I'm not sure if you can have a file list in exclude option but you can try this:
rsync -avz --exclude delete_file_1.php --exclude dir_1/file4.txt directory_source/ directory_destination/
or you can
rsync -avz --exclude 'dir_1/dir_2/file_3.php' source/ destination/
or you can
rsync -avz --exclude 'dir*' <-- wildcard match here
If I were you I'd create test folders to be synced to remote destination and see how it works out. As long as you have the exclude option correct you can manipulate it to exclude plenty of files.