Human nature in its fourfold state ... In several practical discourses

and that because they are covered with their elder brother's clothes, which make the sons of God to "smell as a field which the Lord hath blessed." Their good works are accepted: their cups of cold water given to a disciple, in the name of a disciple, shall not want a reward. Tho' they cannot offer for the tabernacle, gold silver, and brass, and onyx-stone, let ⟨p. 203⟩them come forward with what they have; if it were but goats hair, it shall not be rejected; if it were but rams skins, they shall be kindly accepted; for they are dyed red, dipped by faith in the Mediator's blood, and so presented unto God. A very ordinary work done in faith, and from faith, if it were but the building of a wall about the holy city, is a great work, Neh. vi. 3. If it were but the bestowing of a box of ointment on Christ, it shall never be forgotten, Matth. xxvi. 13. Even a cup of cold water only given to one of Christ's little ones, in the name of a disciple, shall be rewarded, Matth. x. 42. Nay, not a good word for Christ, shall drop from their mouths but it shall be registered in God's book of remembrance, Mal. iii. 16. Nor shall a tear drop from their eyes for him, but he will put it in his bottle, Psal. lvi. 8. Their will is accepted for the deed: their sorrow for the want of will, for the will itself, 2 Cor. viii. 12. For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not. Their groanings, when they cannot well word their desires, are heard in heaven; the meaning of these groans is well known there, and they will be returned like the dove with an olive branch of peace in her mouth. See Rom. viii. 26, 27. Their mites are better than other mens talents. Their lisping and broken sentences are more pleasant to their Father in heaven, than the most fluent and flourishing speeches of those that are not in Christ. Their voice is sweet, even when they are ashamed it should be heard; their countenance is comely even when they blush, and draw a veil over it,