Half a Century by H. F. Phelps

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Sep 9, 1902

Half a Century

By H. F. Phelps

H. F. PHELPS

“HE which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly.” And from the heart I can respond, “Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” By the time this comes before the readers of our dear paper, fifty years will have passed away since I was baptized in the waters of Buffalo Lake, in Wisconsin, by the late Elder J. H. Waggoner. It is now a trifle more than fifty-two years since I first heard the blessed news of a soon-coming Saviour. And all these years the testimony of the angels to the men of Galilee, “This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven,” has been sweet to my ears; but never more so than at the present time. I am not yet weary, nor do I ever expect to be, of looking for the return of my blessed Lord and Saviour. And though there has been a seeming delay, I know that there will be delay no longer.

Fifty years ago the roving tribes of the red man were ever present, and means of travel were not as now. My uncle, Waterman Phelps, walked seventy-five miles, with a pack on his back, wading streams, and blistering his feet, to give the message of the soon-coming kingdom to his brother’s family, and not without result. At that time believers were few, and did not often see a minister. A little later Elder Waggoner came to strengthen the believers, of whom there were seven; and afterward Elders Loughborough and Cornell came to see us. All who heard and received the message at that time have fallen asleep, except the writer.

As I look back over these years, I can say that life is short. These have been eventful years with me. Four times the Lord has saved me from the jaws of death: three times, when, because of sickness, many had lost hope, I said, “I shall not die, but live and praise the Lord;” and once when bathing, I was rescued by a companion, though I had gone down to the bottom for the third time. I can say with David, with a change in one word, “Surely goodness and mercy have followed me all the days of my life: and [blessed thought!] I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” But the best of all these mercies and blessings is that he has given me a part in his work, and by his blessing some fruit of my labor.

And does the reader suppose that I have any regrets that I made choice of the Lord when his message appealed to my soul? Not at all! Never in all these years have I felt that some other course might have been better. But all these years the coming of the Lord has seemed near. And to-day I am sure that “now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.”