Parable Of The Talents

On Sunday, April 2^nd, 1843, the Prophet Joseph went for a walk with Benjamin F. Johnson and opened to him the subject of plural and eternal marriage.  Brother Benjamin was shocked to say the least, and even though he expressed his trust in the Prophet, he stated that if he “ever should know that you do this to dishonor and debauch my sister, I will kill you as sure as the Lord lives.”  Joseph reassured Brother Johnson that the ancient order of marriage was indeed from God. 

Joseph asked Benjamin to talk to his sister Almera, to which Brother Johnson replied:  “But how, can I teach my sister what I myself do not understand, or show her what I do not myself see?”  Joseph replied, “But you will see and understand it, and when you open your mouth to talk to your sister, light will come to you and your mouth will be full and your tongue loose, and I will today preach a sermon that none but you will understand.” 

That sermon was taken from the text of the parable of the talents.  This parable can be found in Matthew 25:14-30, and in Luke 19:11-27.  I am not going to quote the whole thing here, but it is well worth it to read both versions again.  Basically, the parable relates that the Lord expects those who have been given talents, to improve on their talents and gain more talents.  This is pretty basic stuff and is often required in any aspect in life.  But in this situation the Prophet Joseph applied it to family.  That a man should improve on the gifts the Lord gives him. 

Over time, this doctrine grew and grew.  It was expanded and adulterated many times.  Until the modern false doctrine of ‘polygamy will save and exalt a man’ arose.  Polygamy and the Ancient Order of Marriage are most definitely not the same thing, but that is a topic for another post.  In this post I wanted to stick to the doctrine of increasing our talents in the way that the Lord expects us to.  For not only must it be done, it must be done in accordance to the way God wants it done.  No other way is acceptable to Him.  But, like I said, that is a topic for another post.  Back to the parable of the talents… 

Upon His return, the Lord calls his stewards forward and requires of them an accounting.  One gains many more talents than he was given, and he is received with gladness into the Joy of the Lord.  Another steward gains a few more talents, though not as many as the first, but he is still received with joy and given a proportionate reward.  In fact, as with all parables, the term reward is analogous.  The reward that we get is the fact that we have our families, our wives and our children with us for eternity.  Notice the fella that increased to ten talents, had the reward of ten cities, or in other words, ten families.  The rewards of God are in all actuality natural consequences to our behaviour. 

Then we come to the last steward.  Him who has been given but one talent, who when his Lord came, found that this slothful servant went and buried his talent in the earth and did nothing with it.  The Lord, of course, told him you should have at least lent out the money so that I could have my own with interest.  Then the talent that wasn’t taken care of, the talent that was abused and hidden away, that wasn’t even allowed to live up to the measure of it’s creation, was taken from that wicked servant and offered to someone who would cherish her and allow her to blossom. 

That statement; “I should have mine own with usury.”  An interesting concept!  Since this parable is being related to family, it is obvious that the “usury” refers to children.  If that slothful servant had of lent out the money to the exchangers, then he would have earned interest.  In other words he should have at least raised children.  Even if he couldn’t attract another wife, he should have at least had children, increasing his talent.  Then when the Lord comes he could have presented children.  Then his one talent would not have been taken from him.  He would not have been cast out. 

But a person cannot be expected to be saved to the highest heaven just because they can pop out children.  They, of course, must be good children, remember the parable of the fruit tree.  The exaltation and dominion of the Saints depends on the number of righteous posterity they have.  Not just the number of posterity, but the number of righteous posterity.  The Lord wants us to raise a righteous posterity.  To raise a nation of Priests unto the Most High God.  He wants a God fearing people, who love Him and have nothing but charity, the pure love of Christ, toward their fellow man. 

I will continue this topic in the next post Producing Good Fruit.