In Denver’s 9^th Parable, there is a King who loves his people and wishes to improve their health and vigor. To do so, he proposes a competition where “all would have to compete.” Why? To “test the citizen’s loyalty” and to “improve the lives of the citizens.”

The King admitted that the skills displayed in the competition would be of a great variety and that the competition would “develop the skill of each individual” and “improve every citizen.”

One refused to even compete and left in anger with those who felt likewise. Those who stayed to compete “gained as much from watching as they did competing.” This indicates there was an appropriate time and place for each individual to act and observe – to be involved, and then uninvolved.

There were many who felt reluctant or afraid to participate – but in competing they soon discovered “their fears were unfounded.” “Some believed it would be fun to compete” and then regretted their “poor efforts” when they failed to do as well as they wished.

So far, there were those who:

1. Refused to engage in any degree.
2. Benefited from observing just as much as competing.
3. Were afraid and then resolved their fears while competing.
4. Did it for fun and then regretted their poor efforts.

After the competition ended, there was a great feast held. The King invited all his citizens, including those who “fled” to avoid competing. Those who seemingly passed the King’s test, by remaining loyal and participating in the games, were troubled by the all-encompassing invite.

“Why are those who rejected your plan allowed to be among us?” was the question asked. To which the King responded, “For a wise purpose.”

This stirred up feelings of resentment. And even those who fled “returned in anger” towards the King and encouraged the competitors to likewise be angry. Some who had wished they performed better found themselves “persuaded by the arguments of the returning dissidents.” Those were the ones who hadn’t been adequately prepared to compete. They were those who were at first peaceful and then were stirred up to anger by the dissenters. They didn’t hold their peace.

What was supposed to be a celebratory feast now turned into a “great argument” among those who stayed and those who fled. So what was the actual test of loyalty? The competition or this very moment during the feast?

There was division. There were two groups. There were two sides in the conflict.

One group loved the King and held his plan in esteem.

The other group resented and hated the King. “They found fault with the King, with his plan, and with the uproar caused among the citizens by the King’s great folly.”

After this division, the King addressed them all and revealed his goal.

“I have been working for some time to determine who I can trust among our people and who I cannot trust.” The competition was his way of determining this.

“I knew when the competition was devised it would divide the people. I knew, too, that some would flee rather than participate. I also knew if I invited back to a feast all of the citizens, both those who stayed and those who fled, that it would result in a great division. This was my purpose all along. We are faced with many challenges. Some are in forms which you do not understand. They will test all of us. I must know before we confront the coming challenges who I can trust to remain loyal in my kingdom. Today I know. All those who have been loyal have been identified. They will remain in my kingdom. All those who have rejected my plan, or spoken against me in hatred, will be removed from my kingdom. Those who leave are free to follow their own course. However, they cannot be among my people any longer, for they have been tested and failed in their loyalty.”

Afterwards, a battle was required to remove those who were to be exiled.

There were those who:

1. Argued that they had done the work and only spoken ill of the King when the “disaffected exiles” returned. They blamed their failure to prove loyal on others around them because it was unfair to have been put through the final test of loyalty after allowing the exiles to return. Why would the feast include those who refused the King’s request? That was unfair because it “rewarded all alike” including the disloyal. “They claimed their final disloyalty came only as a result of their original loyalty later proving to be of no value, since even the exiles came to the final feast.” Why had they even tried?
2. Complained that the King was “mad.” His behavior was destructive of a people already living in harmony and peace. In fact, the King should be thrown in exile and not the citizens who were inconvenienced by the King disturbing their peace.
3. Complained that the King had lied. He was not honest and had he only revealed that this was the end result, they would have been loyal throughout. How could he keep his counsel to himself and lull in the citizens into disfavor?
4. Complained the test was too hard and unfair. Even though they passed the test, their family members and friends who failed would be cast out. These citizens refused, for their loved ones’ sake, to remain with the King.
5. Said that the original test should have improved their health and vigor and not their loyalty. How unfair to claim to test for one thing and actually test for another virtue.
6. Claimed that this test could not actually prepare them for any future coming test. And if some great future test is coming, the King should fairly share that information with them instead of hiding it and making claims that can’t be proven.

In the beginning of the parable, there were four groups that extended into six. However, there were ultimately two sides – those who loved the King and those who hated the King.

None of the arguments stood ground. When only the loyal remained, the King called an assembly and announced that long ago, he discovered the power to make his kingdom last forever.

“I am now prepared to share the secrets of all I know with my people. From this day forward…you will be kings and queens, sharing with me in life which will never end.”

He then explained that before doing so, he had needed to have a people that would “live in peace together” because “immortality without peace among us would be a great punishment and not a great prize.”

Those remaining citizens lost friends, family members and others that they loved. However, the King was sure those citizens would be able to live in peace forever.

The result was the only time a kingdom had ever been more stable, happy, peaceful, and enduring.

Sometimes we may feel discouraged, misunderstood, and wrongfully judged. We may ask why even try to follow this path of completing the Restoration, keeping God’s commandments, and taking the scriptures as our guide? On the one hand, we covenanted to do so and on the other hand are told that such efforts are not applicable to us because we are not yet capable of achieving it.

In our attempts to act and respond in sincerity with charity, patience, kindness, love unfeigned, meekness, forgiveness, and long-suffering, we are told that it is inauthentic and a façade.

Poor behavior is validated and applauded. Kindness is rejected and seen as a weakness that will break what we are building. Bullies are given every excuse to continue bullying. Accusations replace warmth of heart.

In all this upheaval and division, are you firm in your love for God? Those who made it through the King’s tests were the ones firm in their love and esteem for the King. They trusted the King and continued to serve and obey him.

Your words have been arrogant against Me, says the Lord. But you ask: What have we said against You? You’ve said: It’s useless to serve God. What benefit have we gotten from keeping His ordinances and repenting before the Lord of Hosts? We can see the arrogant are blessed, cheaters get rich, evildoers aren’t punished, and those who dare God to punish them aren’t punished (CoC 3 Nephi 11:3).

The appearance is that the arrogant are blessed, the evildoers aren’t punished, and those who test God aren’t punished. In my arrogance and despair, do I throw my hands up in the air and claim it is useless to serve God? Or through that all, can I trust God and the work He is bringing about? Because the only thing that matters is your standing before God, not before any man or woman. You are proving your loyalty to Him, the King.

The citizens who remained were the ones who participated and remained peaceful throughout the competition and feast. They did not doubt and they did not vary from their faith and trust in the King. They were loyal to the King throughout. And even when the King appeared to not value peace and harmony, those citizens who were made kings and queens in the end remained peaceful and harmonious.

This is a test of how deeply the word of God is written in your heart. Throughout it all, however God chooses to test His people, do you continue to gather the oil you need to enter the wedding feast – “the necessary spirit with which to avoid conflict, envy, strife, tumult, and contention.”

And truly, truly I say unto you, he that receives my gospel receives me. And he that receives not my gospel receives not me. And this is my gospel: repentance, and baptism by water, and then comes the baptism of fire and the holy ghost, yea, even the Comforter, which shows all things and teaches the peaceable things of the kingdom (T&C 23:2).

In the Answer to Prayer for Covenant, the Lord is speaking to us:

Read first to the people these words I now speak, and then read the words of the covenant, and the people who will receive and do my words and my covenant shall then stand and say, Yes.

Then by my law and my word they will be mine, and I will be with and lead my people onward through the Spirit of truth, the Comforter, the Record of Heaven, the peaceable things of immortal glory, even the holy ghost which will abide with them, and you will be children of the Most High God, fellow servants and numbered with the congregation of the just. Therefore rejoice!

Is the great competition upon us now? The Lord, just as the King in the parable, requires loyalty to His words and His covenant.

The most important thing to know is the Lord’s will for you. The pattern is to study scripture, ask God to help you understand, then listen to God’s answer. God would like to talk directly to you. The scriptures have a message from God for you.“The greatest help given to us to solve the contradiction between praying to God and the answer being exactly what we wanted, exactly what we expected, and exactly what makes us right and everyone else wrong; the greatest guide is the scriptures. They provide us a lifeline for measuring any inspiration we think we obtain from God. But that’s not enough if it’s not coupled together with prayerful, ponderous thought, and time and experience (Glossary – Revelation).

We are going to look carefully at this path; follow it from hope, to belief, to faith, to knowledge, and along the way study the lives of those who have walked it. As we go we will become acquainted with the meaning of the phrase the “fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.” (See D&C 20: 8–9.) To receive these things is to receive that Gospel message in its fullness. Alma said it was a “delicious” process. It might be put differently: It is fun! You will find greater joy in doing as this than in anything else available to mortals. Nothing is quite as satisfying as growing in harmony with God. It fills that void all mortals feel. All the other outlets (addiction, hero-worship, alcohol, politics, becoming a “fan” of an actor/leader, excessive educational attainments, activism, etc.) are attempts to fill the void with a substitute for the real thing. That void inside mankind is because we seek God. Doing as He instructs us is the only way to really find what we lack. He alone is the real thing we are missing. He intends for us to experience Him through obedience to His commandments (The Second Comforter, Pg. 60).

Worship God by seeking to do His will for you. His commandments are found in the scriptures. This is how you participate. His will for you may look different from His will for me because our weaknesses differ. It would be unwise for me, as I’m lifting weights, to look over at you and judge your playing the violin as inadequate participation. The point is we are both doing the work. What the Lord looks upon in the end is your heart.

I say to you that there is need for but one house, and I accept the statement you have adopted, and approve it as your statement to be added. But I say again, there was honor in the labor of others. Whereas I look upon the heart and see faithful service, many among you do not look at, nor see, nor value what I, the Lord, love in the hearts of my people. As I have said before, I say again: Love one another, labor willingly alongside each other. Learn what you ought, and when I ask you to labor, do so wisely, even if you know not beforehand what you will find. I do not ask what you cannot do. Trust my words and proceed always in faith, believing that with me all things are possible. All who have been faithful are mine (T&C 176:13).

This is the 9^th Parable summarized in the words of the Lord.

The Lord said in the Testimony of St. John:

If any man is loyal to me, let him follow me and every upward step I achieve, there will my loyal followers join me. Any who are loyal to me, my Father will approve (9:3).

When speaking to Pilate, Jesus said:

The reason I was sent into this world was to be a witness of the truth. Every person who is loyal to the truth listens to my teachings. Pilate responded to him, What is truth?

It is plainly laid out in the scriptures how to prove your loyalty to the King. The test is in listening, obeying, and living His teachings when the whole world seems to resent you for it.

The covenant, if it is kept, will prevent you from losing light and warmth of heart as the spirit now steadily recedes from the world. The time will come when you will be astonished at the gulf between the light and truth you will comprehend and the darkness of mind of the world. Be charitable and patient and labor to reach others. They will judge you harshly, but nevertheless be kind to them. They’re going to grow to fear you, but that’s only part of how darkness responds to light. Give them no reason to fear you. The time will come for us to gather, but between now and then, be leaven. Preserve the world. Be salt. Preserve the world, even if it hates you… May God bless you and send to each of you a growing light and warmth. As the spirit withdraws from the world may it continually shine un-eclipsed upon each of you to enlighten your minds and to warm your hearts (Closing Remarks 2017.09.03).

“Warmth of heart” is mentioned three times in Denver’s closing remarks. Kindness, patience, and laboring to reach others is part of proving your loyalty to God. Despite being judged harshly, you are kind and give others no reason to fear you. In an act of charity, you seek for the preservation of the world despite its hate towards you. In my mind, this is the ultimate test.