7 years ago on November 15, 2005 Adrian Rogers passed away. This is a series of posts about the life and ministry of Adrian Rogers.

Adrian Rogers Memorial – Come To Jesus

Uploaded by jonwhisner on Jan 20, 2011

Here is a portion of an article from Baptist Press on Nov 22, 2005: 

CORDOVA, Tenn. (BP)–Two longtime friends of Adrian Rogers were among those who stepped up to the pulpit at his funeral, in their case, to voice the admiration of fellow pastors for his influence in their lives.

“Let us pray that a double portion of Adrian Rogers’ spirit shall be upon us all,” said Jerry Vines, pastor of First Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Fla., and a former Southern Baptist Convention president -– as was Rogers, who died Nov. 15 at the age of 74 after a battle with cancer and pneumonia.

“He taught us preachers, ‘Holiness is not the way to Jesus, but Jesus is the way to holiness,’” Ken Whitten, pastor of Idlewild Baptist Church in Tampa, Fla., told the crowd at Rogers’ Nov. 18 funeral at Bellevue Baptist Church in suburban Memphis.

A transcript of their remarks follows:

JERRY VINES

“I’ve been asked to speak on behalf of Dr. Rogers’ friends and his brothers in the ministry. Joyce reminded me Tuesday night that very often he and I would sermonize in our telephone calls. I must say to you, on more than one occasion I was able to creatively disguise one of his outlines -– as have we all. You haven’t preached until you’ve preached an Adrian Rogers sermon.

“So permit me just briefly to sermonize. When Elisha saw the prophet Elijah carried into heaven, he cried, ‘My father, my father! The chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof. It was a cry of sadness, a cry of witness, a cry of gladness.

“It is a cry of sadness. ‘My father, my father!’ Elisha speaking out of the deeply personal grief he is experiencing. There is something deeply personal about that word. We grieve this evening, not to the level or to the degree of the Rogers family, but we bring our grief alongside your grief. Who could not but grieve? Who could have a dry eye over the loss of this good and faithful man? The Bible says we’re to sorrow not as those who have no hope, but it does not say we are to sorrow not. Our Christian faith does not dehumanize us.

“It is a cry of witness. There is something definitely testimonial. Notice the language carefully. ‘The chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof.’ Normally it was spoken of the chariots -– plural -– of Israel. And yet when God gets ready for Elijah to go to heaven, he sends a chariot and Elisha recognizes that this chariot represents this prophet of God, Elijah. One man, who challenged and conquered the prophets of Baal, who through the power of his prayers could call down fire or rain, whichever was needed on the occasion…. Adrian Rogers was our acknowledged leader…. He led us in the Southern Baptist Convention conservative resurgence. He led by the godliness of his character, the Christ-likeness of his behavior and the power of his spirit-filled life. It is a cry of witness. There is something testimonial.

“It is a cry of gladness. There is something delightfully supernal about it. I have chosen that word, Joyce, carefully — supernal. I think Adrian would like that word. It’s an old word. You pick it up in some of the hymns, Steve, of old. Supernal. Celestial. Coming from on high. ‘My father, my father! The chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof. As he was propelled by a whirlwind, escorted by a chariot of fire into the presence…. When he went into the hospital, most of you read these things, he said, ‘I’m in a win-win situation.’ It sounds just like him…. He said many times, ‘When my time comes, don’t be sorry for me. I will be kicking up gold dust on the streets of glory.’

“So what’s left for us? Let us pray that a double portion of Adrian Rogers’ spirit shall be upon us all.”