Here John is telling those to whom he was addressing that when the Lord Jesus appears that they will be like Him:
"Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is" (1 Jn.3:2).
There was never a teaching in regard to kingdom saints which spoke of living saints being made like the Lord Jesus at His appearing so this has to refer to the rapture.
And it will only be those in the Body of Christ who will be raptured. Therefore, the saints who were being addressed by John were members of the Body of Christ.
Besides that, there is only one appearing of the Lord Jesus which can be described as "imminent" and that is the time when the living saints will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air.
The president of the Berean Bible Society is Paul Sadler and he is also a Neo-MADist. Here is what he says about the rapture:
"According to Paul's gospel the Rapture is 'imminent,' that is, it could take place at any moment. There are no signs, times, or seasons that will precede this glorious event" [emphasis mine] (Sadler, "The Present Obsession With the Anti-Christ," The Berean Searchlight, June, 1999, 7).
The teaching that the rapture is "imminent" is supported by the following passage:
"For our citizenship is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body...The Lord is at hand (eggus)" (Phil.3:20-21;4:5).
The Greek word
eggus means
"of times imminent" (Thayer's Greek English Lexicon).
Those to whom the epistle of James were addressed were also expecting an "imminent" appearance of the Lord Jesus:
"You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near. Don't grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door! " (Jas 5:8-9).
The Greek word translated "is near" at James 5:8 is eggizo and in this verse that word means
"to be imminent" (
A Greek English Lexicon, Liddell & Scott [Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1940], 467).
It is obvious that there can only be one appearing of the Lord which can be described as being "imminent" then it cannot be denied that those to whom the epistle of James were addressed were waiting for the rapture.
One of the chief spokesmen within the Neo-MAD moment is Paul Sadler and he says the following:
"The 'secret' resurrection that will take place at the Rapture should never be confused with the 'first' resurrection at the Second Coming of Christ. Those who rightly divide the Word of truth now see that only the members of the Body of Christ will be raised at the Rapture" [emphasis mine] (Sadler, Exploring the Unsearchable Riches of Christ [Stephens Point, WI: Worzalla Publishing Co., 1993], 167).
Therefore, there can be no doubt whatsoever that those who originally received the book of Hebrews were in the Body of Christ.