Now all dependeth upon thy right submission and obedience to this speaking of God in thy soul. Therefore listen not to the suggestions of thy own reason, run not on in thy own will, but be humbly attentive to this new risen light within thee; open thy heart, thy eyes, and ears to all its impressions. Let it enlighten, teach, frighten, torment, judge, and condemn thee, as it pleaseth; turn not away from it, hear all it saith, seek for no relief out of it, consult not with flesh and blood, but with a heart full of resignation to God, pray only this prayer, that God’s kingdom may come, and his will be done in thy soul. Stand faithfully in this state of preparation, thus given up to the Spirit of God, and then the work of thy repentance will be wrought, and thou wilt soon find, that he that is in thee, is much greater than all that are against thee. But that thou mayest be firmly assured, that this resignation to, and dependance upon the working of God’s Spirit, is right and sound, I shall lay before thee two fundamental truths. _First_, That thro’ the whole nature of things, nothing can do, or be a real good to thy soul, but the _operation of God_ upon it. _Secondly_, That all the dispensations of God from the fall of _Adam_, to the preaching of the gospel, were only for this one end, to prepare and dispose the soul for the operation of the Spirit of God upon it. These two great truths deeply apprehended, put the soul in its right state, in a continual dependance upon God, and a readiness to receive all good from him. They will keep thee safe from all errors, and false zeal in forms of religion, from a sectarian spirit, from bigotry and superstition; they will teach thee the true difference between the means and end of religion, and the regard thou shewest to the shell, will be only so far as the kernel is to be found in it. *Man, by his fall, had broke off from his true center, his proper place in God, and therefore the life and operation of God was no more in him. He was fallen from a life in God, into an animal life of self-love, self-esteem, and self-seeking in the poor, perishing enjoyments of this world. This was the _natural state_ of man by the fall. He was an apostate from God, and his natural life was all idolatry, where _self_ was the great idol, that was worshipped instead of God. All sin is nothing else but the various operations of self-love, self-esteem, and self-seeking which separate the soul from God, and end in eternal death.