“A scoundrel and villain, who goes about with a corrupt mouth, who winks with his eye, signals with his feet and motions with his fingers, who plots evil with deceit in his heart – he always stirs up dissension. Therefore disaster will overtake him in an instant; he will suddenly be destroyed – without remedy” Proverbs 6:12–15 NIV.

Translated into modern language, that says to me, “Beware of the hard sell.” Here is a man who comes to you and he is just impressing you with every part of his body. He’s talking with his mouth but is not altogether honest; he’s winking with his eye; he’s motioning with his fingers. He’s doing everything he can; he’s totally given up to persuasion. And the Bible says, “Be careful of that man. His motives are not good; there’s evil in his heart. God’s going to bring judgment on that man.”

And when he leaves, he doesn’t leave the peace of God behind him. Have you ever noticed that about some people? They say all the right things while they are with you, but when they walk out of the door there is something left behind that is not the peace of God. That man was not a messenger of peace. His words weren’t honest. His motives weren’t directed toward your good. All his pressure on you to get you to do something – buy something, believe something – was not directed toward your good. It was motivated by his own selfish aims and desires.

So the Bible paints a very vivid portrait there of that type of person and says, in so many words, as I said at the beginning, “Beware of the hard sell – whether it’s in spiritual or material things.”

—Derek Prince

To listen to Derek’s original audio on our website click here.

Materials used by kind permission of Derek Prince Ministries.