As the last days continue, people won’t be able to waver between Christianity and the secular world for much longer.
So if we are in the end times, how will we know when the church age actually ends? Well, it ends with the Rapture of the Church. Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians 4:14-18:

For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.

For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
(1 Thess. 4:14-18)

I like to think about what this day will look like. Graves popping open, Christians around the world leaving this earth, can you imagine the stir that’s going to cause? In fact, I think the Rapture may be the trigger for the end-time harvest of souls that many people have talked about.

What else would affect the world in such an enormous way than having hundreds of millions of people completely disappear? I know a lot of people would immediately get their lives right if they found themselves stuck on earth after the Rapture had taken place, facing the Tribulation. Not exactly what people would call a good time!

But, Mac, I thought the harvest of souls would come before the Rapture?

Yes, the end of this age is going to carry with it the greatest outpouring of God’s Spirit, the most awesome revival and harvest that the world has ever seen. I’m excited that we get to be participants in this Holy Spirit time of revival. As James 5:7-8 says:

Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold the husbandman waitheth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming the Lord draweth nigh.

But too many people depend on the end-time revival as their means of salvation. They think, “I’ll get serious about God when the revival comes.” That’s a dangerous place to be. As this age comes to a close, a growing polarity will be seen between light and darkness.

Jesus is coming for a bride that is pure and spotless, holy and without blemish (Ephesians 5:27). But as the Church walks in more and more light, evil will become more prevalent. Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 3:13, “But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.”  

As the last days continue, people won’t be able to waver between Christianity and the secular world for much longer. They will either come down on God’s or Satan’s side. If you’re playing around with the world or not diligently pursuing God, you will get sucked in the wrong direction.

I know what I can and can’t handle. This won’t bother me. I’ll still be able to walk with God, you may think! No matter how strong you think you are, not matter how great you think your relationship with God is, no matter what excuse you can come up with, if you don’t purposely choose to follow God on a daily basis, you will wind up on the world’s side.

Don’t wait for the revival to get serious about God; you might be waving goodbye to all your friends and remaining in the Tribulation. You can’t determine the day of your salvation (John 6:44). The Rapture will come on us like a thief in the night (1 Thess. 5:2), so I highly suggest choosing the right way before you’re stuck on this earth longer that you want to be.

This is how the church age will close with a shout and trump and a catching away of Christians to meet the Lord in the sky. You and I will be changed in the twinkling of an eye (1 Cor. 15:52). What a glorious day that will be! Glory to God! Hallelujah!

Source: The Big Picture by Mac Hammond
Excerpt permission granted by Mac Hammond Ministries