Further Labors
603
Boston, and in the Hope of Israel, a paper issued in Iowa. The meeting
for the evening was appointed at Brother Farnsworth’s. The church
was present, and your father there requested Brother Ball to state his
objections to the visions and give an opportunity to answer them. Thus
the evening was spent. Brother Ball manifested much stiffness and op-
position; he admitted himself satisfied upon some points, but held his
position quite firmly. Brother Andrews and your father talked plainly,
explaining matters which he had misunderstood, and condemning his
unrighteous course toward the Sabbathkeeping Adventists. We all felt
that we had done the best we could that day to weaken the forces of
[656]
the enemy. Our meeting held until past ten.
“The next morning we attended meetings again in the meeting-
house. Your father spoke in the morning. But just before he spoke, the
enemy made a poor, weak brother feel that he had a most astonishing
burden for the church. He walked the slip, talked, and groaned, and
cried, and had a terrible something upon him, which nobody seemed
to understand. We were trying to bring those who professed the truth
to see their state of dreadful darkness and backsliding before God, and
to make humble confessions of the same, thus returning unto the Lord
with sincere repentance, that He might return unto them, and heal their
backslidings. Satan sought to hinder the work by pushing in this poor,
distracted soul to disgust those who wished to move understandingly.
I arose and bore a plain testimony to this man. He had taken no food
for two days, and Satan had deceived him, and pushed him over the
mark.
“Then your father preached. We had a few moments’ intermission,
and then I tried to speak upon the health and dress reforms, and bore
a plain testimony to those who had been standing in the way of the
young and of unbelievers. God helped me to say plain things to Brother
Ball, and to tell him in the name of the Lord what he had been doing.
He was considerably affected.
“Again we held an evening meeting at Brother Farnsworth’s. The
weather was stormy during the meetings, yet Brother Ball did not
remain away from one of them. The same subject was resumed, the
investigation of the course he had pursued. If ever the Lord helped
a man talk, He helped Brother Andrews that night, as he dwelt upon
the subject of suffering for Christ’s sake. The case of Moses was
mentioned, who refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter,