Bible Repentance: Path to Love - Robert J. Wieland

church. It is loyal. It recognizes the church as
Christ’s one object of supreme regard. His appeal
to repent means clearly that He entertains infinite
hope of success, that He fully expects His church
to respond, else He would not waste His effort. His
call expresses confidence in His church. Further,
the time lapse of well over a century indicates His
patience and long-suffering which He could not
bestow upon an object which He inter led
ultimately to abandon.
Some are tempted to discouragement by the
words, “Because thou art lukewarm … I will spew
thee out of My mouth” (Revelation 3:16). They
feel that the church is so enfeebled and defective
that Christ has either already fulfilled this promise
and actually “spued” her out of His mouth, that is,
rejected her; or that He will soon do so. In other
words, they feel that the church is doomed, and this
doom is just as sure and certain as is the fact that
she is lukewarm. They add, “The Lord has made a
definite promise; the church is lukewarm;
therefore, the ‘spewing out’ is only a matter of
time, or perhaps already accomplished.”
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