The heart of an unbeliever
(Jonathan
Edwards, "Men Naturally God's Enemies")
"They cursed the God of heaven for their
pains and sores. But they refused to repent
of all their evil deeds." Revelation 16:11
The heart of an unbeliever is like a
viper,
hissing and spitting poison at God!
When unbelievers come to be cast into hell,
then their malice against God will fully appear.
Then their hearts will appear as full of malice,
as hell is full of fire. When they come to be in
hell, there will be no new corruptions put into
their heart; but only that their old ones will
then break forth without restraint.
That is all the difference between an unbeliever
on earth--and an unbeliever in hell. In hell there
will be more to stir up the exercise of corruption,
and less to restrain it, than on earth. But there
will be no new corruption put in. An unbelieving
man will have no principle of corruption in hell,
but that which he carried to hell with him. Men
now have the seeds of all the malice against
God, that they will exercise in hell.
The malice of damned spirits is but a branch of
the root that is in the hearts of unbelievers now.
A unbeliever has a heart like the heart of a devil.
Only the corruption is presently more under
restraint in man, than in devils.