It is not enough that Christ's blood is shed; it must be sprinkled on our hearts (Heb. xii. 24; 1 Pet. i. 2). The act of sprinkling it upon the door-posts was equivalent to a profession, “I am the Lord's." It was the means of safety, "When I see the blood," etc.

over."

What encouragement for timid Christians! Perhaps, as the angel went on his awful mission, the shriek and wail from some neighboring house would reach the ears of an Israelitish family. A mother might tremble and clasp her child to her breast with fear; her faith might be weak; but if the blood were on the door she was safe, though trembling. "When I see the blood, I will pass over you." "Pass The general idea that God was passing through by his destroying angel, and left those doors on which the blood was seen. This, perhaps, is not strictly the meaning. At least, Bishop Lowth, an eminent Hebrew scholar, says: "Two agents are supposed-the destroying angel on his errand of judgment, and Jehovah Himself, as it were, accompanying him; and when he sees the sign, springing forward before the door,' he makes Himself the safety of his own" (compare Isa. xxxi. 5).

Peculiar beauty of the type thus viewed. If the blood of the Lamb is sprinkled upon us, we are as safe, though not yet as happy, as the redeemed in heaven (Rom. viii. 1, 31, 33, 34). Nothing but the blood of the great Sacrifice will save the soul. Have you come to it? No outward membership, no self-denial, no suffering, nothing but Christ can

save.

II. The paschal sacrifice was to be eaten. was to be sprinkled before the food was eaten.

1. The blood

It was con

sciousness of safety through the blood that enabled them with gladness to partake of the feast. We must have faith in Jesus before we can have communion with him.

2. It was to be eaten with bitter herbs and unleavened bread-the former the emblem of their bitter oppression and

the type of sorrow for sin; the latter showing that the redeemed must be holy. They are set free, but it is to be made pure.

III. The Passover was to be kept.

The feast of unleavened bread was to last seven days. It was, as it were, the continuance of the Passover. The one exhibits the way of pardon; the other, the holiness which follows pardon.

IV. In closing our subject, not exhausting it, turn to Leviticus xxiii. 9-11.

I. "On the morrow after the Sabbath," that is, the first day after Passover Sabbath, sometimes the third day after the Passover, sometimes later.

2. The sheaf is evidently "Christ the first-fruits" (1 Cor. xv. 23). Jesus rose the third day after the Passover, and this has become our Sabbath ever since.

3. The first sheaf is the pledge of our resurrection-that is, of our declared acceptance and full freedom by our resurrection (1 Cor. xv. 20).

How full the meaning of the apostle's words, "Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us, therefore let us keep the feast!" Ours is a greater danger, a nobler deliverance, a higher ransom, a grander freedom. Let us live as those who are not their own, but are redeemed from "vain conversation" as well as from death and condemnation.

XVII.

THE ART OF SECURING ATTENTION.

VERY one will acknowledge the indispensable necessity of a teacher's securing good attention. By attention we mean thought, steadiness of mind.”

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fixity of

1. Says Mr. Fitch: "Attention is-1. An act of the will. 2. It is the one of all the mental faculties which is most under our control. Therefore the degree of attention we give depends upon our disposition, and is therefore largely a matter of discipline, and other things being equal, that teacher will gain the best attention who has most personal influence, and who is looked up to with the greatest respect." (Teacher! is your character, conduct, and manner such as will entitle you to respect?) "3. Attention is a habit. If truly given, every day it becomes the easier. And every day we listen languidly to a lesson or sermon the habit of inattention is strengthened."

2. Attention is promoted by a deep and earnest interest in and sympathy with the child, as well as for him. We must enter into sympathy with him,

so as to understand his nature, his weaknesses, and his trials, and make all due allowance for them.

3. If the teacher would secure attention, he must be accurately and abundantly prepared; for no teacher can teach all he knows, and the moment a teacher approaches the limit of his preparation, he shows his weakness and embarrassment, the child detects it, and he is gone.

4. Improve well the circumstances which surround the daily life of the child, for you must here gather your best illustrations. Teachers can do this, if they are industrious, and will keep their "Sunday-school spectacles on."

5. Give the children frequent change of posture to relieve them. Study to do this especially in infantclasses. Give much freedom of motion and gesture to the little ones. If they speak of God and heaven, let them point and look upward in harmony, and thus teach them in a reverent manner to act out their words and feelings.

6. Simultaneous reading and making of ellipses, leaving the children to fill in a word at the close of the sentence or lesson, will aid in securing attention.

7. Recapitulation is very important to gain the attention. The scholar must give attention to be prepared for the expected review. Therefore always ask in detail, in order to see that all is understood. No child or man ever takes pains to grasp a subject, so as to fasten it in his memory, unless he expects to be called upon for it, or in some way to find use for

it hereafter. We cannot retain in our minds isolated or abstract knowledge. Todd beautifully says, "Ask a child if he knows what whiteness is, and he will tell you no; ask him if he knows what a white wall or white paper is, and he knows at once. Ask him if he knows what hardness is, and he will only stare at you; but ask him if he knows what a hard wall, or hard hand, or a hard apple is, and he will tell you at once." Connect the lesson with previous knowledge, and take great care to sustain attention with abundant resources, for if it is once lost, it is a very difficult thing to regain it on the same lesson.

8. Pictorial power. Word-painting by the aid of the imagination and ample details; the power of describing scenes and incidents, so as to appear real to the child's imagination, will assist you in gaining his attention. If you will dwell on all the little details of a fact clearly, you will be graphic in picturing it out in words; and without these details, the teacher may sometimes be very graphic with children, even in the simple act of reading with suitable emotion, emphasis, and action. Said a little girl, "Oh, father, Mr. F., the minister, read the 21st chapter of Revelation in church to-day, and it was just as if he had taken a pencil and paper and pictured it right out before us." It is St. John's elegant description of the Holy City. The Bible makes great use of the imagination in its numerous emblems, metaphors, similes, etc. In fact, we cannot worship God without the aid of the imagination. God is