Taylor starts off this piece by having Christ Say "Peace, Peace, My Honey, do not Cry, My Little Darling, wipe thine eye, Oh Cheer, Cheer up, come see. Is there anything too dear, my Dove, Is there anything too good, my Love,To get or give to thee? ". This expression of love shown to Taylor from Christ is a love and compassion much like a father would have to his son. Christ tries to make it clear that he loves Taylor and that he would do and/or give him anything, that nothing would be to good or him. Christ then begins with an analogy of a dog and his bark, in reference to the Devil.
The Devils "barking" can be compared to his negative spin he puts on certain situations. However talk is all it is, when Christ says "Fear not, my Pritty Heart. His barking is to make thee Cling close underneath thy Saviours Wing". Although the Devil may "bark", Christ simply lets him in order for Taylor to draw closer to him to Christ, always keeping the Devil in check. As Christ Expresses his use of the Devils "barking", he then conveys to Taylor that sin will never be to big that it cannot be overed by Grace. The Devil''s main weapon in his arsenal is the simple lie.
A lie is best told when it has a great amount of truth, with Just a little lie tacked on at the end. With the majority of it being truth, it makes it easier for man to take it as face value. The one lie the Devil seems to get across to Taylor is that his Sin is far to big to be forgiven. However, Christ once again helps him see the error of his thoughts. Christ says "He seeks to aggrivate thy sin And screw them to the highest pin, to make thy faith to quaile. ". Christ expresses that the Devils plan is to point our Taylor''s sin and make it seem so big that not even God himself could find the power to forgive him.
But Christ quickly comes back and dismisses that lie. That he "smote the sins upon the head" and that "my blood doth out the stain. ". All sin was washed by the blood of Jesus on the cross, and Taylor must not let the Devil consume his thoughts and trick him into thinking that he is to far gone to be forgiven. "Although thy sins increase their race, And though when thou nast sought tor Grace, Thou tallst more than efore, If thou by true Repentance Rise, And Faith makes Me Thy Sacrifice, I''ll pardon all, though more. with this stanza, Christ seals the fact that no matter the sin, with true repentance and faith, all sin is forgive by the blood and by the Grace of God. "As for thy outward Postures each, Thy Gestures, Actions, and thy Speech, I Eye and Eying spare, If thou repent. My Grace is more Ten thousand times still trebled o''er Than thou canst want, or wear. " With God nothing is impossible is one of the most frequently said statements. However Taylor is sure to make it known that he elieves that that is true. "Oh! ght My Field: no Colors fear: I''ll be thy Front, I''ll be thy rear. Fail not: My Battles fight. Defy the Tempter, And his Mock. Anchor thy heart on Me thy Rock. I do in thee Delight. " is the last stanze of Taylor''s "Christs reply''. This stanza seems to sum up this piece perfectly. Simply stating that if Taylor puts his trust in Christ that nothing can bring him down. No bark of the Devil, and no sin he may commit, Gods Grace is enough. By the end of Taylor''s piece, you can tell he is more and more reassured that
Christ will always be on his side, and that no amount of "barking" by the Devil, nor amount of sin he may commit will keep him down because he knows God is on his side. "Christs reply'' is a perfect response to Taylor''s " The Souls groan to Christ for Succour". Everything he was worried about and or had doubts about were answered with the most positive and reassuring message. The message that the devil is simply a tool used to help him draw closer to him, that his sins will never be to big to be covered by Grace, and that with God on his side he can do anything.
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