OLYCARP'S name does not occur in the New Testament, but there are few of us who have not heard the story of his famous rejoinder to his persecutors, Brought before the Roman pro-Consul at Smyrna, he was given an opportunity of recanting while the fire was being prepared which was to consume his body, Urged by his judge, who was moved by Polycarp's extreme age, to curse Christ and so spare his life, he nobly answered: "Eighty and six years have I served Him, and He never did me any wrong: how can I blaspheme my King and my Savior?"

      Polycarp was born about the year 70, A. D. He had the advantage of Christian training, and was instructed in the Christian faith from childhood. He became Bishop of Smyrna. The Church at Smyrna was one of the seven named in the Book of Revelation, and of which it was foretold that "some should be cast into prison." He was put to death as a martyr about the year 156, A. D., being burned alive for his faithfulness to Jesus Christ. [47]

      Polycarp was a disciple of John, and was, some say, made bishop and set over the Church at Smyrna by the Apostle himself. If this be so, he must have early distinguished himself for his piety and devotion to religion.

      Smyrna was not far from Ephesus. The Apostle Paul made a long stay at Ephesus, and only left it a few years before Polycarp was born. About the date of his birth the Apostle John and several other disciples settled in Asia Minor, John becoming the Bishop of the Church at Ephesus. Though Paul was dead at the birth of Polycarp, the memory of the great Apostle would linger long in the district of Ephesus among the churches which he planted, and with which he was so closely associated.

      In Polycarp, then, we have another

If the books of the New Testament were in existence he would certainly have known of it. And if we find that he did know then we may accept his testimony as important and undeniable.

      It seems that Polycarp wrote several Epistles to neighboring churches and some to private individuals; but with one exception all these have perished, and we now scarcely know their names. The one exception is a valuable letter which he sent to the church at Philippi, and which opens [48] with the following sentence:--"Polycarp and the presbyters that are, with him, to the Church of God at Philippi: Mercy unto you, and peace, from God Almighty, and the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior, be multiplied."

      We are very thankful that this letter has escaped the ravages of time, and exists to-day as standing evidence that when Polycarp lived our New Testament was in existence, and was known to him. This letter of his shows clearly that the New Testament, even thus early, was so popular that it entered into the common life and language of the people. His letter to the Philippians is shaped in the language of our Scriptures, and it is evident even to a careless reader that it could not have been written at all except by a man who knew his New Testament.

      It is a very short epistle, covering only a few pages, as it is printed in an English translation. Its length will be better understood when I say that I have read it through, timing myself, in ten minutes. Yet short as this epistle is, it is long enough for our purpose.

      We learn from it that Polycarp was a devout and [49] pious man. We have already said that he had the advantage of Christian training, which was not lost upon him. From childhood he had listened to the great leaders and founders of the Church of Christ. He had sat at the feet of the saintly John, and from the lips of many who knew our Lord Himself; he had heard the story of our Lord's life, death, resurrection, and glorious ascension. He had heard them tell of the gift of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, and of the rapid spread of Christ's teaching, and of the faithfulness of followers and their converts in times of trial and difficulty. All this had so filled his soul that he lived in close communion with God, and was deeply anxious for the welfare of the Church of God.

      In his letter he urges the Philippians to be consistent tent in their conduct, steadfast in their faith, and to manifest brotherly love; while at the same time he warns them against falsehood, covetousness, and evil doing. Let us examine a few passages from this all-important letter.

      "Wherefore girding up the loins of your mind, serve the Lord with fear, and in truth; laying aside all empty and vain speech, and the error of many, believing in Him that raised up our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead, and hath given Him glory. . . . But He that raised up Christ from the dead shall [50] also raise up us in like manner, if we do His will, and walk according to His commandments, and love those things which He loved; abstaining from all unrighteousness, inordinate affection, and love of money; from evil speaking, false witness; not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing, or striking for striking, or cursing for cursing; but remembering what the Lord has taught us, saying, 'Judge not, and ye shall not be judged; forgive, and ye shall be forgiven.'"

      "Let us therefore serve Him in fear, and with all reverence, as both Himself has commanded, and as the Apostles who have preached the Gospel unto us, and the prophets who have foretold the Coming of our Lord have taught us; being zealous of what is good; abstaining from all offence and from false brethren, and from those who bear the name of Christ in hypocrisy, who deceive vain men. For whosoever does not confess that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, he is Antichrist: and whoever does not confess his sufferings upon the cross is from the devil; and whosoever perverts the oracles of the Lord to his own lusts, and says that there shall neither be any resurrection nor judgment, he is the firstborn of Satan. Wherefore, leaving the vaunts of many, and their false doctrines, let us return to the word that was delivered to us from the beginning: 'Watching unto prayer,' and persevering in fasting: with supplication beseeching [51] the all-seeing God 'not to lead us into temptation,' as the Lord hath said, 'The spirit truly is willing, but the flesh is weak.'"

      These short quotations will be sufficient to show one nature of the whole Epistle, and also to show how it abounds with the language of the New Testament. In these few lines we notice--(1) He states the fact of our Lord's resurrection and ascension to glory. (2) He refers to the teaching of our Lord and His Apostles. (3) He refers to the oracles of our Lord, which was the word for the written Gospels. (4) He quotes the language of Peter, of Paul, of Matthew, and of John.

      In the whole Epistle, which occupies but ten minutes to read, we find the language of Matthew, Luke, John, and the Acts of the Apostles; of the Epistle of Peter; and of Paul's Epistles to the Romans, Corinthians, Galatians, Thessalonians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Timothy, and Titus.

      Here, then, we get a link in our chain which connects us to the actual writers of the New Testament, and assures us, beyond all possibility of doubt, that the contents of our New Testament were in the hands of the men who lived before the last of the Apostles were dead. Could anything be more decisive? Does not this most clearly answer the question, Where did our Bible come from? I do not know of anything [52] ancient, for which there is fuller and clearer evidence of authenticity than that our New Testament came from the disciples and their friends in that First Century of the Christian era. We can strengthen this last link still more by a short notice of Papias, another of the three fathers who was alive in the year 75, A. D. [53]

[HWGI 47-53]