Finishing The Wall
By Dr. Bill Rains, Senior Pastor | April 12, 2026
Father, thank you for this great book of Nehemiah. Thank you for this great text. Thank you for this great singing, Lord. May today be special to all of us in some way.
On April 12, 2026, Dr. Bill Rains preaches Finishing The Wall from Nehemiah 6:1-19. The wall was finished in just fifty-two days, and so can your work for God—if you overcome deceit, maintain determination, and press on to the delight of a finished task.
1. Get Past the Deceitfulness of Our Enemies
When the trouble inside the city was resolved, trouble from outside arose again. The enemy is never finished. The devil will never let you alone for very long. He opposes us from without or within.
In Nehemiah 6, the enemies sent messengers four times, inviting Nehemiah to the plain of Ono—“Oh no!” They meant mischief, not fellowship. They tried threats, false prophets (including a woman prophetess), and even nobles with money and influence. Yet Nehemiah refused to come down. He prayed instead.
“We are not ignorant of his devices” (2 Corinthians 2:11). The devil has an arsenal of deceptions to lure you off the wall—into his territory, into fear, into compromise. Some people in church even act like false prophets, professing to want what’s best while fellowshipping with compromisers. Young converts especially: you will have to get past a lot of deception to finish your wall.
2. Have the Determination of Nehemiah
In spite of laughter and ridicule (chapter 2), the threat of war (chapter 4), lazy leaders who wouldn’t work (chapter 3), internal disunity caused by selfishness (chapter 5), and every external deception (chapter 6)—Nehemiah kept working on the wall.
Again and again the preacher reminded us: Nehemiah kept working.
When they called him down, he answered, “I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down” (Nehemiah 6:3). We are doing a great work! The measure of a person is not what they accomplish, but what it takes to make them quit. Don’t talk to me about quitting. It’s not in my vocabulary. I’m going to keep working on the wall.
3. Experience the Delight of a Finished Task
“So the wall was finished… in fifty-two days” (Nehemiah 6:15). There will be a day when your work for God is finished. God already knows the date. On that day, if you have stayed on the wall, you will hear the sweetest words ever spoken: “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.”
The apostle Paul could say, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7). A crown of righteousness awaits—not only for Paul, but for everyone who loves His appearing. What a delight to enter eternity having finished the wall!
We’re doing a great work.
Don’t come down.
Keep working on the wall until you hear, “Well done!”
Let’s determine today, with the help of God, to get past every deception, maintain Nehemiah-like determination, and one day experience the unspeakable delight of a finished task—when Jesus Himself says, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.”
