Let's begin this morning in John
chapter 3. John chapter 3. We've all heard the saying, the
exception to the rule. When we say that, the exception
to the rule, what we mean is something that is not commonly
done. We mean something out of the
ordinary. We mean something that is very
rare or it rarely or seldom ever happens. Something that generally
doesn't happen. In most instances, it's an unexpected
outcome, an exception to the rule. It's a deviation, a departure
from the norm, whatever the norm may be. A special case, aside
from, with the exclusion of. But very often in our lives,
there are exceptions to the rule. But this morning, I want to talk
to you about the exception of God's rule. In the end, God's
rule is the only rule that will really matter. The exception
of God's rule. What is God's sovereign rule
concerning you and I? What is the sovereign rule of
God's justice? The wages of sin is death, according
to Romans 6.23. The soul that sins, it shall
die, according to Ezekiel 18.4. God will by no means clear the
guilty, Exodus 34 7. What is the exception to these
things? What is the exception to God's
rule of justice? Are there any? Well, I suppose
the correct question would be, who is the exception to these
things? You see, there's only one exception
when it comes right down to it. If God declares that sin's wages
is death, meaning death for the one who commits the sin, are
there any exceptions to God's sovereign rule? If the soul that
sins shall die, if God will by no means clear or excuse guilty
men and women, what is the exception to that holy rule and verdict?
This morning, I wanna give you five exceptions. I'm not referring
to exceptions that we make or that we cause. You and I can
make no exceptions to the will and purpose of a sovereign, one
who's almighty, one who's omnipotent. We can't do it. These are the
exceptions that God himself makes. God is the only one who can truly
give an eternal ultimatum You know what an ultimatum is. It's
a final demand or statement of terms. For example, your employer
might say to you or tell you, if you're late for work one more
time, then you'll be fired. That's an ultimatum. Some of
you parents may say to your child, if you disobey me, young man
or young woman, one more time, I'm gonna ground you for a week. That's an ultimatum. But you
and I cannot threaten anyone with an ultimatum that is beyond
our ability to enforce. But God can. God can enforce
every ultimatum that He gives. So let's look at some ultimatums,
five ultimatums that God gives and can enforce, and the exceptions
that He alone can make. Now, the first exception to God's
rule of holy justice is found here in John chapter three, verse
three. In this chapter, our Lord converses
with a man named Nicodemus. We're told that he's a Pharisee,
he's a ruler of the Jews, and he came to Jesus by night, and
he came with flattery and compliments. In verse two, Nicodemus said,
Rabbi, that was a title of great honor. He said, we know that
thou art a teacher come from God, not just any teacher, but
you come from God. And we know that no man can do
these miracles that you do, except God be with him. Now, that was
a real compliment coming from someone of Nicodemus' rank and
importance in the synagogue. He was a Pharisee, he was a ruler
of the Jews. He was somebody in the circle
of religion. But the Lord pays no mind to
his flattery. And why would he? The Lord doesn't
need the praise of men. In verse three, he simply cuts
to the chase, as we say, and he says, very simply, barely,
barely, or truly, truly, I say unto you, You see, what you say
to me doesn't matter. That's what the Lord's saying.
But what I say to you matters a great deal. And here's the
first exception to God's rule. Except, except a man be born
again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Only by a dead man's
new birth, only when a sinner is born again is there an exception
with this rule of the wages of sin, which is death. The soul
that sins shall die. Except the sinner be born again,
death shall be sin's wages. His or her soul shall die because
of their sin. God will by no means clear them,
they're guilty. The only exception is that they
be made a new creation, a new creature in Christ. If not, they
cannot see the kingdom of God and they cannot enter the kingdom
of God. We must be made new. And there's
only one way, in the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, if any man
be in Christ, he's a new creature. New. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things become new. Old things must be passed away.
That being our sin, all things must become new. That being Christ's
perfect righteousness. How? God has reconciled us one
way, to himself, by Jesus Christ. There is no other way. That's
what Paul went on to say in verse 19 of 2 Corinthians 5. He said,
to wit, meaning this is how, that's all that means, that God
was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, his people
in the world, not the whole world, not imputing, not charging their
trespasses unto thee. That's the greatest news a sinner
ever heard. You're not going to charge my
trespasses against me? Not if you're in Christ, not
if you're a new creation, not if you've been born again. You
see, the new birth is essential to salvation. Being born again
in Christ is the only exception. It's the only way our sins are
not imputed or charged to us. It's of God. It's in Christ. Salvation is of the Lord, and
salvation is in the Lord. The Lord here tells this educated
Pharisee, He said, the wind blows where it listeth. Now that word
listeth means where it chooses. The wind blows where it chooses.
And it does. So it is with every chosen sinner. It's God that chooses who to
save. It's always been that way. He
has mercy on whom He will have mercy. He has compassion on whom
He'll have compassion, and whom He will, He hardeneth. Salvation
is of the Lord. It's His doing. He initiates
it. He causes it to come to pass.
He Himself is salvation. God, through His Spirit, works
how, where, and when He pleases, and He acts freely and independently
of and on the hearts of His chosen people. Now here in John 3, verse
8, the Lord says, The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest
the sound thereof. But you can't tell from where
it comes, and you can't tell where it goes. So is everyone
that is born of the Spirit. Now that word wind and that word
spirit in that verse are the same word, the same Greek word,
and the word is pronounced pneuma. It means breath or current of
air. Robert was telling us in the
men's meeting that he found out this week and was put in the
hospital because he had a partially collapsed lung. And what they
diagnosed him with had that word in it, didn't it? Pneuma. It's where we get this word pneuma
is where we get the English word pneumonia from. Pneumonia, as
you know, is a lung inflammation that makes it hard to breathe.
It has to do with the inability to believe or receive air. By
nature, friends, every single one of us have spiritual pneumonia. Our breath and God's wind, both
given by God Himself, act independently of man's will, work, and what?
It's just a fact. The wind blows where it wills.
So does the Spirit of God. It's miraculous. It's mysterious. You remember what the angel of
the Lord told Mary? He said, you're going to have
a son. And she responded, how am I going to have a son since
I know not a man? I haven't known a man. This is
how. The angel said, the Holy Ghost
shall come upon you. And the power of the highest
shall overshadow you. And this is the same thing that
happens when an elect sinner is born again. God's Spirit comes
upon them. God's power overshadows them. A new birth is not getting religion. That's what most people think.
Oh, I'll never forget when the Lord began to deal with me, that
was the word among my friends. No, he didn't. No, he didn't. At first, I may have. But no,
a new birth's not getting religion. A new birth is a new creation.
A new birth is being born again. It's God creating something out
of nothing. It's God creating in us, who
are nothing, something. It's God bringing into existence
a life that did not exist. It's God making a new man that
is created in Christ Jesus. And except you and I be born
again, we cannot be saved. We cannot see God's kingdom and
we cannot enter God's kingdom. And it's the Lord's ultimatum.
And we cannot change it. Only Christ can accomplish it
for us. Okay, the second exception to
the sovereign rule of God's holy justice, that being God's ultimatum
of death to the soul that sins, is found in Luke chapter 13.
Turn there quickly with me if you would. Luke chapter 13. Verse 3, Luke 13, verse 3. While you're turning, let me
say that twice in this passage, the Lord tells us the same thing. Here in verse 3, our Lord said,
I tell you, nay, but except you repent, you shall all likewise
perish. And then in verse 5, He uses
the same exact words. Now that goes for every man and
woman that has ever lived, whether Jew or Gentile, whether Catholic
or Protestant, whether rich or poor, whether young or old, except
you repent, you shall all likewise perish. Now, what the Lord's
talking about here is in verse one, there were some Galileans
who Pilate, you remember Pilate, someone the Lord Jesus stood
in front of, Pilate had murdered some Galileans. It's said by
some Jewish historians that these men of Galilee opposed paying
tribute to Caesar. I'm sure they did. And it's believed
that they came to one of these festivals that they had to pay
tribute, and that Pilate sent a company of his soldiers, and
according to verse 1, mingled their blood with their sacrifices.
He just slaughtered them. Just killed them. And what the
Jews here are asking Christ was this, were these men that Pilate
killed, were they greater sinners because this happened to them?
Did the Lord allow these men to be killed because they were
greater sinners than others? Now let me say before we go any
further there that what an example that is of free will works religion. How so, you might ask. Well,
religion says, works religion says, if you do good, good things
will happen, and if you do bad, bad things happen to you. If
you're a Christian, life is just a bed of roses. But if you're
a sinner, oh, you better watch out. You better watch out. But our Lord here responds in
verse 2 by asking this question. He says, suppose ye that these
Galileans were sinners above all the Galileans because they
suffered such things? Did God do this or allow this
to happen to them because they were great sinners? You see,
the Lord's not going to be turned from this issue at hand. He says, no, nay, not so at all,
but except you repent of your sin, you shall all likewise perish. And then notice in verse four,
the Lord responds this way to this false notion of doing good
and good things happen, and doing bad, bad things happen. He speaks
of 18 men who were killed while purifying themselves in the Pool
of Siloam, verse 4, when the Tower of Siloam fell. And our
Lord asked, do you think that those 18 men that were killed
were greater sinners above all the other men that lived in Jerusalem?
And then again in verse 5, he repeats the same words as I said.
I tell you, no! No! But except you repent, you
shall perish as they did. Friends, death for our sins is
what all of us deserve. Death would be justice. Life
is the exception. And life is found only in Christ. Jesus Christ is the exception. What is repentance? Well, it's
defined by Webster as sincere regret or remorse, but it's much
more than that. You know, many folks have sincere
regret and remorse when they get caught in their sin. And
most of the time they go right on to commit the same sin again. But that's not true repentance. Not regretting and being sorry
that you got caught, that's not true repentance. The sorrow of
the world worketh death, but godly sorrow works repentance
to salvation. Godly repentance is a change. God's repentance is a turning. God's repentance is to seek the
Lord, to call upon the Lord who forever forgives. And again,
we're shut up to Christ alone. Why? Because for the Father judges
no man but hath committed all judgment unto the Son. Jesus
Christ is the only one who can forgive sin. Seek ye the Lord
while he may be found. Call ye upon him while he's near.
Let the wicked forsake his way. Turn from his way. And the unrighteous
man forsake, or turn from his thoughts, and let him return. Turn unto the Lord, and he'll
have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon,
Isaiah 55, six and seven. That's what it is to repent.
Solomon wrote this proverb, he that cometh, excuse me, he that
covereth his sins shall not prosper, but whoso confesseth and forsaketh
them, turns from them, shall have mercy. Yet if you warn the
wicked and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked
way, he shall die in his iniquity, but thou has delivered thy soul.
Hosea 14 one, O Israel, return to the Lord thy God, for thou
has fallen by thine iniquity. Yes, the wages of sin is death. And except, there's the exception,
you repent, you'll die in your sin. True repentance is a change
of mind, it's a change of heart, it's a change of masters. Repentance
is the gift of God. God hath granted repentance to
the Gentiles, Acts 11, 8. The goodness of God leadeth you
to repentance. Repentance is an exception to
condemnation and death, and repentance is in the Lord Jesus Christ,
nowhere else. Our Lord said, I came not to
call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Acts 5.31, Him,
Christ, hath God exalted with his right hand to be a prince
and a savior for to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of
sins. Now that's the only place you'll
find forgiveness, and that should be the only place, therefore,
that we seek to be forgiven in Christ. Okay, that brings me
to the third exception. We've seen already, except a
man or sinner be born again, except a sinner repent, and the
third exception of God's ultimatum of death, the sin's wages, that
God can no by, by no means clear the guilty, is found in Matthew
chapter 18. So turn there with me. Matthew
chapter 18. Let's just begin in verse 1. Matthew 18 verse 1. At the same time came the disciples
unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?
And Jesus called a little child unto Him and set Him in the midst
of them. And He said, verily, or truly,
I say unto you, now look at this, except, except you be converted
and become as little children, willing to be taught, willing
to be led, willing to serve, willing to trust. Isn't that
what a little child does? You can tell them anything and
they just, I remember I climbed up on a
roof one time and my dad said, okay, jump down. I didn't think
twice about it, I jumped down. Because I knew he'd catch me.
It's so trusting. We believe everything that we're
told. Except you be converted and become
as little children. You shall not enter into the
kingdom of heaven. That's God's ultimatum. You will not, you shall not.
Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as a little child. The
same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Who's the greatest?
Those that humble themselves. Now that word converted means
to be made suitable for a new purpose. Conversion is not a
makeover. It's a do-over. There used to
be a show on television, probably not many of you men are aware
of it, I don't know why I am. I guess because I saw it, but
they called it Extreme Makeover, and that's what they did. They
took men and women alike, mostly women, but men and women alike,
and they gave them extreme makeovers, not just makeovers, but extreme
makeovers. And this went on for quite a
bit of time. When they got through with the
makeovers, those folks didn't even look the same. I'm not kidding
you. It was amazing. But you know what? They were
the same. They were the same. Changing
the outward has never changed the inward. That's what conversion
is. It's to change the inward. And
with that, it begins to change the outward. It's never It's
successful the other way around. You don't start on the outside
and it works to the inside. It starts on the inside and works
to the outside. Sinners don't need makeovers. We need do-overs. Conversion
is not restoration. Conversion is not reformation.
Conversion is a new creation, as we've already seen. You know,
recently I noticed a dilapidated house here in town, and obviously
somebody had bought it. It had been empty for some time,
and the exterior was old, and it was weathered, and it was
in bad shape. And whoever had bought the house,
and who owned the house now, started putting on that rough
exterior a new siding, and new soffits, and new trim, and new
guttering, and it started to look like a new house. Oh, it
looked like a total different house. But all they were doing
was covering up what was underneath. They were just hiding what was
old and weathered and just wore out and in bad shape. That's
not conversion. No, sir, it's not. None of the
inward structure had been changed, just covered up, made to look
new. The Lord said, except you be
converted. and become as little children
you shall not enter." Enter what? The kingdom of heaven. You shall
not be saved from the wrath of God. You shall not live, you
shall die in your sin. And this is not something that
we ourselves can become in and of ourselves. We have to be made
the righteousness of God in Him. Only one way to do so, by Christ
being made sin for us, And by us being made the righteousness
of God and Him, and it's God who makes the difference in that
work. It's God that does that. Christ is the exception to God's
rule. In Psalm 51 verse 13, David said,
Then will I teach transgressors thy ways, and sinners shall be
converted unto thee. That's what we do in preaching.
We're, from God's Word, showing sinners God's ways. We're showing
sinners God's ultimatums. And we're showing, most importantly,
God's exceptions to those ultimatums, and that they're in Christ and
Him alone. We point men to Christ. That's
what preaching is, pointing men to Christ. This is your only
hope. This is the only way. He's your
only salvation. God's grace and mercy are exceptions
to God's justice and condemnation upon sinners. Do you see that?
That's what I want you to see. The Lord Jesus said, for this
people's heart is waxed and gross, and their ears are dull of hearing,
and their eyes have been closed, lest at any time they should
see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand
with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal
them. The only way we're going to be
healed from this sin of disease that we have is that the Lord
convert us and heal us. And preaching is the means God
uses to give sight, hearing, and understanding to the heart.
Preaching is the ordained means that God incorporates to heal
those that are sick. Sick in sin. Those that are well
have no need. of a physician, but those that
are sick do. Only Christ can convert and heal us. Jesus Christ,
again, is the only exception to God's holy justice that demands
death, that sends wages. Okay, that brings us to the fourth
exception. This fourth ultimatum concerns
the death of the wicked. Look back a few pages to Matthew
chapter 5. Matthew chapter 5, beginning
in verse 20. Here the Lord says, For I say
unto you, that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness
of the scribes and the Pharisees, You shall in no case enter into
the kingdom of heaven. Now this statement, no doubt,
was shocking to Christ's disciples. Why, the Pharisees were professional
religionists. They were the people who tithed
and fasted and read the Bible and taught the Scriptures. They
were the ones that wore the religious garbs out in the streets and
stuffed their clothing with prayers, and when they walked by, people
were like, there's a Pharisee, he's so holy. Everyone thought
they were ultra-holy. And the Lord said, unless your
righteousness exceed theirs, you won't see the kingdom of
God. And I could just hear the disciples, how are we gonna do
that? Only one way. The disciples, I'm sure, said,
well, who then can be saved? If they're not saved, who can
be? If these men aren't saved, how can we be saved? And remember
what the Lord said in many instances. He said, that which is impossible
with man is possible with God. What kind of righteousness did
the Pharisees have? Well, first, the Lord said, unless
your righteousness exceed theirs. So first we see it was their
righteousness. That's the problem. Men and women
don't have any righteousness. The problem with the Pharisees'
righteousness is that it was theirs. It was not the righteousness
of God, it was theirs. They were going about to establish
their own righteousness. And that's what people are doing
today. They had a zeal for God, but it wasn't according to knowledge.
Their God was themselves. They had a zeal for themselves.
There's a lot of people today that have a zeal for themselves,
but not God. And it's not according to knowledge. They were ignorant of God's righteousness. They thought that God was altogether
one likened to themselves. The Pharisees went about to establish
their own righteousness. And it was an outward righteousness.
They made clean outside of the cup. That's what the Lord told
them. You're like a beautiful sepulcher, a beautiful housing
for a tomb. But on the inside, you're full
of excess and extortion. And the righteousness of the
Pharisees was theirs, it was outward, and it consisted of
two things, doing and not doing. Now, you hear me? The Pharisee
in the temple, you remember him? He prayed this way. He said he
prayed to himself. That's who he was praying to.
The Lord didn't hear him. He said, God, I thank you that
I'm not like other men. Isn't that a self-righteous prayer?
He said, I'm not an adulterer. I'm not an extortioner. I'm not
unjust. That was his righteousness. All
the things that he wasn't. And it was all outward. Every
bit of it. They made an effort, the Pharisees,
to carefully clean the outside of the cup, but inside was full
of envy and jealousy and lust and hatred. Pharisees said, I'm not like
other men. I'm much better. I don't do this and I don't do
that. He said, I tithe, I fast, I give alms to the poor. He was
a professional religionist. He said, I don't do and I do.
I don't do and I do. I don't do and I do. I'm not
like other men. I am special. You know, we still
got Pharisees today. I run into one every now and
then. They don't dress like the old ones do, but they're not
much different. Folks that are convinced that they're holier
than thou. They don't know what true holiness
is. Our righteousness must exceed their righteousness. Did you
hear me? That's what God said. That's
what the Lord said. Accept. Your righteousness exceed
theirs. And here's the reason it does,
friends. It's Christ's righteousness and not ours. It's inward righteousness,
not outward. Oh, that I may win Christ and
be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness. Not that which is of the law,
that which is filthy rags, but the righteousness of God, which
is by the faith of Jesus Christ. His faithfulness, not mine. It's
not our obedience at all. It's His obedience. Our Lord
Jesus came in the world. He took on flesh and blood. He
kept every jot and tittle of the law. And as our representative
and our substitute, He imputed or He charged to our count His
perfect righteousness. And that righteousness is mine. It's written in this book. It's
mine. It's yours if you trust in Him.
And it exceeds the righteousness of the Pharisees. And Christ's
righteousness is the exception. And when God looks at every believer,
what does He see? He sees the perfect righteousness
of Christ. Okay, and that brings me to the
fifth and final exception to the wages of sin, which is death.
And it's found back in the Gospel of John chapter 6. John chapter 6, verse 44. Hear the Lord speaking of man's
inability to come to Christ for life. The Lord Jesus says in
verse 44, no man, no woman, nobody can come to me Accept. Accept the Father which hath
sent me, draw Him, and I'll raise Him up at the last day." No sinner
has the ability to come to Christ because no man can. No sinner
has the desire to come to Christ because no man will. The Lord
said, you will not come to Me that you might have life. So
let's don't talk about our will, okay? It won't avail anything. The exception to this is like
all the others. The difference is the difference
that God makes. You see that? Our Lord said, except the Father
which sent Me draw you, you cannot come. He's got to give you life. He's got to give you the ability
to come. And we've talked about this so many times. We talked
about it very recently. That word draw in the Greek means
drag. And that's offensive to some
folks, because they'll tell you straight up that their will was
not against coming to Christ. You know, like, you didn't have
to drag me. They'll tell you proudly and
quickly that. And the only thing I can say
to that is that they've never truly come. The child of God,
the true child of God will tell you without hesitation that God
drug them. Now, He didn't drag them against
their will. I'm not trying to portray something
like that. You know, picturing God with
a rope tied around us and dragged us in the dirt behind a horse
like in the old westerns. That's not what that's talking
about. I was willing for God to drag me. He made me willing
for Him to drag me. Why? Because I can't walk. I
can't come. Like Mephibosheth, I am lame
on both feet from a great fall. I'm willing for the Father to
drag me. I'm happy to be dragged. Why? Because I couldn't come any other
way for life. I couldn't have life any other
way. Drag me, Lord, as long as I get there. And besides that,
it was a loving drag. The Lord doesn't have to drag
me with a rope in the dirt behind Him against my will. Be my good
shepherd. He puts me on His shoulder and
He carries me all the way to the fold of God. That's the kind
of dragging the Lord does. God cannot and will not save
sinners apart from His holy justice, which demands death to all who
sin. Yet the exceptions that He makes
are carried out because of another, and it's called substitution.
And that other is Christ Himself. And that, my friends, is the
gospel. No other message. God the Father took all the wrath
and all the judgment and all the justice and all the condemnation
that you and I deserve and He put it all on Christ. Christ
is the exception. We're born again because of Him.
We're born again in Him. We are given repentance because
of Christ. God forgives us for Christ's
sake. We are converted because only Christ can make us to differ.
And our righteousness exceeds the righteousness of all others
because Christ took our sin and made us the righteousness of
God in Him. And we come to Christ because
He's made us able and He's made us willing to come to Him for
life. And with that said, I've got a minute, I'm gonna use it.
With that said, I'm gonna quickly give you one last exception. Our Lord Jesus said, verily,
verily, I say unto you, except you eat the flesh of the Son
of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. You see,
friends, all the other exceptions that we've looked at this morning
are wrapped up in this one. When we partake of Christ, He
becomes a part of us and we become a part of Him. It's that union
that we as preachers try to explain, but we can't because it's past
finding out. Words won't allow us to express
the beauty of it. But being one with Christ is
the only exception that you and I need. May God be pleased to
make it so. For God's glory, our good, and
for Christ's sake. Amen.