Perhaps you have heard the story of the man who inquired from a mountaineer the way to a certain destination.

The mountaineer stuttered and stammered and finally said: “You can’t get there from here.”

We may smile at this, but the results would be even more amusing — and sad — were we to ask the average person on the street the way to heaven.

What is the way to heaven? It is interesting to read in God’s Word what many think about this. In Proverbs 14:12 we read:

“There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.”

What are some of these “ways” that “seem right” to men, leading them to hope for heaven? Joining a church? Being baptized? Doing one’s best? Keeping the Ten Commandments? Loving one’s neighbor as himself? These are a few of the ways that men follow, hoping to gain eternal life, but they all come under one heading: “Do good.”

But what do the Scriptures say about this? In the Gospel according to John there are recorded for us seven “I ams,” which the Lord Jesus Christ used in speaking of Himself.
One of these is found in John 14:6:

“I am the way, the truth and the life; no man cometh unto the Father but by Me.”

This passage has a double significance, since it was not only the declaration of the Lord Jesus Christ, but at the same time a declaration of the divinely inspired Scriptures. From this verse we learn not only that Jesus is the only way to the Father, but also that He is “the truth” to be believed and trusted in. Thus we can believe the Lord Jesus when He claims to be the way to heaven.

But according to this passage He is also “the life.” As we place our faith in Him as the One who died on the cross for us, we receive eternal life. “He died that we might live.”

To the Reader:

Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface:

"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles."

To this we would add that the same is true for the articles written by others that we continue to add, on a regular basis, to the Two Minutes library. We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.

This was the question Philip asked of the Ethiopian prince as he sat reading from Isaiah’s prophecy (Acts 8:30), and it is a question which we should continually keep asking ourselves as we read the holy Scriptures.

There are always those among God’s people who do not much care whether or not they understand what they read if only it warms their hearts! To them the Bible is little more than a fetish. Taking only those Scriptures which appeal to them, and leaving the rest, they actually feel themselves quite spiritual and often talk about believing the Bible whether or not they understand it!

But such “spirituality” is far from genuine, and such “faith” is blind and superstitious at best. While it is true that the Bible teaches many truths which we believe, although they are beyond our comprehension (such as its opening verse!), yet how can we believe what the Bible says unless we understand what it says? God would have us understand what we read and believe it intelligently.

Indeed, true faith will want to know and understand more and more of God’s Word. One who does not care whether or not he understands what God has said is not truly interested in knowing what God has said. His faith is based on his own will rather than on God’s Word, for regardless of the meaning of Scripture, he will take any passage that suits his fancy and use it as he wishes. How great an emphasis God Himself places upon the importance of understanding His Word!

On one occasion, when our Lord saw the multitudes, He “was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things” (Mark 6:34). And now that the secret of God’s “eternal purpose” has been made known, how much more reason there is to study the Scriptures, with a view to understanding them! How Paul, by the Spirit, emphasizes this, as he writes of his prayers for the saints:

“That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him:

“The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of His calling…” (Eph. 1:17,18).

To the Reader:

Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface:

"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles."

To this we would add that the same is true for the articles written by others that we continue to add, on a regular basis, to the Two Minutes library. We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.