Wake Up!
In Matthew 22, Jesus is questioned by religious leaders seeking to test Him.
Wake Up!
Sermon given on 3/22/2026
They ask Him which commandment is the greatest. Jesus responds by going straight to the heart of the law. He says to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. Then He adds, love your neighbor as yourself.
Jesus is not just giving a religious answer. He is showing what life is built on. He is showing what matters most. He is pointing to what will still stand when everything else begins to fall apart. He answers a question about what matters most, but He is also revealing what will matter when everything else stops working.
What we are seeing in the world right now is not random. It is not accidental, and it is not out of control. It is part of a larger movement toward a divine conclusion. Jesus speaks about this in Matthew 24, where He describes wars, conflicts, and instability among nations. What we are seeing is not the end by itself, but it is part of the road leading there.
This is where spiritual awakening begins. Spiritual awakening is the moment a person begins to see clearly. It is when your understanding shifts. It is when you begin to realize that the struggle is not only physical, but spiritual. It is when you recognize that what looks stable is fragile, what looks valuable is temporary, and what people trust most, money, will not be able to save them.
To awaken spiritually is to come out of illusion and into truth. It is to move from comfort into clarity. It is to stop sleepwalking through life and begin to see the world as it really is.
In the days ahead, survival will not be determined by what you have or how much money you have hidden away. It will be shaped by what you see, what you value, the relationships you build, and who you choose to become. Many people are building their lives on things that cannot last. They are trusting systems that will fail. They are depending on resources that will run out.
Jesus gives another way. Love God fully. Love your neighbor as yourself. This is not just a teaching. It is a blueprint. It is a pattern. It is a survival plan. In the last days, whether you live or die will depend on your relationship with God and the relationships you have built with your neighbors, your family, and your friends.
That leads to a simple but serious question. If everything you depend on stopped working tomorrow, who would you have?
One truth becomes very clear. To survive what is coming, you will need other people. In the last days, resources will become scarce. There will be times when you cannot get what you need on your own. There will be times when money does not work the way it used to. There will be times when access is limited. In those moments, what you have will not be enough by itself. You will need your neighbor.
This is not dramatic language. It is reality. Without each other, people will die. Without each other, people will not make it. Without each other, people will fall, break, and be left carrying more than they can bear. That is why the command to love your neighbor matters so deeply.
The Bible gives a clear picture of this in the story of Ruth and Naomi. Naomi is grieving, empty, and vulnerable. Ruth chooses to stay with her. She says, “Where you go I will go.” That decision is more than loyalty. It becomes survival. Naomi does not make it through that season alone. God uses relationships to carry her through and bring her into a new future.
We see the same pattern in the early church. In Acts 2, believers stayed together, shared what they had, and cared for one another. No one lacked. They did not survive because they had more than everybody else. They survived because they stayed connected. They understood that when resources become scarce, relationships become necessary.
This is one of the great truths of the gospel that many people overlook. Money cannot replace people. It cannot love you, support you, or stand with you. It can open doors, but it cannot hold you up. When systems shift, money may lose its value, but people will still matter. Family will matter. Friends will matter. Neighbors will matter.
Love is not just an idea. It is a structure. When Jesus says, love your neighbor as yourself, He is giving more than a moral instruction. He is giving a way of life that creates stability when everything else is unstable. Love builds trust. Love builds connection. Love builds support. Love builds a network that can carry people through difficult times.
This kind of life does not happen by accident. It requires a choice. You have to choose to care. You have to choose to show up. You have to choose to stay connected. The relationships you neglect today may be the ones you wish you had tomorrow. The people you ignore today may be the very people you need later.
In the end, the message is simple. To survive what is coming, we will need each other. That means now is the time to wake up. Now is the time to rebuild relationships. Now is the time to let go of isolation and move toward connection. Now is the time to love your neighbor as yourself.
This is the blueprint. This is the pattern. This is the survival plan. And in the days ahead, you will need your neighbors, your family, and your friends.
