"Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. “But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. “For this reason you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will. “Who then is the faithful and sensible slave whom his master put in charge of his household to give them their food at the proper time? “Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes. “Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions. “But if that evil slave says in his heart, ‘My master is not coming for a long time,’ and begins to beat his fellow slaves and eat and drink with drunkards; the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour which he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." [Matthew 24:42-51 NASB]
I want to remind you that Jesus is not addressing the crowds, but His disciples.
He has made it clear that we are to recognize the signs of His coming, but even so, no one will know the day or hour. We must remain vigilant in looking for His coming, but we must also remain faithful to His calling.
There is a school of theology that is summarized with the phrase, "Once saved, always saved." In reading these words of Jesus, it seems apparent that He disagrees.
Who is it that Jesus says is put in charge of the household? His servant. Not another's servant, and not a hireling, but His own.
The faithful servant is praised and given greater responsibility.
The other servant grows weary in well-doing, and begins to doubt the Lord's return. He gives place to sin, and walks away from what his master has called him to do. He will be punished, and "in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
Some like to quote from Romans and say that their salvation is secure, no matter what.
"For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." [Romans 8:38-39 NASB]
It is true that there is no outside force that can remove you from the grace of God. However:
"For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame." [Hebrews 6:4-6 NASB]
You still have the choice to walk away from the love of God. Through a willful continuing in sin, through a love of pleasure over the love of God, or through neglect, and letting the heart grow cold, it is possible to fall away. For a Christian to live a sinful lifestyle is to put Jesus to open shame.
Remain sober and vigilant. Don't neglect the Holy Spirit within you, but commune with Him daily (and all throughout the day).
You know when you are sinning, because the guilt you feel is the Holy Spirit convicting you of your sin. The only viable solution for your soul is to stop sinning. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Call on the name of Jesus, and He will deliver you from your sin. Be aware of the presence of the Holy Spirit within you. As Paul says, "But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh." [Galatians 5:16 NASB]
Whether you meet Jesus in the clouds at the time of the rapture, or if you die first, you should be ready to meet Him today and every day.
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