IDEA: Hell involves regret over missed opportunities. TEXT: "Then he who had received the one talent came and said, 'Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.' But his lord answered and said to him, 'You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents. For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth' " (Matthew 25:24-30).

PURPOSE: To help listeners realize that turning their back on opportunities to serve God now can have eternal consequences.

In Matthew 25:28, there’s a strange phrase. The master is responding to a servant who has buried his talent, and he says, "Take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents."

The phrase raises a great many questions, the main one being, "What is Jesus driving at when He puts this in the story?"

I. If a talent stands for opportunities to use our abilities to serve Christ, then what does Jesus mean when He says, "Take the talent from him and give it to him who has ten talents"?

It seems to mean that the man who buried his talent did not use his opportunities. Thus he will not be given another opportunity.

The person who has invested his opportunities well will be given even more opportunities.

Jesus explains that by saying, "For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance. But from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

The principle is that opportunities embraced and used lead to greater opportunities, but opportunities that are shunned will close off future opportunities to us.

II. There are many ways in which the Bible pictures hell.

It is common in the parable to say "there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." That sounds like the agony of regret.

Throughout eternity men and women will live with regret because there are no more opportunities to do what they were created to do.

They were made to honor God and to find their greatest fulfillment in that, but they neglected the opportunities, and now nothing is left to them.

We get a sense of that on earth.

Deprivation doesn’t wound us as deeply as regret.

A young man who had the opportunity to get a college education and failed to do it often lives without the education and with regret as well.

A young woman who could have been a concert pianist but was too busy to practice often lives in later years not only with a loss of opportunity, but with regret as well.

John Greenleaf Whittier wrote in his poem Maud Muller:

"Of all sad words of tongue and pen

The saddest of these is 'It might have been.' "

III. On the other hand, for those who have responded to God-given opportunities, there will be greater opportunities.

In fact, the parable implies that all of the greatest opportunities we’ve ever had on earth will be considered small. "You were faithful over a few things. I will make you ruler over many things" (v.21).

No one has ever been able to dream dreams big enough to encompass all that God has for those who have lived for Him.