Repentance is to be universal. [ 373]
THere is a story of a devout man, who had amongst many other vertues, the gift of healing, unto whom divers made resort for cure, amongst the rest one Chromatius being sick,* 1.1 sent for him; being come, he told him of his sickness, and desired that he might have the benefit of cure as others had before him; I cannot do it (said the holy man) till thou hast beaten all the Idols and Images in thy house to pie∣ces. O that shall be done, said Chromatius, Here, take my keys, and where you find any Images, let them be defaced; which was done accordingly. To prayer went the holy man, but no cure was done; O (saith he) I am as sick as ever, very weak and sick; It cannot be otherwise (replyed the holy man) nor can I help it; there is one Idol yet in your house undiscovered, and that must be defaced too; True, (saies Chromatius) It is so indeed, it is all of beaten gold, it cost 200l. I would fain have saved it, but here take my keys again, you shall find it fast locked in my Chest, break it also in pieces; which be∣ing done,* 1.2 the holy man prayed, and Chromatius was healed; Thus ends the story, but here begins the moral of it. The case is ours, we are all of us spiritually sick, full of wounds and putrified sores; the spiritual Physitian tells us, that if we look for any amendment, it must be by the amendment of our lives, he prescribes Repentance of our sins, that we are willing to do in part, but not in whole, we would fain keep one Dalilah, one darling beloved sin, but it must not be, there must not be one sin unrepented of, we must repent as well for our Achans as our Absolons; our Rim∣mons as our Mammons; our Davids as our Goliahs; our covert as well as open sins; our loved as loathed lusts, our heart-abominations as well as loathed scandals; our babe-iniquities as well as Gyant-provocations; Our Repentance must be universal.