Folks remember that before 1948 those that believed Israel would return as a nation were laughed at and called a cult I'm sure. Then when Israel was born they said it didn't matter because it was just the deception of the devil - how ironic. Now as the appointed time approaches more naysayers appear. Don't think for an instance this is a coincidence. Even after the rapture occurs they'll deny it even happened. Let them.
Many quote, erroneously, that The Rapture doctrine, was the invention of the Plymouth Brethren led by John Nelson Darby (1800-1882). But the truth is this, Iranaeus of Lyons, (130 A.D. – 202 AD) was a bishop of the church in Lyons, France. He was an eyewitness to the Apostle John (who wrote the Book of Revelation) and a disciple of Polycarp, the first of the Apostle John’s disciples. On the subject of the Rapture, in
Against Heresies 5.29, he wrote:
"And therefore, when in the end the Church shall be suddenly caught up from this, it is said, 'There shall be tribulation such as has not been since the beginning, neither shall be.' For this is the last contest of the righteous, in which, when they overcome they are crowned with incorruption."
Then there's Cyprian (200 AD – 258 AD) – Cyprian was Bishop of the church in Carthage. In
Treatises of Cyprian he wrote in describing the end times Great Tribulation:
"We who see that terrible things have begun, and know that still more terrible things are imminent, may regard it as the greatest advantage to depart from it as quickly as possible. Do you not give God thanks, do you not congratulate yourself, that by an early departure you are taken away, and delivered from the shipwrecks and disasters that are imminent? Let us greet the day which assigns each of us to his own home, which snatches us hence, and sets us free from the snares of the world and restores us to paradise and the kingdom."
Next we have
Ephraim (306 AD – 373 AD) was made a deacon in the church in Syria in 338 and later became the bishop of Nisibis. In his work,
On The Last Times 2, he wrote:
"Or do you not believe unless you see with your eyes? See to it that this sentence be not fulfilled among you of the prophet who declares: “Woe to those who desire to see the day of the Lord!” For all the saints and elect of God are gathered, prior to the tribulation that is to come, and are taken to the Lord lest they see the confusion that is to overwhelm the world because of our sins. And so, brothers most dear to me, it is the eleventh hour, and the end of the world comes to the harvest, and angels, armed and prepared, hold sickles in their hands, awaiting the empire of the Lord."
Although the rapture did not happen as he thought, his belief in 373 AD was that of the rapture then the start of the tribulation. Now on to more modern commentators, yet before the 1800's as the "birth" of the "false" teaching of the "rapture".
John Gill (1697 - 1771) says of 1 Thess 4:17:
"Then we which are alive and remain,....
shall be caught up; suddenly, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, and with force and power; by the power of Christ, and by the ministry and means of the holy angels; and to which rapture will contribute, the agility which the bodies both of the raised and changed saints will have: and this rapture of the living saints will be
together with them; with the dead in Christ, that will then be raised; so that the one will not come before the other, or the one be sooner with Christ than the other; but the one being raised and the other changed, they will be joined in one company and general assembly, and be caught up together:
in the clouds; the same clouds perhaps in which Christ will come, will be let down to take them up; these will be the chariots, in which they will be carried up to him; and thus, as at our Lord's ascension a cloud received him, and in it he was carried up out of the sight of men, so at this time will all the saints ride up in the clouds of heaven:
to meet the Lord in the air; whither he will descend, and will then clear the regions of the air of Satan, and his posse of devils, which now rove about there, watching all opportunities, and taking all advantages to do mischief on earth; these shall then fall like lightning from heaven, and be bound and shut up in the bottomless pit, till the thousand years are ended: here Christ will stop, and will be visible to all, and as easily discerned by all, good and bad, as the body of the sun at noonday; as yet he will not descend on earth, because it is not fit to receive him; but when that and its works are burnt up, and it is purged and purified by fire, and become a new earth, he will descend upon it, and dwell with his saints in it: and this suggests another reason why he will stay in the air, and his saints shall meet him there, and whom he will take up with him into the third heaven, till the general conflagration and burning of the world is over, and to preserve them from it; and then shall all the elect of God descend from heaven as a bride adorned for her husband, and he with them, and the tabernacle of God shall be with men; see Re 21:1. The resurrection by the Mahometans is called לקא אללה, "a meeting of God", or a going to meet God:
and so shall we ever be with the Lord; now the saints are with him at times, and have communion with him, but not always; but then they shall be ever with him; wherever he is; first in the air, where they shall meet him; then in the third heaven, where they shall go up with him; then on earth, where they shall descend and reign with him a thousand years; and then in the ultimate glory to all eternity: and this will be the issue and accomplishment of the counsel and covenant of grace, of the sufferings and death of Christ, and of his preparations and prayers."
Next you have Matthew Poole, (1624 - 1679) who stated in his commentary on 1 Thess 4:17:
"Christ will have a church to the end of the world, and some will be found alive at his coming, and will be
caught up, or snatched up, to denote its suddenness, it may be in the arms of angels, or by some immediate attractive power of Christ; and it will be
together with them that are now raised from the dead; they shall all ascend in one great body, and it will be
in the clouds; as Christ himself ascended in a cloud, Act 1:9, and so will return again, Mat 24:30, he making the clouds his chariots, Psa 104:3.
To meet the Lord in the air:
1. To congratulate his coming, when others shall flee and tremble.
2. To put honour upon him; as the angels will also attend him for that end.
3. To receive their final discharge.
4. To be visibly joined to their Head.
5. To be assistants with him in judging of the world, and to reign with him upon earth.
And whether the last judgment will be upon the earth, or in the air, I shall not determine; but after this Christ and his saints shall never part. Their first meeting shall be in the air, and their continuance will be with him while he is in this lower world, and after that they shall ascend with him into heaven, and so be for ever with him. Augustine imagined that the saints that are found alive shall in their rapture die, and then immediately revive, because it is appointed to all men once to die; but the apostle saith expressly: We shall not all die, but we shall all be changed, 1Co 15:51. "
So if these people choose to believe what they believe, let them. Anyone who says those that believe it is a CULT will receive 5 warning points from me for breaking rules 2 and 3. I'm not saying you must believe in the rapture, but accusing others as being part of a cult is arrogant, self righteous, and nothing more than stirring up strife. Those that point fingers I remind you that you have three pointing back at yourselves and obviously you do not even know the meaning of the word
cult. To remove your ignorance, I continue with the definition:
1.
a. A religion or religious sect generally considered to be extremist or false, with its followers often living in an unconventional manner under the guidance of an authoritarian, charismatic leader.
b. The followers of such a religion or sect.
2. A system or community of religious worship and ritual.
3. The formal means of expressing religious reverence; religious ceremony and ritual.
Stop living in the internet and live in the Spirit!