Seeing Before Accomplishing: Overcoming a Disciple's Spiritual Blindness

Introduction

On Friday, May 1, 2026, Joao AHLIN was invited to ICC Montreal for a "Teach & Pray" evening. The opening passage sets the tone: "I will lead the blind in a way that they do not know, in paths that they have not known I will guide them. I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground. These are the things I do, and I do not forsake them" (Isaiah 42:16).

The theme of the year in the Impact Chretien churches is "returning to your first love." And behind the great commission of Matthew 28:19, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations," lies a simple condition that the preacher wants you to grasp: you cannot accomplish what you do not see. Before faith, before action, there is spiritual sight. And when that sight is damaged, your life as a disciple comes to a halt.

Outline of the sermon

1. Every area of your life must serve to make disciples

The Greek word translated "disciples" in Matthew 28:19 is mathetes ("apprentice"). Making disciples means taking a person from one level and leading them to another. This assumes that you yourself have reached a certain level of mastery, not to be extraordinary, but to have something to show.

The consequence is clear: your marriage, your family, your career, your finances, your inner life must all be able to serve to make disciples. Some people will be won by the word you speak to them; others will be won by the visible result of your life. That is why the promise "I pray that you may prosper in all things, even as your soul prospers" (3 John 1:2) applies to every area, without exception.

2. Faith always begins with seeing

Many believers limit their faith to certain areas and let it stop working in others. What is the root cause? They do not see as God sees in those areas. And whoever does not see cannot become, cannot accomplish, and cannot overcome.

The Bible shows this principle everywhere. To Abraham: "Lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward, for all the land that you see I will give to you" (Genesis 13:14-17), the English version specifies as far as your eyes can see. Moses stands firm before Pharaoh because "as seeing him who is invisible" he does not tremble (Hebrews 11:27). To Joshua: "See, I have given Jericho into your hand" (Joshua 6:2). To Elisha: "If you see me as I am being taken from you, it shall be so for you" (2 Kings 2:10). Peter receives a vision that overturns his mindset (Acts 10:9-16). Paul, before King Agrippa, sums up his whole life in one sentence: "I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision" (Acts 26:19).

Do you see yourself as a genuine disciple? Do you see yourself bearing fruit, healing the sick, transforming your surroundings, changing a nation? As far as you will see, so it will come to pass for you.

3. The signs of partial spiritual blindness

The preacher points out several, without holding back:

• Year after year, nothing changes in your life except your age, and it does not bother you.
• A spirit of smallness: when you are told "the smallest among you will become a thousand," you find that too big for you.
• Pride, which closes you off from the teaching of those God has placed to lead you.
• A lack of discipline: whole evenings spent on Netflix or your phone, without realizing that time is a vital resource.
• A refusal of a consecrated life, because you do not see the grace attached to that kind of life.

4. How you get there

A single root: weeds, sown in several forms. The failures of others, or our own failures, become a veil over our eyes. The people around us (friends, coworkers, sometimes even people in the church) who do not speak a language of faith, who sow doubt or pour gossip into our ears. Sin, lying, sexual immorality, gossip. Music and shows we expose ourselves to without discernment. All of this steals our sight without us realizing it.

5. How to get out: through the blood of Jesus

"In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace" (Ephesians 1:7). The blood of Jesus is a weapon, but you still need to know how to use it. That night, the prayer is simple: ask forgiveness for the access you gave, plead the blood of Christ, declare that the scales fall off. And because "everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world: our faith" (1 John 5:4), restored sight then allows you to stand firm.

6. Seeing far means first waiting in God's presence

The more you want to see far, the more you need to get used to God's presence, what the preacher calls koinonia. Setting yourself apart, putting your phone down, letting go of distractions. "Lord, if you do not meet me here, I am not leaving." Restored sight, moreover, does not stop at an awakened conscience: it also reopens the gifts of the Spirit, dreams and visions. The preacher testifies to this: three years earlier, two dreams received in the night preserved him from a bad decision and showed him a mistake he was about to make.

Key takeaways

• Every area of your life is called to bear fruit, because all of them are meant to serve in making disciples.
• Faith begins with seeing: whoever does not see cannot become, cannot accomplish, and cannot overcome.
• Spiritual blindness is recognized by concrete signs: stagnation, smallness, pride, lack of discipline.
• Failures suffered, the people around you, sin, and what you expose yourself to progressively steal your sight.
• You get out of it through the blood of Jesus, and you maintain your sight through time spent in God's presence.

Personal application

• What area of your life does not yet reflect God's glory, where you doubt his goodness?
• As far as your eyes can see: how far are you concretely going in what you expect from God this year?
• Is there an environment, a habit, an exposure you need to stop because it is attacking your spiritual sight?
• Do you truly receive the teaching of those God has placed to lead you, or does pride close you off?
• What time will you set apart this week to wait alone in God's presence?

Verses cited

• Isaiah 42:16 · "I will lead the blind in a way that they do not know."
• Matthew 28:19 · "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations."
• Genesis 13:14-17 · "All the land that you see I will give to you."
• Hebrews 11:27 · "As seeing him who is invisible, he did not tremble."
• Joshua 6:2 · "See, I have given Jericho into your hand."
• 2 Kings 2:10 · "If you see me as I am being taken from you, it shall be so for you."
• Acts 10:9-16 · Peter's vision that changes his mindset.
• Acts 26:19 · "I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision."
• 1 John 5:4 · "The victory that has overcome the world: our faith."
• Ephesians 1:7 · "In him we have redemption through his blood."
• 3 John 1:2 · "I pray that you may prosper in all things."

FAQ

What is "partial spiritual blindness"?

It is a state in which your faith works in some areas of your life but not in others. In those areas, you no longer perceive God's promises nor the path he opens, and your life stagnates without it even bothering you.

Why start with "seeing" rather than acting?

Because whoever does not see cannot become or accomplish. The whole Bible (Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Elisha, Peter, Paul) shows that God begins by opening eyes before entrusting a mission. Without sight, action stops at the first difficulties.

Concretely, what should you do this week to regain spiritual sight?

Three simple steps: identify and cut off an exposure that blinds you (music, a show, a conversation, an environment); set aside time alone with God, phone put down; plead the blood of Jesus over the areas where doubt and smallness have taken hold, asking that the scales fall off.