Would you turn with me to Second
Timothy, Chapter 2. Second Timothy, Chapter 2. Tonight,
Lord willing, I'm going to be bringing a message addressing
this question. What is a prophet? What is a
prophet? I need to know. And we're going
to look at that from the life of Samuel. I have entitled the message for
this morning, No Exceptions. No Exceptions. In 2 Timothy 2, verse 25, I'm
sorry, verse 5. 2 Timothy 2, verse 5. And if a man also strive for
masteries, He's talking about competing in some kind of athletic
event. If a man strives for mastery,
yet is he not crowned, he can't win except he strives lawfully. If he's in an athletic event
and he cheats, he can't win the crown. The only way he can win
the crown is if he plays according to the rules. No exceptions. The word except is no exceptions. What I want to do in this message,
as the Lord enables me, I want to look where this word is used.
Except. Which means no exceptions. It
has a negative actually in the word, no exceptions. For instance, you don't have
to turn here, but in 1 Corinthians 4, verse 7, it says, and even
things without life giving sound, whether pipe or harp, except
they give a distinction in the sounds. How shall it be known
what is piped or harped? And I pray that God will cause
a distinction of sounds. to be made this morning. Now would you turn to John chapter
12? John chapter 12. Here's the first. No exception. Verse 23. And Jesus answered them, saying,
The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Verily,
verily, I say unto you, except, there's the word, except a corn
of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth
much fruit. The only way that you and I can
be saved and stand before God, not guilty, is if the Lord Jesus
Christ dies. No exceptions to that rule. The only way I can be saved is
if Christ died for me. If he didn't die, he's going
to remain alone. No one will be saved. The only
way that I can be saved is if he dies for me. That's my only ground of acceptance.
His death for me. Now, if he dies, no exceptions
to this rule, much fruit will come forth. If he doesn't die,
I will not be saved. You will not be saved. But if
he does die, which he did, much fruit will come forth. You know
what that's a reference to? That's a reference to the salvation
of God's elect. If he died, everybody that he
died for absolutely must be saved. You see, when the Lord was on
the cross, he wasn't merely making salvation a possibility. He made
salvation a certainty for everybody he died for. He wasn't making
a roll of the dice and hoping somebody would end up believing
on him. No, not at all. Everybody he died for, his elect,
they must be saved. Now, except he die, we won't
be saved. But if he dies, everyone who
believes must be saved. His death was an accomplishment.
Luke 9, 31, they speak of the decease which he should accomplish. So there's the first except.
Now turn to John chapter 3. John chapter 3, verse 27. John answered and said, A man
can receive nothing, except it be given him from above. Now, there's our second except.
A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from above. Now, a couple of things I want
to say about that. First, in 1 Corinthians chapter 4, verse
7, Paul said to the church of Corinth, who makes you to differ
from another? If you believe, then somebody
else doesn't. If you believe, then that person
beside you doesn't. Who made you to differ? Can you give yourself any credit?
No, if you believe, you know God made you to differ. Who makes
you to differ from another, and what do you have that you didn't
receive? Whatever you have is simply what
he gave you. Now, if you received it, he says,
why do you glory as if it came from you? A man can receive nothing
except it be given him from above. And here's the main point I want
to see out of that passage of scripture. Do you know you can't
even receive except it's given you the grace to receive. You
can't even receive the gift. I can't even receive the gift
unless God enables me to. A man can receive nothing. He lacks the ability to receive
anything except it be given him from above. Now, this is how
dependent we are. We can't even receive his glorious gift unless
he gives us the grace to receive it. That's a remarkable thought,
isn't it? Matthew chapter 5. Verse 20. The Lord says, for I say unto
you that except there's that word, there's no exceptions to
this rule, except your righteousness. Shall exceed the righteousness
of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall in no case enter the
kingdom of heaven under no circumstances whatsoever. Will you enter the
kingdom of heaven unless your personal righteousness is better,
exceeds, far surpasses the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees?
Now, what kind of righteousness did the scribes and Pharisees
have? We know Paul was a Pharisee before the Lord saved him. Very
religious man. And he said regarding himself,
he said, touching the righteousness which is in the law, I was blameless. To my knowledge, he's saying,
I never told a lie. To my knowledge, I never stole
anything. To my knowledge, I kept the law. Can anybody in this room say
that? Can you say to your knowledge
you've kept God's law? There isn't anybody in here who
can say that. As a matter of fact, all we've done is break God's
holy law. Now, he says, except your righteousness
exceed that righteousness that Paul talked about, because in
reality, that righteousness that Paul was talking about that he
had, he says, I found out there was nothing more than done. I
found out it was a lie. I found out it was filthy rags. When God saved him, he saw that
he had not kept the law one time. He found out the truth regarding
to the law. Now, except your righteousness exceed, surpass
the righteousness of these scribes and Pharisees, you won't enter
the kingdom of heaven. Now, the righteousness he's speaking
of, there's only one righteousness. That is the righteousness of
the Lord Jesus Christ, the righteousness which is of God. If I don't have
the very righteousness of God, And you hear that? If I don't
have the very righteousness of God Himself, of Jesus Christ
the Lord, I will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven. There's only
one righteousness that God will accept, and that is the righteousness
and the merit of His dear Son. And if I don't have His righteousness,
I won't enter the kingdom of heaven. Now, this is a glorious
thing to think about. If I'm saved, if I have righteousness
before God, it's because the righteousness, the perfect obedience
of the Lord Jesus Christ is mine. Just as truly as my sin became
his sin. That's why I died. He died because
he's guilty. My sin became his sin. He bore
the wrath of God and his righteousness is mine. So I stand before God
with the righteousness of God. Now, under no circumstances,
if you don't have his righteousness. You will not enter the kingdom
of heaven. John, Chapter three. John, Chapter three. Jesus answered and said unto
him, speaking to Nicodemus, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except
a man be born again, or born from above, he cannot see the
kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How
can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second
time into his mother's womb and be born? Jesus answered, Verily,
verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of
the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. Now Nicodemus,
and every other son of Adam who is ever saved, you must be born again, or you cannot enter
the kingdom of heaven. No exceptions to this rule. You
must be born from above. Now I think this is interesting.
Interesting is not the right word. Billy Graham wrote a book
entitled, How to be Born Again. You know, the Bible doesn't tell
how to be born again. But the Bible does say you must
be born again. You must be given a new life
that you can't come up with on your own. And this thing of the
new birth, we're totally in God's hands. I can't decide to become
born again, just like I don't know how to be born again. That's
evil. That's presumptuous. I don't know what else to say
about that. God's got to give me life that
was not there before. I must be born of the Spirit. God's got to do something for
me. And if He doesn't give me this new life, this new life
that results in faith toward God and repentance All that's
involved in being a believer, if he doesn't do that for me,
I will not be saved under any circumstance. Except a man be
born again, he cannot see the kingdom of heaven. Now turn over
to Luke chapter 13. Luke chapter 13, verse 1. There were present at that season
some that told him of the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled
with their sacrifices. And they were saying, you know,
what they were basically saying was, what do you reckon they
did that caused this judgment to come on? What evil thing did
they do? This is a bad bunch of people.
This would have never happened to them. You ever seen some kind
of bad thing happen to somebody and you think, well, what did
they do? What did they do? Well, if you thought something
like that, and we all have, it's very evil. Very evil. Let's go on reading. And Jesus
answering says to them, suppose ye that these Galileans were
sinners above all the Galileans because they suffered such things?
I tell you, no, but except you repent. You shall all likewise
perish, for those eighteen upon whom the tower in Siloam fell.
This was a current event at the time. Some kind of tower fell
in, maybe while they were building it. And eighteen people died. The tower in Siloam fell and
slew them. Think ye that they were sinners
above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you no, but except you
repent, you shall all likewise perish, except you repent. If you don't repent, you won't
be saved. Now, what is this thing of repentance?
Except you repent, you shall all likewise perish. Repentance means the change of
mind. A change of mind. You know, I
used to think things about God and believe things about God
that I don't believe anymore. I've changed my mind. I used
to think he's a lot like me. I thought there's something I
could do to please him. I don't think that anymore. I've changed
my mind. I've changed my mind about myself.
I used to believe if all the circumstances were right, perhaps
I could do the right thing. I used to think that I had the
power of will. I used to think that I could
choose the good if all the circumstances were just right. I don't believe
that about myself anymore. I've changed my mind regarding
myself. I see that I in myself am nothing but sin. I've repented
of my thoughts about myself. I've repented of my thoughts
of salvation. I used to think that there's
something that I could do in order to get God to save me.
I've repented of that. I see I'm totally in God's hands.
It's up to Him as to whether or not I'll be saved. Now, except
you repent. And you know, when the Scripture
speaks of repentance, it usually speaks of repentance and the
remission of sins or repentance concerning the remission of sins.
Now, here's what every natural man thinks. I've not come across
anybody who said, I don't have any sin. Everybody thinks they
need their sins forgiven. Now, We think, by nature, there's
something we can do to get God to forgive us of our sin. If
I do this, if I be that, if I stop this, God will forgive me of
my sin. I've repented of that. I see that salvation doesn't
end with the forgiveness of sin, with the things I do, but I see
it begins with the complete forgiveness of sin for Christ's sake. That's
the starting point. It's not the end. It's the beginning. It's the work of God. I repent
of all the wrong thoughts I have of myself, and I'm still repenting.
I repent of the wrong thoughts I've had of God. I repent of
the wrong thoughts I've had of salvation. I'm looking by the
grace of God to Christ only, and I repent of everything else. except you repent. Now religion gets this thing
of repentance really messed up. Repentance means you're really
sorry for what you did and you promise to never do it again.
If that's repentance, ain't none of us gonna be saved. Is that
clear? If that's what repentance is,
you won't be saved and I won't be saved. When is sorry enough
and what sin in your heart have you ever stopped? Not one. Repentance is a change of mind
concerning how God saves sinners by Christ. And except you repent,
you hold on to your old views and your natural views, you won't
be saved. Except we repent, we'll all likewise perish just like
all these other people. John chapter 6. John chapter 6. Now remember,
there are no exceptions to these rules. That's what the title
of this message, no exceptions. John chapter 6, verse 44. No man. Can. Come. To me. Now here are the
references to men's ability. No man can come to me. except the Father which has sent
me, draw him, and I'll raise him up at the last day. Now,
there's no exceptions to this rule. No man is able to come
to Christ unless God the Father draws them by invincible, irresistible
grace. There are no exceptions to that
rule. Now, this word, In James chapter 2, verse 6, it's used
like this. Do not rich men oppress you and
draw you before the judgment seats. Now, that doesn't mean
these rich men just draw. Come on in, fellas. No, that
means they dragged you before the judgment seats. That's what
it means. And you could just as easily
translate this verse like this. No man can come to me except
the Father which has sent me drag him. And I'll raise him
up at the last day. Now here's the fact of the matter.
You and I are unable because of our sinfulness, because of
our depravity, because of the wickedness of our nature. We
lack the ability to do even the simplest thing in the divine
life. And that's come to Christ. You can't go. You believe this. You cannot come to Christ unless
he causes you to and draws you invincibly and irresistibly by
his grace. You can't do it. Now, you can
argue with that, or you can say like that woman in the Song of
Solomon, draw me and we'll run after thee. If I find out that
I can't come unless he draws me, you and I say, Lord, draw
me. Draw me irresistibly and invincibly by your grace to yourself. Draw me. Can you pray that prayer
right now, Lord? Draw me. Don't lead me to myself. The worst thing that can happen
to me is to be left to myself. Now, you're there in John chapter
6. Look in verse 52. The Jews therefore strove among
themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? Then Jesus said unto them, 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. There's no exceptions to this
rule, except you personally. Eat the flesh of the Son of Man
and drink His blood. There's no life in you. Now, when our Lord said this,
the Lord's Table had not yet been instituted. As a matter
of fact, if you remember, the Lord's Table was instituted just
before His death. So He was not talking about some
ceremony of the Lord's Table where the You drink the wine
and it turns into blood and you eat the flesh and the bread that
turns into flesh and you're actually having the body and blood of
the Lord. The Lord's table had not been invented yet. Invented,
that's not the right word. It had not been instituted yet.
And this was not talking about cannibalism. He wasn't talking
about literally eating his flesh and literally drinking his blood. Now, what is he talking about
when he says, except a man eat my flesh and drink my blood,
he has no life in him. His flesh and his blood represent
his life and his death. Now, when I eat something, it
becomes part of me. Whatever I eat, assimilates into
my body and becomes part of me and I live off what I eat. And the only thing I can live
off is the life and the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
all I can live off of. That's the only. And except you
eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood to where
that is your life. His life is your life before
God. His death is your sin payment.
His resurrection is your justification. You are completely dependent
upon Him for all things. And let's go on reading this
passage of Scripture. Verse 7, 54. Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh
my blood hath eternal life, and I'll raise him up at the last
day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.
He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood dwelleth in me, and
I in him." This is speaking of union with the Lord Jesus Christ
in my consciousness. Not just something that happened
before time began, but He dwells in me. I dwell in Him. That's eating his flesh and drinking
his blood. Speaking of union with the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now turn over to Matthew chapter
18. Actually, this is the passage of scripture that inspired this
message while I was reading this and thinking about this. Matthew
chapter 18. Verse 1. At the same time came the disciples
unto Jesus, saying, Who's the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? And if you look at the other
gospels, you find out they were having an argument among themselves. Who would be the greatest in
the kingdom of heaven? I'm sure that none of them were. They didn't say it would be me,
but that's what they were thinking. You know, they had too much They
knew they shouldn't say, it's going to be me, but they were
thinking it. And they were arguing, well,
who's going to be the greatest? Well, the person that's done this, the person that's
done that, the person who's studied the most, who's given the most,
who's witnessed the most, who's read the Bible the most. Who's
the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? That was their question. At the same time came the disciples
unto Jesus, saying, who's the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?
And Jesus called a little child. unto him, and set him in the midst of them."
Now this little child is not talking about a 7 or 8 year old
kid. It's an infant. One who could not speak. Perhaps
a mother was outside holding her baby. And he said, bring
that child to me. And she brings that infant over.
And he sets that infant down in their midst. Verse 3, and
he said, Verily I say unto you, except you be converted, turned,
is the word. He's saying as long as you fellows
are talking like this, you won't even be in the kingdom of heaven.
Except you be converted and turned. and become as an infant. You shall not enter the kingdom
of heaven. To enter the kingdom of heaven,
I must be converted and become as an infant. Now what about
an infant? An infant can't talk. An infant
can't walk. An infant can't feed himself.
An infant can't clean himself. An infant is completely and totally
dependent. Now, except you become completely
and totally dependent upon the Lord Jesus Christ for all things,
just like an infant is complete. What's going to happen to an
infant if you leave that infant by itself? It's going to starve.
It's going to be filthy. Can't what? Totally dependent. The Lord says, except you be
converted and turn from this arguing over who's greatest in
the kingdom of heaven and what they really thought they were,
and be converted and become as little children, you shall not
enter the kingdom of heaven. Verse four, whosoever therefore
shall not humble himself. You know, I'd whole lot rather
humble myself and be humiliated, wouldn't you? Whosoever therefore
shall not humble himself as this little child, this infant, The
same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Now what that tells
me, always take the lowest seat. May the Lord enable us to do
that. And when we've hit the bottom, go down a little further.
Always take, whosoever abases himself shall be exalted. And whoever exalts himself shall
be abased. Except you be converted and become,
as little children, infants, Remember this, the way up in
the kingdom of heaven is down. The way up is down. John chapter 15. And these things that we're looking
at, there are no exceptions to these rules. John chapter 15. Verse 1. I am the true vine, and my Father
is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth
not fruit he taketh away, and every branch that beareth fruit
he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now you are
clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide
in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit
of itself, except it abide in the vine, no more can ye except
you abide in me." No fruit bearing without abiding in the vine,
in the Lord Jesus Christ, and there are no exceptions to that
rule. Now, in this thing of fruit bearing,
it's talking about the fruit of God the Holy Spirit. The fruit
of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness,
faith, meekness, temperance. The fruit of God the Holy Spirit
comes from Him. This fruit can only be born by
abiding in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now listen to me real carefully.
You don't try to bear fruit. If you try to bear fruit, you're
not bearing fruit. You don't try to put yourself in a place
where you're more likely to bear fruit. If I do this, that's not
what fruit-bearing is all about. Here's how fruit is born. By abiding in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now, what's it mean to abide
in Christ? It's a conscious desire The gift
of God in your heart, it's a conscious desire to not be found anywhere
else at any time. It's a conscious desire that
when God looks at me, All he sees is me in the Lord Jesus
Christ. He doesn't see me independently.
He doesn't see me in myself. As a matter of fact, it's a desire
for all God to see is Christ. Nothing else. That's all I want
him to see. Now, that's abiding in Christ.
And beloved, if you abide in Christ, you're going to bear
fruit. If you try to bear fruit, you won't bear it. But if you
abide in Christ, you will bear fruit to the glory of God the
Father. Now, there's no exceptions to
this rule. If you abide in Christ, you're going to bear fruit. Look
what it says in verse 5. I am the vine, you are the branches.
He that abideth in me and I in him, the same bringeth forth
much fruit. For without me, apart from me,
severed from me, you can do what? Nothing. Don't you know that
so? No exceptions. Turn to Romans
chapter 10. Let's begin reading in verse
11. For the scripture saith, Whosoever
believeth on him shall not be ashamed. You know what that means? That means when I stand before
God in judgment, I won't have anything to be ashamed of. You
know, preachers will, I'm sure I've done it as far as I know.
What if, what if all your thoughts were put up on a screen for everybody
to see that you've had this morning? Well, you'd run out of here.
But here is the glorious thing. All my thoughts will be put on
the screen, all my deeds will be put on the screen, and they'll
be perfect. I won't have anything to be ashamed
of, because the life of the Lord Jesus Christ, His righteousness,
is my righteousness. I will not be ashamed of anything
to be ashamed of. Verse 12. For there is no difference
between the Jew and the Greek. For the same Lord over all is
rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call
upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. What a blessed promise. That doesn't mean just audibly
putting out his name. His name is who he is. I'm calling
on His justice to save me. I'm calling on His power to save
me. I'm calling on His holiness to save me. I'm calling on His
sovereignty to save me. Lord, save me by who You are.
Now, let's go on reading verse 14. How, then, shall they call
on Him in whom they've not believed? You can't. You can't call on
an unrevealed Christ when you don't believe. And how shall
they believe in Him in whom they've not heard? You can't believe
what you've never heard. And how shall they hear without a
preacher? And how shall they preach except
they be sent? No exceptions to this rule. How
can they preach except they be sent? No man is a true preacher
unless God sent him for that purpose. Now the last scripture
I'd like to look at is Acts chapter 8. Acts chapter 8, verse 26. And the angel of the Lord, Acts
8, verse 26, And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying,
Arise, and go toward the south, unto the way that goeth down
from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert. And he arose, and
went, and, behold, A man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under
Candacy, queen of the Ethiopians who had the charge of all her
treasure, had come to Jerusalem to worship. I love to think of
this man. He comes to Jerusalem to worship.
He knew that there was no worshiping of God, apart from the scriptures,
apart from Jerusalem. He didn't understand that, that
he came wanting to worship God. That's why he came. He came to
worship. Verse 28, he was returning, and
sitting in his chariot, he read Isaiah the prophet. Now, I think
that he went to Jerusalem to worship, and he left there just
as empty as he came. Not really understanding what
was going on. Not understanding why the sacrifices
were being made. Not understanding the Passover.
Not understanding these feasts. So he comes back as empty as
he came, but he was doing something that's a mighty good thing to
do. He was reading the Bible. You can't go wrong reading the
Bible, you know. You just can't go wrong reading the Bible. And
verse 29, Then the Spirit said unto Philip,
Go near, and join thyself to this chariot. And Philip ran
thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Isaiah, and
said, Understandest thou what thou readest? Now, he was reading
from Isaiah 53. And Philip comes up to him. Do
you understand what you're reading? Now, I just know, If I'd come
up to somebody reading the Bible, and I'd say, do you understand
what you're reading, what they say? Well, sure I do. Here's
what it means. Here's what I think it means. But look at the attitude of this
man. He says in verse 31, and he said,
how can I? I cannot get this on my own. I can't do it. I don't understand.
How can I? Except some man should guide
me. That's what the preaching of
the gospel is. How can I? Except some man should guide
me. Let's go on reading. And he desired,
Philip, that he would come up and sit with him. The place of
the scripture which he read was he was led as a sheep to slaughter
and like a lamb done before his shearers, so opened he not his
mouth. In his humiliation, his judgment
was taken away. Talking about Isaiah 53. And
who shall declare his generation for his life is taken from the
earth. Now, here is this man who is brought before judgment
and he doesn't open his mouth. He doesn't answer for himself.
He just He doesn't say anything. The reason he doesn't say anything
is because he's guilty. If he wasn't guilty, he would
have protected himself, but he was guilty. This is talking about
the substitutionary death of the Lord Jesus Christ, where
my sin became his. Now look, verse 34. And the eunuch
answered Philip and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet
of this, of himself or of some other man? Then Philip opened
his mouth and began at that same scripture and preached unto him,
Jesus. There's the message. There's
the only message. This is talking about the Lord.
He's the Lamb of God. The sins of God's people were
placed upon him. He died under the wrath of God,
raised because he satisfied God's justice. He's now seated at the
right hand of the Father. Anybody who calls on his name
will be saved. The Lord Jesus Christ. Verse
36, And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain
water. Evidently, Philip had said something about baptism.
And the eunuch said, See, Here's water, what doth hinder me to
be baptized?" And I like this guy's attitude. He's thinking,
you know, there's probably something wrong with me. Maybe I'm not
a canon for baptism. I'd like to know, should I be
baptized? Is there anything that's keeping
me from being baptized? If there is, I want to know. Verse 37, And Philip said, If
thou believest with all thine heart thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe
that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Do you believe that? That's what believers believe.
And he commanded the chariots to stand still, and they went
down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch. And he
baptized him. And when they would come up out
of the water, the spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, and
the eunuch saw him no more. And he went on his way rejoicing. Now, there are no exceptions
at all to these rules. If the corn weed doesn't die,
it's going to abide alone. It's talking about the death
of Christ. If he doesn't die, you can't be saved. But if he
dies, everybody he died for must be saved. The salvation of everybody
he died for is a divine necessity. Isn't that wonderful? A man can receive nothing except
it be given him from above. Except your righteousness exceed
the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall in no
case enter the kingdom of heaven. You must have the righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Except a man be born again, he
cannot see or enter the kingdom of heaven. Except you repent,
you shall all likewise perish. No man can come to me except
the Father which has sent me. Draw him. Except you eat the
flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in
you. No bearing of fruit except as
we abide in the vine. How can they preach except they
be sent? Understand what you're reading?
How can I? Except some man should guide
me. There are no exceptions to these
rules. A man is not crowned except he
strive lawfully. Let's pray together.