2024 April General Conference, Saturday Afternoon Session

Rise! He Calleth Thee

Elder Massimo De Feo
Of the Seventy

Main Points

  • The gospel is not a way to avoid challenges and problems but a solution to increase our faith and learn how to deal with them.
  • The biblical story of Bartimaeus provides the framework for teaching us how we can focus on Christ to keep our spiritual vision clear.
  • The way to (leave the natural man behind, repent and begin a new life) is by making and keeping covenants to rise to a better life through Jesus Christ.
  • One of the most important lessons in this story is that this man exercised true faith in Jesus Christ and received a miracle because he asked with real intent, the real intent to follow Him.

Gospel Principles taught

Agency, The Atonement, Faith in Christ, Missionary Work, Obedience

Gospel Doctrine taught

Commandments, Covenants

Scriptures

Mark 10:47, Isaiah 11:1; Jeremiah 23:5; Matthew 21:9, Mark 10:48, Mark 10:50, Mark 10:52

Other Sources

“Charge” – defined: That which is enjoined, committed, entrusted or delivered to another, implying care, custody, oversight, or duty to be performed by the person entrusted.

Look for Jesus Christ:

  • Testimony of Christ.
    • I testify that this gospel is the answer for everything, because Jesus Christ is the answer for everyone.
  • Description of His Life.
    • The story of the healing of Bartimaeus. 
  • Description of His Teachings.
    • “Rise!”
  • Description of His Atonement.
    • Acting in faith means to rely on our Savior, believing that through His Atonement, we can rise above everything at His command.
  • Description of His relationship with us.
    • He calls to us
    • He invites us
    • He heals us

Inspiring Words & Phrases

  • Living the gospel of Jesus Christ does not remove pain and trials, which are necessary to grow.
  • The gospel is not a way to avoid challenges and problems but a solution to increase our faith and learn how to deal with them.
  • It is interesting that this blind man, who didn’t have physical sight, recognized Jesus. He saw spiritually what he couldn’t see physically, while many others could see Jesus physically but were totally blind spiritually.
  • He (Bartimaeus) acted instead of being acted upon. Despite his limited circumstances, he used his faith to go beyond his limitations.
  • In this confusing and confused world, we must stay faithful to what we know, faithful to our covenants, faithful in keeping the commandments and reaffirm our beliefs even stronger, like this man did. We need to cry even louder our testimony of the Lord to the world. This man knew Jesus, stayed faithful to what he believed, and was not distracted by the voices around him.
  • The voices of the world are trying to silence us, but that’s exactly why we must declare our testimony of the Savior louder and stronger.
  • …the Lord is counting on me and you to declare our testimonies, to raise our voice, and to become His voice. If we don’t do it, who will testify of Jesus Christ? Who will speak His name and declare His divine mission?
  • We have a spiritual charge that comes from our knowledge of Jesus Christ.
  • As long as we make excuses to feel sorry for ourselves, sorry for our circumstances and problems, and sorry for all the bad things happening in our lives and even all the bad people who we think make us unhappy, we keep the beggar’s coat on our shoulders.
  • It is true that at times people, consciously or not, hurt us. But we need to decide to act with faith in Christ by removing the mental and emotional coat that we might still wear to hide excuses or sin and throw it away, knowing that He can and will heal us.
  • Acting in faith means to rely on our Savior, believing that through His Atonement, we can rise above everything at His command.
  • He was able to listen to the voice of the Lord in the middle of all other voices. This is the same faith that allowed Peter to walk on water as long as he kept his spiritual focus on the Lord and was not distracted by the winds around him.
  • For me, keeping a clear spiritual vision is all about focusing on Jesus Christ.
  • I testify that this gospel is the answer for everything, because Jesus Christ is the answer for everyone.
  • I am grateful for what I can see as I follow my Savior.

Lists

We keep a clear spiritual vision when we:

  • focus on Jesus Christ 
  • stay true to what we know to be true
  • decide not to listen to the voices of the world around us
  • stay faithful to what we know
  • stay faithful to our covenants
  • stay faithful in keeping the commandments 
  • reaffirm our beliefs
  • leave the natural man behind
  • repent
  • begin a new life in Christ
  • hear the voice of the Lord 
  • allow Him to guide us

The Lord is counting on me and you to:

  • declare our testimonies 
  • to raise our voice
  • to become His voice

Choices Bartimaeus made that we can emulate:

  • He recognized that Jesus was indeed the Messiah
  • He saw spiritually what he couldn’t see physically
  • He ignored the voices around him
  • He acted instead of being acted upon
  • He used his faith to go beyond his limitations
  • stayed faithful to what he believed
  • at the Lord’s command to rise, he acted again in faith
  • as he threw away his beggar’s coat, he got rid of all excuses

The reason we receive blessings in our lives is to help us follow Jesus Christ. It is about:

  • recognizing Him
  • making and keeping covenants with God because of Him
  • changing our very nature through Him
  • and enduring to the end by following Him

We “keep the beggar’s coat on our shoulders” (remain in excuses, choose to be ‘acted upon’ instead of acting) when we make excuses to:

  • feel sorry for ourselves
  • feel sorry for our circumstances
  • feel sorry for our problems
  • feel sorry for all the bad things happening in our lives 
  • feel sorry for ourselves because of all the and even all the bad people who we think make us unhappy (i.e. we blame others for our unhappiness) 

I am grateful for what I see.

  • I clearly see the hand of the Lord in this sacred work 
  • I clearly see the hand of the Lord in my life
  • I see the faith of many wherever I go who strengthen my own faith
  • I see angels all around me.
  • I see the faith of many who don’t see the Lord physically but recognize Him spiritually, because they know Him intimately.

Invitations/Challenges

  • We need to decide not to listen to the voices of the world around us.
  • We must stay faithful to what we know, faithful to our covenants, faithful in keeping the commandments and reaffirm our beliefs even stronger, like this man did.
  • We need to cry even louder our testimony of the Lord to the world. 
  • It is true that at times people, consciously or not, hurt us. But we need to decide to act with faith in Christ by removing the mental and emotional coat that we might still wear to hide excuses or sin and throw it away, knowing that He can and will heal us.
  • May we cry our testimony of Him louder than the voices around us in a world that needs to hear more of Jesus Christ and not less. 
  • May we remove the beggar’s coat that we might still wear and rise above the world to a better life in and through Christ. 
  • May we get rid of all excuses not to follow Jesus Christ and find all good reasons to follow Him as we hear His voice.

Warnings

  • The voices of the world are trying to silence us, but that’s exactly why we must declare our testimony of the Savior louder and stronger. 
  • There is never a good excuse to say, “I am the way I am because of some unfortunate and unpleasant circumstances. And I cannot change, and I am justified.” When we think that way, we decide to be acted upon. We keep the beggar’s coat.

Blessings/Promises

  • I promise that as we hear the voice of the Lord and allow Him to guide us on the Savior’s covenant path, we will be blessed with clear vision, spiritual understanding, and peace of heart and mind throughout our lives. 

Stories:

  • Some time ago I asked my wife, “Can you tell me why, as far as I remember, we have never had any major problems in our lives?” She looked at me and said, “Sure. I’ll tell you why we have never had any major problems; it’s because you have a very short memory!”
  • A few months ago …I was walking one day and suddenly my sight became blurry, dark, and wavy. I was scared. Then the doctors told me, “If you don’t begin treatment immediately, you may lose your sight even in a matter of weeks.” I was even more scared. And then they said, “You need intravitreal injections—injections right in the eye, wide-open eye—every four weeks for the rest of your life.” Then a reflection came in the form of a question. I asked myself, “OK! My physical sight is not good, but what about my spiritual vision? Do I need any treatment there? And what does it mean to have a clear spiritual vision?”
  • The story of Bartimaeus in the Gospel of Mark. Though he was blind, he recognized the Savior as the Messiah and called out to him for help.
  • This humble and faithful man understood that he could rise to a better life at Jesus’s command. He knew that he was better than his circumstances, and the very first thing he did when he heard Jesus calling him was to throw away his beggar’s coat. Again he acted instead of being acted upon. He might have thought, “I don’t need this anymore, now that Jesus has come into my life. This is a new day. I’m done with this life of misery. With Jesus I can start a new life of happiness and joy in Him, with Him, and through Him. And I don’t care what the world thinks of me. Jesus is calling me, and He will help me live a new life.”

Application Ideas

  1. Elder De Feo alludes throughout his talk to Lehi’s counsel to his son Jacob (2 Nephi 2:11-28). Prayerfully consider what it means to “act” versus “to be acted upon”. What does this look like in your own life? Write your impressions in your study journal.
  2. ‘There is never a good excuse to say, “I am the way I am because of some unfortunate and unpleasant circumstances. And I cannot change, and I am justified.” When we think that way, we decide to be acted upon. We keep the beggar’s coat.’ Evaluate any areas of your life where you may be ‘keeping the beggar’s coat.’ Choose one thing about yourself that you have been avoiding changing and make a plan to move from where you are to a better place. Pray about your plan and follow any guidance you receive. If you don’t feel you receive any clear direction, just do ‘the next good thing.’
  3. Draw a vertical line down the center of a page of paper. On the left, list excuses you or others commonly use to not follow Jesus. On the right hand side of the paper, list reasons to follow Christ. Keep the list in your scriptures or journal and add to it as ideas come to you. When you are tempted to use an excuse, find the reason to follow Jesus and focus on that.
  4. Make a conscious effort to notice which voices in the world around you are trying to lead you away from Christ – or even just distract you from following Him. Consider ways that you can focus more on Christ than on those voices.

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