Against Heresies 5:29 ~“Those nations however, who did not of themselves raise up their eyes unto heaven, nor returned thanks to their Maker, nor wished to behold the light of truth, but who were like blind mice concealed in the depths of ignorance, the word justly reckons “as waste water from a sink, and as the turning-weight of a balance — in fact, as nothing;”(1) so far useful and serviceable to the just, as stubble conduces towards the growth of the wheat, and its straw, by means of combustion, serves for working gold. 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.”(2) For this is the last contest of the righteous, in which, when they overcome they are crowned with incorruption.”

He (Paul) says those who remain unto the coming of Christ, along with the dead in Christ, will rise first, being 'caught up in the clouds to meet the LORD in the air.” By the mouth of Isaiah it was said long ago “who are these who fly like clouds unto me, as doves with their young ones?'