The sky is falling No, Chicken Little isn't back in vogue. But the end times are upon us. Has your attention been drawn to such themes as Armageddon, the Apocalypse, antichrist, the Rapture, and other such events? TV and movies are including them in ever-increasing measure. The same thing happened at the time of Jesus' birth circa 7 B.C. When the time draws near for Biblical prophecies to be fulfilled, God gets folks interested in them. What does that tell us about today? The "Heavenly Citizens" series serves as a tool to help the Christian understand not only what the Bible teaches us, but also how to study the Bible. Explaining what the Bible teaches is like giving someone a fish to eat. Teaching him how to study the Bible is like teaching someone how to fish so he can feed himself. Both approaches are essential to developing spiritual maturity. "Revelation" is the eleventh volume in the "Heavenly Citizens" series. The Apostle John was exiled by the Roman emperor to the island of Patmos, in the Aegean Sea off modern Turkey. In the solitude he had there, he was visited by Messiah Jesus. The Lord gave him a vision of Himself glorified, a vision even more glorious than what John witnessed on the Mount of Transfiguration. Jesus followed that with a portrayal of the entire Church Age, and then gave a vivid account of the end times. It is customary for folks today to flock to end-times stories. We are fascinated by what we don't know, and we want to get the latest scoop on the unknown, so that we can be one up on everyone else. But that is not the purpose for which God reveals the future to us, as we can ascertain by a quick reading of Deuteronomy 29:29. In keeping with God's purpose, we spend our time in studying "Revelation" by limiting the guess work, which serves only to tickle our fancy, and in its place substitute a practical application of the text to our lives for today. Why did Messiah Jesus reveal these events to the Apostle John? What are we to learn from this revelation, that will help us to live each day like God calls us to live? Yes, this revelation is long and full of exciting details, so we wouldn't dream of leaving any of that out. Truth be told, we spend considerable time on each and every verse in the "Book of Revelation." But if we leave it at that, then we have failed God and ourselves. Messiah Jesus didn't die so that we can be smart and intellectual He died so that we might have new life, His life in us. That is our guiding principle in studying the "Book of Revelation," viz., how to make better disciples for our Lord. The approach for "Revelation," and for every volume in the "Heavenly Citizens" series, is to teach the student the meaning of Scripture. We also teach him or her how to study the Bible on his/her own. We do this in two ways: we provide a few rules by which to govern our Bible study, and we demonstrate by example how to study the Bible. Experience is an outstanding teacher. In our books we practice the rules for Bible study. By walking through the Bible with us, the reader experiences firsthand what our method of study is like. We believe the student will come out of our studies with both an understanding of the Bible and the ability to truthfully understand the Bible on his/her own. The path lies before you. Walk through the gate and join the journey with us And may the blessings of the Lord Jesus Christ be yours in abundance.