Broadcasting the Good News

Without hope for the future, life becomes meaningless.

Paul says it this way: “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable” (1 Corinthians 15:19).

One of the most outstanding preachers of hope of the twentieth century was the Seventh-day Adventist evangelist, radio speaker, and author H. M. S. Richards Sr. (1894–1985). Having experimented with radio announcements for his meetings, on October 19, 1929, on KNK (AM) in Los Angeles, California, Richards launched what is considered the first coast-to-coast regular religious radio program in the United States. His program was called The Tabernacle of the Air and later The Voice of Prophecy.

Shortly after the program began broadcasting, the Great Depression (1929–1933) hit the United States and the world. In contrast to many popular preachers who speculated about prophecies yet to be fulfilled, Richards placed his emphasis on prophecies that had already been fulfilled. In his own words, “A lot of the Bible prophecy is not given so we can predict what will happen, but so we can see what already happened, and get confirmation that the Bible is true. If it came true historically, then when Jesus gives his wonderful teachings, we ought to believe that, too.”38 Christian hope is a three-dimensional assurance. It is rooted in the past historical scenario, in which many Bible prophecies were fulfilled. It is sustained in the present by being anchored “behind the veil” of the heavenly sanctuary, where Christ is patiently interceding for us (Hebrews 6:19, 20).

And it generates strong anticipation for a glorious future when Christ, “the author and finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2), will appear in the clouds of heaven to take us with Him to His heavenly home. As “prisoners of hope” (Zechariah 9:12), you and I should always be ready for His glorious appearing!