Last Lessons from Nehemiah
By Dr. Bill Rains, Senior Pastor | October 4, 2026
Father, thank You for this day and this great attendance, here corporately and also those listening online. Thank You for this great text. Lord, I know it contains some things that really take us back in our day and we don’t understand. But God, help us to glean Your truths and apply them to our lives. Thank You so much for our precious children and these dear mommies and daddies that go the extra mile to get their children in Sunday school and church so they can learn about Jesus. I pray You’ll bless them with joy unspeakable and full of glory. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
On October 4, 2026, Dr. Bill Rains, Senior Pastor, preaches Last Lessons from Nehemiah from Nehemiah 13:15-31. As the series Need for Nehemiahs draws to a close, Pastor Rains shows how compromise left behind when the leader was away produced lasting results: the Sabbath was treated as common, temptation camped at the door, and God dealt severely with leaders who led others astray.
1. A Profaning of the Sabbath Day
Nehemiah returned to find the people treading winepresses, bringing in sheaves, and carrying all manner of burdens into Jerusalem on the Sabbath. He testified against them. The word “profane” means to take what God designed as sacred and drag it down to the level of the common and secular. One of the Ten Commandments is clear: Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. While New Testament believers are not bound to the Old Testament Saturday Sabbath, we honor the Lord’s Day—the first day of the week—because Jesus rose on that day. Pastor Rains declared with holy urgency, “Sunday is not your day. Sunday is not my day. Sunday is not family day. Sunday is not sports day. Sunday is the Lord’s Day.” He challenged every parent and every believer not to let sports, rest, or anything else push the Lord out of His day. The priority must remain: bring the children to Sunday school, to church, and into the Lord’s army. A good church family will go to the end of its strength for the spiritual health of a child. Let us not be guilty of taking the Lord’s Day from Him and living as though it is ours.
2. The Presence of Temptation
Even after Nehemiah shut the gates and posted guards so that no merchandise could enter on the Sabbath, the merchants simply camped just outside the wall, laden camels waiting for the first opportunity. The temptation remained constantly in eye-shot and hand-shot. Pastor Rains compared it to the modern struggle when the belly growls during the sermon and the mind already races toward dinner, or when the lure of extra money or “keeping up with the Joneses” pulls a believer toward work on the Lord’s Day. The enemy’s tactic is still the same: place the forbidden or the unnecessary right where it is easy to reach. The lesson is clear—the devil will camp at the front door if we allow it. We must flee those situations that continually tempt us and instead follow after righteousness. As the Scripture warns, we are to abstain from all appearance of evil and not be drawn away of our own lust and enticed.
3. Punishment for Disobeying God
The final section of the chapter is hard for modern ears. Nehemiah contended with the people, cursed them (pronouncing God’s judgment), smote some, plucked off their hair, and made them swear they would not give their sons and daughters in marriage to the surrounding pagan nations. The priests and Levites—the very leaders—had married women of Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. Their children could not even speak the language of God’s people. Nehemiah pointed back to Solomon: even the wisest king, beloved of God, was caused to sin by outlandish women. Because leadership had led others into the same disobedience, God required a severe separation. Pastor Rains was careful to note that God does not deal with New Testament believers in exactly the same manner, yet the principle remains. Those who choose to serve as preachers, teachers, and servants of God cannot live like everyone else. God holds them to a higher standard. If a man is not willing to meet that standard, he is not qualified for the work.
Sunday is the Lord’s Day.
Temptation will camp at the door if we allow it.
Spiritual leaders must live under a higher standard.
Beloved, these last lessons from Nehemiah are written for our learning. Let us guard the Lord’s Day carefully, remove every unnecessary occasion of temptation, and—especially those who lead—walk in the higher calling God has placed upon us. May our children grow up knowing the language of heaven because their parents and their pastors put God first.
