A TESTIMONY Against the People called RANTERS AND THEIR PLEADS, AND A Call or Invitation to them to return to the LORD again.  
REturn, and come down to judgement, for down to judgement you again must come, that judgement may have its perfect work, to the bringing down of your imaginations, (which is hiped above the light of Christ) leading & guiding you to do such Works which you once would not have done, when the light was your leader, which being turned from, you are become like the Sow that was washed, which is again wallowing in the mire; & to the dog, which is swallowing down his vomit which he once had vomited up; so the wicked spirit which was once cast out, being entered again, hath made you sevenfold the children of the devil then before; for before when you had done wickedly, you would have confessed it was so, and that you should not have done it; but now Wickedness is not counted Wickedness by you, and so you are turned into the Way that leads to hell and destruction; and you being turned from the light, with the light upon your evil actions you do not look, but with that part which begets & brings them forth; so looking with that eye upon the evil, which begat, moved, and led into the evil, the evil to that part which begot it and brought it forth, doth not appear sinful, so you conclude it is not sin. 
Eph 4▪ 18, 19, 20. Joh 12.40  And thus you being turned from the light of Christ, you are deceived by the god of the World, who having entered in again, hath blinded your minds, and entangled you again with the yoke that bondageth the true seed; so instead of being grown up in the Way, Work, and Truth of God, you are turned back into the iniquity, and that in a higher degree of wickedness then before, swearing, and pleading for swearing; acting, working, and doing other wickedness, and laying it upon the Lord, as him to be the mover and leader thereunto; and they who durst not go from the counsel of God to do such wickedness, you count them low, and yourselves high, (grown above such) but where you are high, it is in iniquity and wickedness, where you being found, are found far below the least of God's dear and tender ones, who durst not yield their members servants to sin.  
And with the light you are found to be below the least of God's children, and to this you shall confess when the light ariseth to your condemnation which shall be when all the wiles and subtleties of the Devil cannot hid you, who now by his subtlety hath deceived you, and made you believe that sin is not sin; & this he hath done by drawing your minds from the light into the imaginary part, where he work, and his wiles and snares are laid, who is the Devil, that old Serpent, who hath no part nor place in the light; and with the light his subtleties and wiles is now seen, whereby he deceives you, and thousands who are are turned out from the light.  
And under the Name of light & darkness, the two states, births, seeds, and conditions is declared, which either in one, or in the other of them, every man & woman is; the swearers, cursers, liars, drunkards, adulterous, proud, covetous, and all manner of evil workers are in the darkness, degeneration, alienation, and transgression, children of darkness, who are wandered from the spirit into the flesh, where, and in whom the works of the flesh is manifest, whose seed, birth, and state is accursed; So they who are come out from sin and evil, and abide in that power that keeps and preserves them so, are in the light, children of the light, and of the daytime, and are lead of the spirit of God, so in and among them the works of the spirit is manifest; and they are they whose seed, birth, and state is blessed, and who are separated (not by the self-seperation, but) by the power of God from the World, and from the ravening Wolves, and wild devouring beasts, who not only destroyed the pure seed and life in themselves, but also seek to do it in others, by labouring to draw others minds from the light of Christ, into the liberty of the flesh, where the devourer makes his prey, who hath his servants for that end, who will neither enter, nor suffer others who would, but lay wait for blood, yea for their own blood, and lurk privily for their own lives; and they say, Cast in thy Lot among us, let us all have one Purse; but woe shall come upon every worker of iniquity; yea, although woe hath been known, yet woe again must come upon the transgressor, who again is gone astray from the Lord and his spirit: And this is a sure word to all you who are turned from the light into the liberty of the flesh, and liscentious walking again.  
1. Now therefore you people called Ranters, who will swear and rant out one oath after another, consider what, and whose work you are doing, for the Lord will bring every wicked work into judgement, and return you a reward according to your work, into your own bosom; for God is not pleased with wickedness, neither is he the Author of sin; so you who will swear, and do, and act other wickedness, and plead a motion of God to do so, you are abusers of God, and false accusers of him who is holy and unchangeable, and cannot behold iniquity; and therefore as he once called out from it▪ and then condemned it, he doth not now call into it, and justify it, which he once called out from.  
2. And you who act, and do wickedly, and plead a cross in so doing, who when you have done wickedly, say, therein you have taken up the cross.  
To you I say, Consider what cross it is which you take up; for as the cross of Christ the light, crucifies the world, & seed of the Serpent, so there is a cross which crucifies Christ the true seed, and birth of God; when you were coming out from wickedness and sin, than the light of Christ was a cross to the sin and evil that you were to come out from, and to that part which was loath to have you leave the Devil, which being taken up, redeemed you out of the evil, so crucified that part which was loath to have you leave the evil, so brought redemption to you; & this Light or Cross is not changeable, (as now to lead into, what it before lead from) neither are they changeable who walk in it, but you being turned out from the light, are gone into the imaginary part, where you are lead by the subtlety of the Serpent, whose Wiles, Baits, and Snares are laid there in the imaginary part, where he moves, who moves to lead you into such Wickedness as you were once redeemed from, or durst not have done when the light was your Leader; and as the light when it moved, it was a cross to that part which would not have you leave sin, so now the Serpent by his subtlety being got in again, and moving to his Works again, his motion is a cross to the light and life of Christ which before was raised, which being taken up, crucifies the true seed and birth of God; and so you have taken up a cross of the Devils making, and not the true cross, the cross of Christ, which breaks the Serpent's head.  
3. And you who say there is nothing sin, if a man himself do not account it sin, and so make it sin unto himself, how is your latter end become worse than your beginning? There was a time these and the like Words you durst not have uttered forth; yet though the fear of the Lord be departed from by you, yet the light of Christ is the same to day, yesterday, and for ever, and condemns that to be pride and sin, which men who are out of the light do not count sin, but call it decency, comeliness, and handsomeness; and men and people who are covetous, who being acted by that part which leads them into the covetousness, will sell dear, and make hard bargains to others, though they would not have others to do so to them; and to heap up riches thus, or by thus doing, is not by such counted sin or covetousness, but good husbandry, and carefulness, when the light of Christ condemns it to be sin, though they do not.  
4. And you who say you can wear gold and silver lace, & ribbans, & points, & keep up the fashions of the World, though you once could not, (I believe you can) but it is because you are departed from the light, so have caused the glory of the Lord to departed from you, whose glory is not in gold and silver, and earthly things; and you being given up to your own hearts lusts and desire, have received the golden Cup at the Harlot's hand that sitteth upon many Waters, so are decking yourselves with her glory who is arrayed in Purple and Scarlet colour, and decked with Gold, and precious Stones, and Pearls, the treasures of the Earth  
5. You who say it was a cross for you to pull and rip of your Laces, Ribbans, Points, etc. but now it is a cross to you to put it on; and so tells them that are in the coming out of those things, as their eyes, hearts, and minds had been set in, that though they now be ripping, yet there will be a time they shall be made to put such things on again, in the cross; telling them that you witness this; so that now it is no offence to you to wear such things, nor to see others do so; (& I believe you in this also) But it was an offence to you when the light, (whose glory is not in earthly things) was up in you; & if you can now put them on again, and you see it a cross to put them on, it is not a cross to the Devil to be found putting on the World's fashions again, but to the light which called you out of them; and woe is your portion who are found Enemies to the cross of Christ.  
6. And all you who are pleading a liberty and freedom to observe and do, and walk after the manner of the World, in their Words and Fashions, who say you have unity and fellowship with all sorts of people, you are Enemies to the cross of Christ, which is a cross to the World, and to its fruits and lovers, which you being in its fruits & unity, your unity is with death, and your agreement with hell, and your liberty and freedom is bondage to the seed of God; and between the Seed of God, and the seed of the Serpent, there is enmity; and you who have unity where the seed of the Serpent is bowed unto, are in the enmity against God, and them in whom his seed is raised, and have not unity with them who are in the light, and walks in the light, as children of the light, whose fruits are wrought in God.  
7. And you who say, If every man have his Teacher within him, then to what purpose is it, and wherefore do you, or should any else gather themselves in company, and meet outwardly? And wherefore do you teach and preach to others.  
Ans. This we do because our minds are turned unto the light of Christ (the measure of truth in ourselves) which leadeth us to meet together in the Name and fear of the Lord, which they whose minds are turned from the light of Christ in themselves, are not met in, though they talk often of the Name and fear of God in their meetings, so wants God's presence in their Meetings, and are not of God's Worship, and such had need to be informed to their Teacher, though for their age and time they might have been Teachers of others: And we who meet in the Name and fear of the Lord, we durst not leave nor cease from the assembling ourselves together, as the manner of some is, and was; and the fear of the Lord teacheth us to be obedient unto God, and not to quench his spirit when it moves to speak, whether in our Meetings, or among the Idolatrous Worshippers, or in Markets, or Highways; and though some have their minds turned to the light of Christ, where they find their Teacher within them, and needs not any man to teach them, yet being met in the light and fear of God, where each may feel his power and presence; that son or daughter amongst them which is moved of God to speak, knowing his voice and motion, ought not to quench his spirit, but give up to it, and when they have so done, it is the spirit that speaks in them, (and so Gods teachings) for God is a spirit, and is witnessed in the children of light, doth answer where it is raised unto his voice; and thus by giving up to the motion of God's spirit, is the pure minds which is after God stirred up one in another; and so our meetings together in the Name of the Lord, and our speaking as we are moved of God, is profitable and effectual; for being met together in the silence, waiting on the Lord in the light, his voice is heard in each particular; and as he moves (in any) to speak, than such are not to be silent, 
* Eccl. 3.7 1 Cor. 13.23.  whether it be to exhort, pray, or prophesy; and the spirits of the Prophets are subject to the Prophets, and they may all speak one by one, for God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all the Churches of the Saints; and he gave some Apostles, and some Evangelists, and some Pastors and Teachers, for the perfecting of the Saints, for the work of the Ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, etc. 
* Eph. 4.11 12, 13.  And this Light of Christ in man which every one should own for their Teacher, destroys not teaching, or preaching forth words, except it be that preaching which is not by the spirit of God, but by the words of man's Wisdom, after the traditions of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ, and this preaching it destroys, and leads out from, and so to be separated from all them whose preaching is there, who are not guided by that of God in them, gone from God's Covenant of light, into the darkness, wherein their knowledge is but even as the brute beasts, and therein they corrupt themselves.  
8. And you who say the word Thee and Thou (which is true language to any particular person) is but a word of indifferency, and may better be omitted then given to some, because it offends and anger's them; But this saying when the light was your Leader, you would have condemned it, but now you being apostatised from the light, are become one with the children of the apostatised Jews, so cannot speak in the Jews language, (the one people) who speak the language of Canaan, but according to the language of each people, which is in the fall, where you are returned to the building of Babel, putting things out of their place; so your building prospers not, your Tower totters, the day of the Lord is come, and is breaking forth more and more, and hath discovered your language and building, and yourselves to be in the fall, where you are denying the cross of Christ, and dares not take it up lest you should anger the enemies of the cross; and so you being friends to the world, are enemies to God and his truth, pleading an indifferency in speaking truly, as if there were no difference between speaking words in their place, and putting them out of their place; but the friendship of the world is enmity against God.  
And if any say, That though Thee and Thou be the only proper wards for one particular person, yet that language being it is not the custom or manner of our Country to take it, we plead for the word You, accepting it instead of the word thou, which being accepted for, or instead of the word Thee and Thou, we hold it no offence for any to give it, but rather an offence to do otherwise.  
To whom I answer; First, That where it is counted an offence, it is where the pride of heart stands, (that would not take it) so the pride being up in the heart, man hath exalted himself above the Lord, whom he thou's and 's daily; and he that doth not stand in the cross to proud flesh, is one with it.  
Secondly; If it be no offence to thee to take or give the word you to one particular person, yet it is an offence against God, and a lie, where any one is calling another what he is not. And if any yet further object & say, But it is not a lie, nor any offence against God at all to you a particular person, whiles he that you's the particulars, intends or means but one by his youing, and he or she you-ed accepts the word you as to one, and in the place of thee and thou. To whom I answer, That thee and thou is the proper word to any particular King or other; and he or she who gives a particular the word you, instead of the word thee and thou, which is a word of the singular number, so signifies but one, doth not by his or her intending or meaning but one, make that word you to be of the singular number, or to signify but one, which the word thou doth, which if thou by thy intending or meaning, and the other accepting or taking it; cannot make the word you of the singular number, or to signify but one, than hast thou lied in putting the word out of its place, and so sinned against God, and all thy twisting and twining (Serpent-like) cannot help thee.  
And this in love to the truth of God, and his dear and holy seed, which hath not fellowship with the works of darkness, was I moved to give out this Testimony against unjust works, ways, and Pleads, who am a friend to the righteous souls of men, and a witness against all unrighteousness, called,  
Richard Hickock.  
THE END.   

London, Printed for Thomas S●mmons, at the Bull and Mouth near Alde●sgate, 1659.