August 6, 2025 | Fletch Matlack​

Young men, God has designed wild places to unlock spiritual truths in your heart. Wilderness experiences are a visceral means of drawing you nearer to Christ—a needed antidote to the numbness of our comfortable, digitally driven lives.

By wild places, I don’t mean the community park. I mean a place where cell service is unlikely, where the only creature comforts are the ones you’ve carried with you. In short, wild places are, well, wild. If you’re ill-equipped, they can turn dangerous quickly.

Of course, God has created the wilds for man and woman, young and old. But after 20-plus years of guiding people, I can confidently say God has specially tuned the hearts of young men to hear spiritual truths in wild places. Here are four examples.

1. Beauty Leads to Worship​

The wild world is filled with beauty that Instagram cannot capture. When you’re standing in creation, far from home, subject to your environment, every sense is engaged. It’s a beauty you don’t just observe but feel. It’s enrapturing: pine trees sighing with a rush of wind, a solitary loon calling across a dusky lake, alpine balsams pillowed in snow, a sky so dark the Milky Way spills across the horizon.

To experience these wonders, and a million others like them, is to recognize you’ve stepped into glory. As C. S. Lewis writes, “Nature never taught me that there exists a God of glory and of infinite majesty. I had to learn that in other ways. But nature gave the word glory a meaning for me. I still do not know where else I could have found one.”

I’ve stood with young men on mountaintops, or beside riverbanks, and worship suddenly erupts. It’s not that we begin singing (though this has happened), but we break into spontaneous expressions of gratitude for Christ, who made all things and holds them together (Col. 1:16–17). We speak words of Scripture, like Psalm 19, almost instinctively. God has designed wild places to point your heart to Christ’s beauty and glory. Worship is the only natural response.

2. Simplicity Leads to Prayerfulness​

When you travel to wild places, the stresses of normal life are left behind—if only for a moment. Life becomes simple. Everything you need is in your backpack or canoe. Your work is to keep moving, to control your breathing. Set up camp, break it down again. Make a fire, cook your food, make sure bears and stray embers bring no ruination. Life in the wild is intense; mistakes can quickly lead to misfortune. But this simple intensity strips away distractions. You become single-minded, focused.

Young men, simplicity is a revelation for your soul. When life is reduced to a simple set of objectives, with no screens to distract, it becomes much easier to meditate on the things of God. Thinking becomes praying, and praying becomes easier. The simplicity of the wild and the worshipfulness it produces amplify a prayerful state. Perhaps this is why Jesus frequently sought out wild places to pray (e.g., Luke 4:42, 5:16; Matt. 14:23).

3. Adversity Leads to Fortitude​

If you’ve reached a wild place, you’ve experienced difficulty: burning muscles, lungs desperate for air, downpours threatening to drown your tent, mosquitoes resistant to chemical warfare, uncooperative stomachs, uncertainty about whether you can make it through. Wild places cannot be accessed without some form of adversity. But the reality of the wild is that, one way or another, you must push through—even if it’s to bail.

I’ve seen it play out with dozens of young men: When suffering comes, Scripture becomes the driving thought. I remember: in my weakness, he is strong (2 Cor. 12:10); we ought to count trials as joy (James 1:2): these present sufferings are not worth comparing to future glories (Rom. 8:18). God’s Word presses you forward through the challenges of wild places, trusting he’ll bring you to better moments. Young men, God has filled wild places with challenges, and he has created you to overcome challenges.

I think of wilderness adversities like a school, preparing young men for life’s greater sufferings. Any fortitude gained through battling the wilderness, God will surely use when he leads you through a future spiritual wilderness.

4. Wild Experiences Lead to Brotherhood​

After returning from a wild place, I’ll often be asked, “How was your trip?” I offer a brief report, but it’s impossible to explain to someone who wasn’t there. For the friend who was there, all we need is a glance to remember. And the stories we love to repeat aren’t of blue skies and clear waters but of when we came through the storm together, when we struggled side by side, and when the wild places forged a brotherhood between us. Nowhere but in the wild have I more consistently learned that a “brother is born for adversity” (Prov. 17:17).

The wild places are for you. Find a friend, leave your screens behind, and get out there to discover that creation declares the glory of God (Ps. 19:1).

Disclaimer: Fools walk into the wild with no experience. If you don’t have experience, find a more seasoned man. Likely, he’ll be eager to introduce you to wild places. If you don’t know anyone, ask God to bring such a man into your life. God loves to give good gifts!

HEBREWS
Analysis by Kenneth S. Wuest
Wuest's Word Studies
From the Greek New Testament


I. The New Testament is better than and takes the place of the First Testament because its Founder, the Messiah, is better than... (1:1-8:6)


1. The prophets (1:1-3) since Messiah is...

....a. God the Son (vv. 1,2)

....b. Heir of all things (v.2)

....c. Creator of the universe (v.2)

....d. Outshining of God's glory (v.3)

....e. The expression of the nature or essence of Deity (v.3)

....f. The sustainer of the universe He created (v.3)

....g. The sacrifice that paid for sin (v.3)

2. The angels (1:4-2:18), since He...

....a. Has a better name, Son (1:4,5)

....b. Is worshipped by angels (v.6)

....c. Is Creator and Master of angels (v.7)

....d. Has an eternal throne (v.8)

....e. Rules in righteousness (v.8)

....f. is anointed with the Holy Spirit (v.9)

....g. Is unchangeable (vv. 10-12)

....h. Is seated at God's right hand (v.13)

....i. Has ushered in a Testament which displaces theirs (2:1-4)

--------(1) Warning against letting New Testament truth slip away (v.1)

--------(2) If rejection of First Testament truth was punished (v.2) how much more will rejection of New Testament truth be punished (v.3) and which truth was spoken by the Lord who is superior to angels, and which was attested by miracles (vv.3,4)

....j. Is to be Ruler over the Messianic Kingdom (vv.5-9)

--------(1) Angels, being servants, cannot rule (v.5)

--------(2) Adam placed over earth, lost his dominion through sin (vv.6-8)

--------(3) Our Lord has regained it for man, who will be associated with Him in His rule. (v.9)

....k. Is the High Priest who has put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself (vv.10-18)

--------(1) He becomes Savior through His death on the cross (v.10)

--------(2) This death made possible through His incarnation (vv.11-16)

--------(3) As High Priest for human beings, it was necessary that He become incarnate (vv.17,18)

3. Moses (3:1-6) because...

....a. He is Creator of Israel, Moses only a member of that house (v.3)

....b. He is Son of God over Israel, Moses only a servant (v.5)

....c. He is the reality, Moses the type (v.5)

4. Joshua (3:7-4:13) because He leads into spiritual rest which is better than temporal rest into which Joshua led Israel.

....a. Warning against hardening their hearts toward the Holy Spirit as the wilderness wanderers hardened their hearts against God. (3:7-9)

....b. That generation did not enter Canaan rest (vv.10-11)

....c. The evidence of the fact that the recipient is saved is that he retains his profession of faith in Christ under the stress of persecution, not going back to the First Testament sacrifices. (vv.6,14)

....d. The recipient will die in his sins if he fails to put his faith in Christ as High Priest, just as the wilderness wanderers died a physical death because of unbelief. (3:15-4:8). The name "Joshua" should be in the text rather than "Jesus" (v.8)

....e. Exhortation to enter rest in Christ, and warning against continued unbelief. (vv.10-13)

5. Aaron (4:14-8:6) since He...

....a. Ascended through the heavens into the actual Holy of Holies (4:14-16)

....b. Was taken, not from among men, but from the Godhead (5:1)

....c. Is sinless (v.2)

....d. Is an eternal High Priest (v.6)

....e. Becomes actual High Priest through His death and resurrection (vv.7-10)

....f. Is the reality as High Priest, which does away with the types of the First Testament (5:11-6:12)

--------(1) The recipients hard to teach and dull as to spiritual perception (5:11)

--------(2) They had been instructed in New Testament truth (v.12)

--------(3) They were babes, that is, immature in their spiritual thinking(v.13)

--------(4) They are exhorted to put away "the beginning word of the Christ," namely, the Levitical ritual, and be born along to New Testament truth (6:1)

--------(5) They are exhorted not to lay down again a foundation of First Testament doctrines (vv.1,2)

--------(6) They had been enlightened by the Holy Spirit as to New Testament truth (v.4)

--------(7) They had tasted of that which constitutes salvation (v.4)

--------(8) They had been willingly led along by the Holy Spirit in His pre-salvation work, Thus being a "partaker" (same Greek word translated "partner" in Luke 5:7)

--------(9) They had tasted the Word (v.5)

--------(10) They had seen the attesting miracles. (v.5)

--------(11) They had been led into repentance (v.6)

--------(12) Now should they fall away from their profession of faith in Christ and back to the sacrifices, it would be impossible to renew them to repentance (vv.6-8)

--------(13) The saved among the recipients would not apostatize (vv.9,10)

--------(14) The unsaved exhorted to follow in the steps of faith of the saved. (vv.11,12)

....g. Is a High Priest who actually brings the believer into an eternal standing in grace (vv.13-20)

--------(1) Abraham, the man of faith who was rewarded, a precedent (vv.13-15)

--------(2) God's oath and God's promise guarantee the believer's eternal retention of salvation (vv.16-18)

--------(3) This salvation made possible by the presence of the High Priest in the heavenly Holy of Holies (vv.19,20)

....h. A High Priest after the order of Melchizedek (7:1-3)

--------(1) Melchizedek, a sinner saved by grace, had no recorded parents, no recorded date of birth or death

--------(2) A type therefore of Jesus Christ in His eternal priesthood.

....i. A High Priest in a superior order of priesthood (7:4-10)

--------(1) The Aaronic priests received tithes (vv.4,5)

--------(2) Melchizedek received tithes from Abraham, therefore, was better than he (vv.6,7)

--------(3) Melchizedek in type still receiving tithes, whereas Aaronic priests die (v.8)

--------(4) Aaron in Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek, therefore the latter is superior; therefore, our Lord is better than Aaron, being a priest in the order of Melchizedek (vv.9,10)

....j. Is High Priest of a Testament that offered a sacrifice that put away sin (vv.11-22)

--------(1) The First Testament neither offered nor made anything complete (v.11)

--------(2) First Testament priest came from tribe of Levi, the New Testament priest from the tribe of Judah (vv.12-17)

--------(3) First Testament set aside in favor of a better Testament (vv.18-22)

....k. Lives forever: the Aaronic priests died (vv.23-28)

--------(1) Because mortal, there were many Aaronic priests (vs.23)

--------(2) Our Lord because eternal, has a non-transferable priesthood (vv.24,25)

--------(3) Thus able to save the believer forever (v.25)

--------(4) A better High Priest, because sinless (vv.26-28)

....l. Officiates in a better tabernacle (8:1-6)

--------(1) His tabernacle the heavenly one, Aaron's merely the type (vv.1-5)

--------(2) His Testament therefore better than the one Aaron served under (v.6)

continued....

What are the spiritual mechanics of being born again?

I'll give my thoughts on this matter and we'll go from there. Just for the record, if I'm speaking of baptism, it's the spiritual baptism that I'm speaking of unless otherwise noted. I'll tell you if I mean water baptism.

If you ask someone what being born is, they're likely to respond with something like the wind blows where it wills, all from John 3, etc. But I think the Bible does give us some insight and that insight helps tremendously in interpreting Scripture over all.

When we are placed into/immersed/baptized into Christ, we receive everything at once, all the ingredients to be saved. Thus we are complete "in Him" and lacking nothing (Col. 2:10-14). This is the Church, the Body, that the placing into, or the baptism with the Holy Spirit spiritually unites us with. By receiving the indwelling as a result of our faith, we are placed into Christ, becoming one with Him. Setting aside the legality of our salvation, that is, being saved/delivered from the penalty of sin, the focus in this thread will mainly be in our being saved/delivered from the power of sin. This is the practical side of being saved and is called being born again, which not only frees us from the power of sin, but also allows us to begin to be conformed to Christ likeness (Gal. 3:2-3).

Being born again is the result of being placed into Christ.

When the Bible speaks of our being raised up with Him, or raised up in Christ, it's speaking of our being born again. When it speaks of being crucified with Christ, dying with Him, that is the necessary death that must precede being raised up with Him. When we are placed into/immersed/baptized into Christ, we're also placed into/immersed/baptized into His death, and raised up with Him, thus we are born again.

These are verses that I believe are speaking of being born again, though they do not use the typical language. These are all speking of the Spirit baptism, known as the baptism with the Holy Spirit by Jesus.

Romans 6:3-11 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Col. 2:10-14 and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power. In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.

Gal. 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

Gal. 3:2-3 This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit (baptism with the Holy Spirit) by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? ---- *(added by me)*

26-27 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized (with the Holy Spirit) into Christ have put on Christ. ---- *(added by me)*

Ephesians 2:5-6 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

1 Peter 3:21 There is also an antitype which now saves us--baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,

Being born again is simultaneous to being placed into Christ, also being placed into Jesus' death and raised up with Him.

The Bible tells us that we are saved/delivered through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. I believe this is saved/delivered both judicially and being born again. But when the Bible speaks of being 'raised up with Him', like Ephesians 2:6, I believe that it's specifically speaking of our being born again.

Do you recognize this Scripture of speaking of being born again? Is this a metaphor, or does this really happen spiritually when we receive the Holy Spirit.

Dave