THE SET FACE By Jeannette Haley

Facial expressions can tell us much about a person even though some people are adept at hiding behind a practiced “blank look” or “image.” However, with the gift of discernment, a person’s eyes, words and works reveal the spirit behind them. Even alert pet owners can tell you that certain expressions in the eyes of their animals reveal what state they’re in, whether it’s friendly, fearful, happy, playful, or even if they’re trying to communicate to you what they want or need, and everybody who knows us knows our dog is the “house manager” who keeps track of what time it is and whose eyes, actions and “talking” lets us know exactly what he wants us to do and when and how to do it.

As for dealing with people, it can be interesting to watch how they react to insights into God’s Word, and what decisions and determinations they make as a result. The problem is, it’s always easier to nod in agreement and make a surface agreement with what the Word says than it is to trust and obey it in every circumstance. But there comes a time when even the most dedicated believer must bring down any remaining wall of fear or unbelief, and step over the final remnant of self-preservation if they are to go on to know, follow, and obey the Lord regardless of the cost. This is known as getting “real,” “selling out,” or “paying the price.” Such a steadfast determination can often be seen in the facial expression and “set jaw” of a tried and tested, seasoned servant of the Lord.

It is written about Jesus’ face in Luke 9:51-53 “And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem. And sent messengers before his face: and they went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for him. And they did not receive him, because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem.” One can only imagine what His face looked like at that time, but it’s clear from Scripture that those around Him couldn’t help but take note of the change in His countenance. The “set” of a person’s jaw can give others a reason to pause and consider what might take place if they try to dissuade him, or her, from their course and what actions they are determined to take. When I think of a visible example of a “set jaw” I think of the actor, and athlete, Chuck Connors of the television series, “The Rifleman,” or the strong faces of committed military commanders.

Perhaps such was the set of Enoch’s features as he “walked with God” for three hundred years. What a powerful witness and example of godliness Enoch left to both the pre-flood and post-flood world! Enoch never departed in his heart, in his mind, or in his physical pursuits from his omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent, immutable God. To walk closely with someone, you must be of the same spirit and the same mind with the same convictions and goals. As the prophet Amos wrote, “Can two walk together, except they be agreed” Amos 33? We also can conclude that Enoch was a humble man because God will not walk at all with the proud, no, not even for an hour let alone for three hundred years! The Word tells us “But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble” James 4:6. 1 Peter 5:5 says “Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.”

In all that time walking with God, Enoch never “set his face” to walk contrary to God by having a change of heart. He was steadfast, dedicated, faithful, humble, obedient, and godly. Therefore, we know God revealed to Enoch the great wickedness of the last days and what would follow, for in the Gospel of Jude we read, “And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him” Jude 14, 15. This man of great faith had “set his face” toward God and never looked back. “By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God” Hebrews 11:5. And, how did he please God? The answer lies in verse 6 which states, “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”

Consider Noah, Enoch’s great-grandson. If he had not found grace in the eyes of the Lord, mankind and all life on earth would have been destroyed in the great Flood. “…Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God” Genesis 6:9. Let this sink in that only one man “walked with God” and “found grace in the eyes of the Lord” out of billions because the earth was “corrupt” and “filled with violence.” According to Answers in Genesis, “If the growth rate in the pre-Flood world was equal to the growth rate in 2000 (0.012), there could have been about 750 million people at the time of the Flood. However, given the extremely long lifespans prior to the Flood, the growth rate could have been much higher. Increasing the rate by just 0.001 would put the population at close to four billion at the Flood.”

The question is, how many “fixed hearts” and “set faces” walking with God are there among the 8.3 billion people today (2026)? Jesus said, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark. And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be” Matthew 24:35-39. Oh! How we should long to walk with our God lest we be taken away in the judgment to come!

Another man that knew His God was Job. Consider what the Lord said to Satan about Job: “Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? (See Job 1:1, 8; 2:3.) Without a Bible in his hands, without Sunday school and church, and without a plethora of books, movies, videos, broadcasts, sermons on Internet and AI, and without Bible schools, seminaries, colleges, and conferences Job knew His God! How can one walk with God in any other state than being perfect, upright, with the fear of God, and hatred for evil? It goes without saying as you read the Book of Job that he was a man of great integrity with a “fixed heart” and a “set jaw.”

There was Daniel who “purposed in his heart” that he would not defile himself in Babylon by eating and drinking that which had been offered to idols. His heart was “fixed,” as was that of his three friends. Therefore, “As for these four children, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom: and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams” Daniel 1:17. Daniel 5:12 and 6:3 records that he had an “excellent spirit.” Then Daniel is named in Ezekiel 14 where God spoke of three men who would be delivered from judgment by destruction because of their righteousness. “Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord.” We can conclude that all three had a fixed heart and a set face towards the Lord GOD Almighty.

King David wrote, “My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise” Psalm 57:7,

There are countless other “set-faced” overcomers through the centuries that have walked with God—some for a short time before going home, and others for a lifetime. God knows who they are. I cannot but help thinking that today, in spite of what appears to be a great harvest forming in different parts of the world, many Christians are lax at seeking God in prayer, spending time in the Word, being faithful to do good when they have the opportunity and are more interested in pursuing the world than being the “salt and the light.” Colossians 3:1-3 exhorts us, “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God

The following words of the Apostle Paul are but one example of his total and complete dedication to the Lord: “But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ. And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead” Philippians 3:7-11.

If Paul’s face had not been “set” to run the race and finish the course the Lord showed him at his conversion, he would have listened to those who prophesied of his demise, changed his mind to save himself, and failed the Lord. Instead he told the sorrowful brethren in Ephesus, “…the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me. But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God” Acts 20:23-24.

The bottom line is, all of us who claim to be born again, Spirit-filled believers should long for a greater revelation of our God, a greater filling of the Holy Spirit, and a closer walk with God so that, along with millions of known-only-to-God saints and martyrs, we too shall shine forth as the bright stars out of darkness. Let us be like those whose hearts were firmly “fixed” upon the LORD, their faces “set” as precious stones in settings of gold refined through the furnace of suffering for the glory of God.

Jesus says to the lukewarm church of today, “I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see” Revelation 3:18.

Is your heart fixed, your mind settled and your face set?