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"THE DAY THE MUSIC DIED"

If you're a fan of the real oldies, you might have it marked on your calendar every year, and you drape some black cloth over your electric guitar every February 3rd. Clear back in 1959, forty-one years ago on February 3, a little airplane went down in a cornfield near Mason City, Iowa, and a young musician named Buddy Holly perished in the crash, along with J. P. Richardson, also known as "The Big Bopper," and Richie Valens. And hits in this new genre known as rock 'n' roll, songs like "Peggy Sue" and "That'll Be the Day," became nothing but crumpled memories. Many years later, of course, it was Don McLean who sang a poignant song, entitled "American Pie," about "the day the music died."
Now, even if you were one who thought this newfangled music was just so much noise and beat and long hair, you have to mourn the passing of a human life. A man dying in the wreckage of an airplane. A funeral. A graveside service. And then finally just a tombstone.
That's why this first chapter of Philippians is kind of startling in contrast to the mourning over the death of a singer. Because the Apostle Paul seems positively happy about death. He's not afraid of plane crashes - or, in his case - boat crashes. As in shipwrecks. Or getting beat up . . . even to the point of death. Or even execution at the hands of the Romans. He simply is not afraid of death; in fact, he's rather looking forward to it.
And friend, that leads us to a very vexing theological question. I'm not going to ask it flippantly, but here goes: Where is Buddy Holly today, right now, here on Valentine's Day, 41 years later? He's been dead for more than four decades now, but where is he at this moment? Is he playing in that great all-star band in the sky, along with Jimi Hendrix, John Lennon, Mama Cass, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain and so many others? And again, I don't ask this question casually. The question of what happens to a person when they die fills up the Christian bookstores and the religious airwaves as much as any other topic.
Here are the verses that cause the debate. This is the very end of 18, and then a bit more:

"I will continue to rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me [ending up in jail] will turn out for my deliverance. I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death."

Now he begins to write to his friends, and to us, about the possibility of death. Verse 21:

"For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body."

Well, friend, that's a mouthful, and it's a pageful, and it's fodder for a whole bunch of sermons and radio debates. But let's start with the very clear points and proceed from there.
First of all, Jesus Christ is everything to this man named Paul. "For to me, to live is Christ," he writes . . . and wouldn't it be marvelous if that was the slogan, the driving passion, for each of us? It's certainly mine, and I wish it were much MORE mine than it is. "For to me, to live is Christ." Paul would make any choice, offer up any sacrifice, choose any option that would bring him closer to Jesus, bring joy to Jesus, bring a reunion with Jesus nearer. And if Christ wanted him to live and work, even in jail, even through struggles and famine and stonings, well, that was perfectly fine with Paul.
And yet, in verse 23, Paul says that there is the option of departing to be with Christ - which, of course, means death. And he very seriously wrestles with the idea, thinking out loud, that it is actually preferable to go ahead and die, the sooner the better. That choice, he writes, is "better by far."
We'll discuss together a bit later about the deep meaning to be found by his decision to stay on. That choice to LIVE, that sacrifice, spells condemnation for the Jim Joneses of the world, the David Koreshes, the Heaven's Gate cultists. Getting to heaven sooner by suicide is not a choice you can find taught anywhere in the Word of God. But as we think about Buddy Holly here, let's stay with one question. Does the Bible teach us that the moment a person dies, they go in a conscious state to heaven? Paul says here that he will depart and be with Christ. Is it a given, then, that he will IMMEDIATELY be with Christ?
Let me speak very openly to each of you. Because it's a certainty that for those who believe and teach that when a saved person dies, their soul goes instantly to heaven, this is obviously their key text in all of Scripture. Philippians 1:23 is the strongest verse in the entire 66 books which lends credence to that doctrine.

"I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far."

However, it's not wise or safe to draw our entire theology on a subject just on one verse or even on two or three passages. And again, I'm going to be very open with you right here. If you're a regular listener to the Voice of Prophecy radio ministry, you know full well that this Bible teaching is an area of some study for us. And along with a growing number of scholars, we've tried to look through all 66 books to decide exactly what the Bible teaches about the soul and about death and about the resurrection of God's saints.
What does Paul himself say in other passages, for instance? What did Jesus say? What do we find in the Old Testament? And it's very, very true that good, dedicated Christians can read and study and dissect and travel down ALL of those avenues . . . and still disagree. We do have to keep loving each other and trusting in CHRIST for our salvation, not in correct and perfect doctrine. Still, we could hardly study the book of Philippians without discussing this very interesting question.
Let me briefly say two things I know we all agree on. First of all, we all say a heartfelt amen when Paul tells us that Christ is everything. The doctrine of death doesn't need to be a cause of fear to any person who trusts in Jesus, because God's Word promises eternal LIFE, not death, for all believers.
Secondly, let me point you to an Old Testament passage which very clearly states that when a person dies, he or she is unconscious. Here's Ecclesiastes 9:5:

"For the living know that they will die, but the dead know NOTHING; they have no further reward, and even the memory of them is forgotten. Their love, their hate and their jealousy have long since vanished."

There are other Bible passages in both testaments which teach this: that death is an unconscious state. Christ Himself called it a sleep on several occasions. That's an important point, which we'll get to a bit later.
For right now, let's discover what ELSE Paul wrote about death besides this one mysterious verse here in Philippians one. Fortunately for us, he's given some of the clearest Bible teachings on this exact subject. Now, unless you're driving on the Golden State freeway at this moment, jot down these two crucial passages: First Thessalonians four and First Corinthians 15. These are both landmark study chapters on the topic of death and the resurrection.
In First Thessalonians four, Paul is writing to Christian friends for the specific purpose of giving them courage regarding death. "I don't want you to be ignorant about this," he writes, "or to grieve like your neighbors who don't have any hope." And then, beginning in verse 16, he outlines, step by step, exactly what's going to happen when Christ comes again.

"For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command" - "with a shout," says the King James - "with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first."

So when Jesus comes again, at the Second Coming, still a future event, the saved who have died are going to be raised to life. You've heard songs about the Resurrection Morning, and this is exactly what Paul is referring to. Now verse 17:

"After that, we who are still alive and are left" - wouldn't it be wonderful if that were you and me? - "will be caught up WITH THEM in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage [or comfort] each other with these words."

Well, friend, here's our dilemma. In Philippians one, Paul seems to be saying that when he dies, he's departing to be with Christ. On the other hand, here is very clear teaching, from the same apostle's pen, that those who have died will be raised to life much, much later when Jesus comes again to this earth. And First Corinthians 15 teaches exactly the same thing. Read it for yourself.
Now, I don't know the state of Buddy Holly's soul when he died. That's God's business and not mine. But if he was a saved man when that plane went down on February 3, 1959, is he in heaven already? Or is he still sleeping and waiting for the trumpet to blow? This is a terrible place to break, but we'll pick it up at this exact spot tomorrow.