So then, although God's word were not blamed for our sakes: yet ought our consciences to restrain us, and to make us walk uprightly & purely before God. Besides this, we must appear before the Angels of heaven, and things that are now hidden shall be brought to light, so as our dishonesty must be laid open in the sight of heaven and earth. Seeing then that we cannot escape the knowledge of so many judges: Alas, ought it not to be enough to withhold us from giving any occasion of slander against the Gospel? But if the wicked have their mouths still open, and take occasion to scoff at God through our misbehavior: besides that we shall be convicted before God, and our own consciences shall be our judges to condemn us: what will become of us then? Now if we thought well upon these warnings, we should be better restrained then we be. For we see how the enemies of God's truth do nowadays lie watching and spying of us. And if the Papists find any vices in us, by and by they rake abroad all our dung. And to what end? Even to have some apparent colour of railing against God and the true religion. Now then we know it well enough, God setteth us here upon a scaffold, he will have us to be lightsome to the end we may be seen afar off: and yet notwithstanding we forbear not to rush out into all naughtiness, & it seemeth that we be minded to defy God and the world. Although he tell us of it, although he cease not to cry out at us daily for it, and although he send us witnesses of his holy doctrine to ratify it to us: yet we not only make none account of it, but also go about to defame it and to deface it in our whole life, as much as we possibly can. Is it not a detestable traitorousness that the gospel should in these days be had in such reproach through our defaults? not only the Papists seek to rail upon us, but even they that boast of the having of the Gospel, are well appayed when they may find any occasion to scoff at us and to mock us, though it be wrongfully. Forsomuch then as we see ourselves so watched, we ought to be so much the wiser, and better advised. But what? There is nothing that can hold us back: so drunken soothly are we in our fleshly affections.

Sermon 11 on Chapter two of sermons on Titus