to hinder me. I don't want you to limit me. We don't want to limit God. Now, turn to John chapter 3. We'll finish here. Hallelujah. Pastor just told us he went to Uganda, saying, I know the reason we're going to this trip is Uganda. We're going to reach the poor people in the churches they planted there and all that. And they did go for that. And then Kenya is just, you know, the dessert or a sideshow or something like that. So what happens? He goes and he does is what God told him to do in Uganda. He goes to Kenya and these awesome miracles break out. And now he's going to speak to the president and the parliament and all that because he was walking in the hole. He didn't know that. But he just obeyed and went. He thought it was about Uganda. And God knew it was about Uganda and about Kenya. And then if he obeys that and goes there, who knows what will come out of that? Hallelujah. That's the way the Lord works. If you're faithful with a little, he gives you more. He told Peter, go to this. General's house, this officer's house and tell him about me. And he did. And then Peter became the apostle all over the world, preaching to Jews and Gentiles. He didn't limit God. He simply obeyed the Holy Spirit. Now, John chapter three, verse 34, says this. For he whom God has sent. Speaks the words of God. You see that these aren't my words. These are God's words. We have God's word for the lost sheep of the house of Singapore. We have God's word for China. We have God's word for Sri Lanka. We have God's word for the Jews and Arabs of our nation. They're not my words. They're his. For we have God's words. For God does not give the spirit by measure. He doesn't measure it out and say, here's a cup of my spirit. He says. My father in heaven, how much more will he give the Holy Spirit for those who ask him? We just need to ask. For more of his spirit. For more of his fruit. For more of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. We need to ask. If we humble ourselves and don't be double minded. He will give us such a download of the Holy Spirit. Fresh oil, fresh anointing, fresh love. He does not measure out the spirit. It's available. Let's stand. Let's stand. Hallelujah.
Limiting God (Singapore)
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David Davis (1938–2017). Born in 1938 in the United States, David Davis was the founding pastor of Kehilat HaCarmel, a Messianic congregation on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel. A former Broadway and off-Broadway actor and chairman of Fordham University’s Division of Arts at Lincoln Center, he experienced a dramatic conversion during a 1980s revival among New York’s performing artists, where he met his Jewish wife, Karen. Mentored by David Wilkerson of Times Square Church, he ministered to drug addicts and alcoholics before moving to Israel in 1989. In 1990, he and Karen founded Beit Nitzachon (House of Victory), Israel’s first Bible-based rehabilitation center for Jewish and Arab men, in Haifa. In 1991, with Peter Tsukahira, they established Kehilat HaCarmel, growing it from a Bible study above House of Victory into a vibrant congregation emphasizing the “one new man” vision of unity from Ephesians 2:15. Davis served as senior pastor for 25 years, known for his prophetic teaching, shepherd’s heart, and mentorship of leaders like Dani Sayag, who succeeded him. He authored no major books but inspired ministries like Or HaCarmel women’s shelter and Raven’s Basket feeding program. After battling cancer, he died on May 7, 2017, in Haifa, survived by Karen and two adopted sons, saying, “The Word of God is sufficient to change any life.”