The Parable of the Talents is spoken immediately after the Parable of the Ten Virgins. Matthew chapters 24 and 25 are about the return of Christ to set up His Millennial Kingdom, also known as the Kingdom of Heaven.
"Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh. For the Kingdom of Heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods." - Matthew 25:13-14
The two parables contain many of the same elements:
Jesus (the bridegroom and the traveling man) will return at an unknown time
Wise followers
Foolish followers
Since the Bible will always interpret the Bible, we can eliminate a few presumptions in this parable. The first is that the third servant was sent to Hell because he did not produce a profit. This can be easily dismissed because it is through His grace that we are saved (Eph. 2:8-9) and we cannot lose our salvation (John 3:16, 14:16; Eph. 4:30). Also, the unproductive Christian and the productive Christian alike will be taken away in the Rapture (1 Thess. 5:10).
The second presumption that we can eliminate is that all of them were saved. Only those that have not accepted what Jesus did for us on the cross (1 Cor. 15:1-4) will go to Hell (Rom. 6:23).
The third presumption is that because of the Master's grace to two of the servants (which would imply an easier time increasing profits), the third servant didn't have as fair of a chance to produce. This can be dismissed by looking at the wicked servant's view in verses 24 and 25. He did not work because he was afraid of his Master.
The final presumption that can be rejected is that the two servants went to Heaven because they worked hard for the Lord. God does not show favoritism (Rom. 2:11), and again, we are not saved by works (Eph. 2:8-9).
The Master say to his servants "enter thou into the joy of thy Lord" two times in this parable. The Bible describes this joy in a couple of places. In Nehemiah 8:10, the exiled Jews that were back in Jerusalem began to weep after hearing the Law read to them. They were told not to cry or "neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the Lord is your strength". Notice that the Israelites could not have this joy until AFTER they learned the Scriptures. The Apostle Paul wrote, "looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God" (Heb. 12:2). Paul was talking about the Gospel which says:
"Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; And that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures." - 1 Corinthians 15:1-4
The joy of the Lord can only be given once we know the Gospel and the Gospel comes from the Scriptures. The two servants were worked hard because they loved their Savior.
As with the Parable of the Ten Virgins, Jesus will not accept a Jew into His Kingdom upon His return just because the person is of Israel. Romans 9:6 says "not as though the Word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel".
It is important how we view God. God is not the "hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed" that the lazy servant viewed Him as. The Psalmist wrote that "the Earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein" (24:1). Paul wrote "for by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him, and for Him" (Col. 1:16). Their Master, the Creator of all things, the rightful owner of everything, is a loving God that gave Himself as a ransom for us (Matt. 20:28) and bore all of our sins (Is. 53:6) and wants to forgive us for every wrong thing we have every done (1 John 1:9).
If the main lesson to be gained from the Parable of the Ten Virgins is that Jesus knows who is phony, then the Parable of the Ten Talents teaches us that rejecting Him is on us.
No matter who you are, we all have the same two choices to make before we die:
We can either accept the truth about who He is like the two faithful servants did and truly accept Him as our Savior like the wise virgins, or, we can be fake and hold a false view like the foolish virgins and the wicked servant.
"Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap."
- Galatians 6:7