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Thomas Shepard
Thomas Shepard (November 5, 1605–August 25, 1649) was an English Puritan preacher and theologian, a key figure in early American colonial Christianity, renowned for his fervent sermons and role in founding Harvard College. Born in Towcester, Northamptonshire, to William Shepard, a grocer, and an unnamed mother who died when he was 10, he grew up in a godly but troubled home—his father’s remarriage brought a cruel stepmother. At 15, he entered Emmanuel College, Cambridge, in 1620, earning a B.A. in 1623 and an M.A. in 1627. A transformative conversion in 1621, spurred by Laurence Chaderton’s preaching, turned him from youthful rebellion to ministry, though Archbishop William Laud’s 1630 ban on his preaching for nonconformity forced him to flee England in 1635 with his family aboard the Defence. Shepard’s preaching career in America began when he settled in Newtown (now Cambridge), Massachusetts, becoming pastor of the First Church in 1636. His sermons, rich with introspection and warnings of divine judgment, shaped Puritan spirituality—his Sincere Convert (1640) and Sound Believer (1645) urged genuine faith over hypocrisy. A leader in the Antinomian Controversy, he opposed Anne Hutchinson’s views, reinforcing covenant theology. He helped establish Harvard in 1636, serving as an overseer to train ministers, and preached at the 1647 Cambridge Synod, defending orthodoxy. His 22-volume diary and Autobiography reveal a man wrestling with sin and grace, influencing figures like Jonathan Edwards.
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Thomas Shepard preaches about the unmeasurable love of God towards His people, emphasizing the abundance of grace that overflows in the presence of sin. He describes two aspects of this love: a created love, which encompasses all human and angelic love, and an uncreated, infinite love of God that is immeasurable. Shepard highlights how God's love is manifested in various ways, from providing earthly blessings to offering eternal life and enlightenment. He urges believers to love God without measure, not limiting their devotion or dedication to Him.
He Loves You With an Unmeasurable Love.
He loves thee with an unmeasurable love. Rom. 5:20, Where sin there grace hath abounded." Hence (Eph. 2:3, 4) love "and "great love." Verse 7, "Exceeding riches of his grace." For there is in Christ,— 1. A created love. One man loves another exceedingly, as Jonathan did David. Now, he hath the perfection of all human or angelical love toward his people put in him. 2. Uncreated love, infinite love of a God, and hence it is unmeasurable. He thinks nothing he doeth too much, nothing he gives too dear. Hence, when world is slain, Satan cast out, when he is out, sin must out; when some sins are removed, the rest must; when they are out, then death must; when death, then hell. And when there is no life, no grace, he works it; it decays, he restores it; it can not act, he quickens it; it can not, doth not grow, he waters it. He hath given thee the earth, and the days of peace and patience; these are too little. He calls thee, and when thou canst not come, draws thee, and gives thee pardon, that is too little. He gives earth to thee, that is too little, (for they are made co-heirs;) he gives promise to thee, that is too little; he gives himself and Spirit, and can he do more? Yes; we can not drink in all that goodness and love; hence he gives eternity to thee, and he shall more and more enlighten thee; not only let thy soul live to bless him, but thy poor body, and every dust of it, to be raised up to glory with him. What the Lord promised to Abraham, "In blessing I will bless," that portion is thine. O, now love him without measure. "O, how I love thy law!" How did David love it? I can not tell; but if he loved the word of Christ, then much more the person of Christ, the presence of Christ, everlasting fellowship with Christ. O, take heed of giving Christ, and measuring out unto Christ his portion, his allowance, that when the Lord comes to you for more love, (as he doth daily,) you give him that answer which many do in their practice —you have let him have as much as you can; so that you can not spare any more from yourselves, from a base world, from wife and child and creature, from a slothful course; you hope the Lord will accept of that little he hath. I confess that a little water in a spring is better than much that comes by land floods; but be sure it be a spring, else not accepted. Beloved, time was you lived without Christ, did nothing for him; now you do, and what thou dost this year, didst last year, and no more. Will you thus stint the Lord? Either do more, give more, or mourn you can not. O, one life, one heart is too little for him. It hath put me to sad fears of many men's estates to see this frame, a world of sin without measure every day. Where is the Christian that loves the Lord every day? How can any then say much is forgiven, when they do not love much?
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Thomas Shepard (November 5, 1605–August 25, 1649) was an English Puritan preacher and theologian, a key figure in early American colonial Christianity, renowned for his fervent sermons and role in founding Harvard College. Born in Towcester, Northamptonshire, to William Shepard, a grocer, and an unnamed mother who died when he was 10, he grew up in a godly but troubled home—his father’s remarriage brought a cruel stepmother. At 15, he entered Emmanuel College, Cambridge, in 1620, earning a B.A. in 1623 and an M.A. in 1627. A transformative conversion in 1621, spurred by Laurence Chaderton’s preaching, turned him from youthful rebellion to ministry, though Archbishop William Laud’s 1630 ban on his preaching for nonconformity forced him to flee England in 1635 with his family aboard the Defence. Shepard’s preaching career in America began when he settled in Newtown (now Cambridge), Massachusetts, becoming pastor of the First Church in 1636. His sermons, rich with introspection and warnings of divine judgment, shaped Puritan spirituality—his Sincere Convert (1640) and Sound Believer (1645) urged genuine faith over hypocrisy. A leader in the Antinomian Controversy, he opposed Anne Hutchinson’s views, reinforcing covenant theology. He helped establish Harvard in 1636, serving as an overseer to train ministers, and preached at the 1647 Cambridge Synod, defending orthodoxy. His 22-volume diary and Autobiography reveal a man wrestling with sin and grace, influencing figures like Jonathan Edwards.