I. What manner of persons those were, to whom the apostle says, _Ye are in heaviness_: II. What kind of heaviness they were in. III. What were the causes, and IV. What were the ends of it. I shall conclude with some inferences. I. 1. I am in the first place to shew, what manner of persons those were, to whom the apostle says, _Ye are in heaviness_. And, first, It is beyond all dispute, that they were believers, at the time the apostle thus addrest them. For so he expresly says, ver. 5. Ye _who are kept through the power of_ God _by_ faith _unto salvation_: again, ver. 7. he mentions, _the trial of their_ faith, _much more precious than that of gold which perisheth_. And yet again, ver. 9, he speaks of their _receiving the end of their faith, the salvation of their souls_. At the same time therefore that they were _in heaviness_, they were possessed of living faith. Their heaviness did not destroy their faith: they still _endured, seeing him that is invisible_. 2. Neither did their heaviness destroy their peace, the peace that passeth all understanding, which is inseparable from true, living faith. This we may easily gather from the second verse: wherein the apostle prays, Not that _grace and peace_ may be given them, but only, that it may _be multiplied unto them_; that the blessing which they already enjoyed, might be more abundantly bestowed upon them. 3. The persons to whom the apostle here speaks were also full of a living hope. For thus he speaks, ver. 3. _Blessed be the GOD and Father of our_ Lord Jesus Christ, _who according to his abundant mercy, hath begotten us again_, me and you, all of us who are _sanctified by the Spirit_, and enjoy the _sprinkling of the blood of_ Jesus Christ, _unto a living hope unto an inheritance_, that is unto a living hope of an inheritance _incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away_. So that notwithstanding their heaviness, they still retained an hope full of immortality. 4. And they still _rejoiced in hope of the glory of_ God. They were filled with joy in the Holy Ghost. So ver. 8. the apostle having just mentioned the final _revelation of_ Jesus Christ (namely when he cometh to judge the world) immediately adds, _In whom though now ye see him not_ (not with your bodily eyes) _yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory_. Their heaviness therefore was not only consistent with living hope, but also with _joy unspeakable_: at the same time they were thus heavy, they nevertheless rejoiced with _joy full of glory_.