The counterfeit Christian, or, The danger of hypocrisy opened in two sermons

When the unclean Spirit goeth out of a Man, &c. That Sinners are vile and abominable, saith he, it is from that wicked Spirit, Satan, that dwells in them: Every Sinner is a Person possessed of a Devil; when a little reformed, they seem for a time to be dispossessed, &c. He walketh through dry Places; what these dry Places may be, is not easy to determine: Some by these loca arida, understand loca vacua, void empty Places, the Deserts and Wastes of the Earth, where he finds no body to attempt or molest. But could Satan, saith he, think to find Rest there where was no House for him to lay his Head in? Would the Tempter waste his time in seeking whom to devour in those waste Places, where he knew well enough there were none to be found? He knows too well where Sinners dwell, ⟨p. 12⟩to go to seek them where they are not; more like to find the Devil at a Market, than in a Wilderness. Thus therefore seems not to be the sense—. Why may not, saith he, these dry Places be the Saints on Earth, the Fountain of whose Blood is dried up? in whom the Sun hath dried up their Dirt and Mire, in which this Swine loves to wallow, &c. [He seeketh Rest] this notes two things. 1. When the Devil is gone out of any Person, he is never at Rest till he is gotten in again, either thither whence he went out, or into some other Habitation, where he may do more Mischief: Like Children, like Father, 'tis said of them, so 'tis much more true of him, He rests not but in doing Mischief. 2. The Devil loves to dwell where he may be at Rest; that is, not from Work (his Rest is his Work) but from Resistance or Opposition, i. e. in carnal and unclean Hearts, &c. [Seeking Rest and finding none.] He goes, saith he, through these dry Places, from Saint to Saint, from Heart to Heart, in hope to find Entertainment, but is still disappointed; here's little Rest for me to be had, these dry Places I see are no Places for me, here's watching and wrestling and warring against me; so much praying, complaining against me, that there's no stay for me here:—Isle go back to my old Habitation: And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and garnished, a little cleaner and handsomer than when he left it. The Devil can allow Sinners a little Reformation;

When the unclean Spirit goeth out of a Man, &c. That Sinners are vile and abominable, saith he, it is from that wicked Spirit, Satan, that dwells in them: Every Sinner is a Person possessed of a Devil; when a little reformed, they seem for a time to be dispossessed, &c. He walketh through dry Places; what these dry Places may be, is not easy to determine: Some by these loca arida, understand loca vacua, void empty Places, the Deserts and Wastes of the Earth, where he finds no body to attempt or molest. But could Satan, saith he, think to find Rest there where was no House for him to lay his Head in? Would the Tempter waste his time in seeking whom to devour in those waste Places, where he knew well enough there were none to be found? He knows too well where Sinners dwell,