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  THIS GREAT DOCTOR WAS SO GREAT A DUNCE
  by Thomas Brooks
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Summary: The sermon explores Nicodemus's misunderstanding of
regeneration and highlights the necessity of spiritual rebirth for true
understanding of faith.

Topics: "Regeneration", "Spiritual Understanding"
Scripture References: John 3:3, Romans 8:5-6, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Ephesians 2:1-5, 1 Peter 1:23

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DESCRIPTION
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Thomas Brooks emphasizes the profound misunderstanding of spiritual
truths by Nicodemus, a respected Pharisee who, despite his religious
practices, was ignorant of the necessity of being born again. He
illustrates that true regeneration is a mystery to those who rely solely
on their natural understanding, likening Nicodemus's confusion to a
child's grasp of complex concepts. Brooks argues that without spiritual
rebirth, one cannot rise above their natural state, highlighting the
need for divine intervention in understanding spiritual matters.

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CONTENT
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("Touchstone of Sincerity")

Nicodemus was a man of great note, name, and fame

among the pharisees, and he fasted, and prayed, and

gave alms, and paid tithes, etc., and yet was a total

stranger to the new birth. Regeneration was a paradox

to him. "How can a man be born when he is old? Can

he enter the second time into his mother's womb and

be born?" This great doctor was so great a dunce,

that he understood no more of the doctrine of regeneration,

than a mere child does the highest precepts of astronomy!

As water can rise no higher than the spring from whence

it came, so the natural man can rise no higher than nature.

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Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/thomas-brooks/this-great-doctor-was-so-great-a-dunce/
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