School shootings, political corruption. rising suicide rates. We see the headlines but struggle to understand why evil seems to be gaining ground. Romans 1 provides the answer. but it's a truth our society desperately wants to suppress.
Today, on Insight for Living, Chuck Swindahl delivers this politically incorrect diagnosis with unwavering honesty. Humanity isn't basically good. We're fundamentally broken. Our study in Romans chapter 1 will reveal why we desperately need the Savior. who offers the only real solution to our deepest problem.
Chuck titled his message, The Bad News About the Whole World. Depravity is alive and well on planet Earth. Depravity doesn't mean that we are as bad as we could be because we can always get worse. It means we are as bad off. as we can be.
Given our own way without the aid of a Savior and the presence of God in one's life. We become the predator. And sometimes the victim Not until we fully acknowledge the bad news will we have a sufficient appreciation for the good news. We've looked at good news in Romans chapter 1, verses 1 through 17.
Now I ask you to turn and listen closely. To the beginning of this account on the bad news. But the same apostle who writes of the good news of the gospel. Verse 17, chapter 1. Which contains the righteousness of God.
then turns the page or turns the coin over Making it an authentic coin by showing you the other side, verse 18, the wrath of God. is now Reveal.
Now the fact of The wrath of God is set forth in that 18th verse. The wrath. is revealed from heaven. against all Ungodliness and unrighteousness. Wrath as used here refers to God's holy aversion.
to all that is evil. When we read in Isaiah 6 that God is holy, holy, holy. It means infinitely holy. He has a constant aversion. to all that is evil.
That is continually being revealed, present tense, verse eighteen. From heaven.
So, God reveals his wrath as it comes out in the consequences that follow sinful acts. And what does mankind do?
Well, the result of this, we read in the end of verse 18 and on into 19. Men and women suppress the truth. in unrighteousness. Because that which is known about God is evident within them, for God made it evident. to them.
God reveals that humanity without Christ suppresses the truth. The truth he has faithfully revealed. What do you do with the ordered universe about you? What do you do when you look up? When you ignore what you have been told by those who disbelieve and have already chosen to suppress the truth, what do you do when you see and hear the message of the stellar spaces and the world about us?
Not only From the telescope, but from the microscope. You must suppress the truth. You must deliberately train yourself to say there is no designer behind this design. But Paul doesn't get there quite yet. He takes us through the process.
Verse 19, because that which is known about God is evident within them. There's something within us as a child, as we grow up, knowing that there is a being greater than us. For since the creation of the world, His invisible attributes, His eternal power, and divine nature have been clearly seen. Being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. No wonder he says as he comes to the end of verse 20.
Those who suppress that kind of truth are without excuse.
Now it gets really Ugly. Really dark. Track it. Don't ignore it. Don't cut this out of your Bible.
Stay with this. We now will read of people who are without excuse. For even though they knew God, By that, it means generally there was an awareness, there has to be some kind of designer. There must be some kind of Someone. With creative powers enough to do this sort of thing, even though there was that conscious inner being that says, There is a creator.
They did not honor him as God. Or give thanks to him. But they became futile in their speculations. My didn't we ever. Think of the theories you have learned.
which you can probably defend better than you could creation. Unfortunately. Because you've been taught that. I have a medical friend who told me all the way through medical school he learned great medicine, and he also learned how important it is to embrace evolution. Not one of his prophets believed.
and a creator god. Brilliant people. But not wine. What did they do? What happens?
Will Futile in speculations in the foolish heart becomes darkened. Professing to be wise. They became fools. In our day, a fool is a word we use for the mischievous. In Bible days, a fool is one who says there is no God.
Don't lighten the word. The meaning. represents one who denies the existence of God. But there has to be someone we turn to. The heart craves someone, something.
To turn to someone when life Bottom drops out.
So we become very, very creative. And we began a whole process of idolatry. 21 through 25 describes how idolatry emerges. Twenty six through twenty seven describes them. the growing immorality.
And finally, 28 to 32 takes us into the region. of gross iniquity. It's all dark. It's all ugly. It becomes scandalous and on occasion shocking.
Unless, of course, you've Learn not to blush. Unfortunately, I can't remember the last time I saw anybody. Blush. Paul writes this information that appears in the passage before us, which we will see this time and next. And I warn you before we get there.
It is not politically correct. It will not be applauded and embraced by the general public. It would not be allowed to be said in a public school. or in most public places. You wouldn't if not.
laughed off, you would be thrown off a stage. First of all, there is a willful ignoring of God. That's verse 21. Though they know God, they didn't honor him as God.
So, this is a calculated effort to ignore. The truth of one's conscience, awareness. visual Um stimuli. As one looks about and realizes, at least as a child, there's someone bigger than I, greater than I, who did all of this. Second, there is a clever imitation of God.
Verses 21 and 22. For the judgment is darkened, and the intellect and reasoning power are also suffering.
So there is an imitation of God, and then there is a final replacing of God, 23 to 25.
Sort of a downward spiral, darkened hearts become fools, denial of the one true God, removing God and replacing Him, finally, completely exchanging truth for a lie. S. Lewis Johnson writes: The fruit of depravity is idolatry. And that is the dismal and miserable end to which the unbelief and ungodliness of man comes. The creature is worshipped instead of the Creator, the corruptible instead of the incorruptible, the temporal instead of the eternal, the earthly, fleshly animal instead of the heavenly, spiritual being.
The case against the ungodliness of man is complete. Not surprisingly, we read They exchange the glory of the incorruptible God, verse 23, for an image. In the form of corruptible man. And if you travel abroad, you will see it more than you will see it here in these states. Here, our idols are what we drive.
and where we live. And the size of our bank account. and those in our family. if we're not careful. But over there, it's brash.
It's dark. And in places you will see the images. And the images once white and light are now dark from the sweat and the kisses of those who worship them. And it's hideous. It's heartbreaking to see it.
They are in the form of corruptible man and birds. and beasts. and reptiles. And they are worship. Devotedly.
By those who can never find peace. Therefore, verse 24. God gave them over. in the lusts of their hearts to impurity. Pause there.
I told you the message is dark. I warned you that it is an ugly scene.
So what does it mean that God gave them over? What does a holy God do with a A conscious thinking individual who deliberately says, I'm not going there, but here. We're told three times, so we'll not miss it. Pyreto Ken. Pareto ken, pareto ken, God gave them over, God gave them over, God gave them over.
Verses 24. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Exactly the same Greek term each time. It's gotta mean something.
What does it mean? God gave them over. Well, there's a lighter view. That says he sort of folded his hands and permitted. Wrong to sort of stack up and people to suffer the consequences.
It's called a passive permission. For them to live with the consequences, sort of like he ceased to hold the boat as it was dragged by the current of the river. Oh, it's much worse than that. It's much more realistic. This pareto can refers to God's judicial abandonment.
A divine judicial abandonment. of humanity. Listen to the description. He actively and deliberately released humanity to the judgment of more intensified and aggravated cultivation of the lusts of their own hearts. With the result that they reap for themselves a correspondingly greater toll of just vengeance.
Hmm. Is Pareto camera? He actively and deliberately released humanity to the judgment of more intensified and aggravated cultivation of the lusts of their own hearts, with the result that they reap for themselves a correspondingly greater toll of just vengeance. That's why I say. It only gets worse.
He gave them over. He did to Pharaoh, and Pharaoh's heart was hardened. Never to be softened. It is a perfect description of the outworking of God's. Perfect.
Wrath. God isn't some divine bellhop waiting to meet our every need. To run our errands and make us feel good. Church is not about entertainment. Worship is not about us.
Truth is not about Me. And that cuts cross grain against our Miism society. Where if it isn't about me, why would I want to even? Participate. When we truly worship, we encounter a God who is absolutely just, absolutely holy, absolutely righteous, who has every right deliberately to turn such unbelief over.
to the just consequences. to take their toll. But we have now worked out through speculations a way to make the perverted. My rabbit. And the wicked.
and unnatural. Acceptable. Lest we make anyone uncomfortable. God gave them over to the lusts of their hearts. To what?
To impurity.
so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. For they exchange the truth of God for a lie. worshiped and served the creature rather than the creator. who is blessed forever. I believe it.
I mean I mean It's ugly, it's dark, it's scandalous, it's shocking, but it's true. It is the only way you'll be able, with a clear mind, Not only to interpret your times in which you live and explain how such awful things could happen as continue and will only get worse. This will be the secret of teaching your children. Teach them. You teach them.
Show them.
So that when they reach an age that they're Impressed with those who teach them, they'll remember your teaching. who can never forget the voice of his parents. or her parents. Humanity is left with one of two responses. Let's cut to the chase.
We're left with one of two responses to the truth we've heard. And you have listened so carefully. I'm grateful. The first response is I dare not ignore the truth of this. I dare not ignore the truth of what I've heard.
That's me. That is me. Without Christ, that is me. You've described me. Mind darkened, life full of speculations.
I prefer lies to truth and professing to be wise, educated.
well traveled and well respected, I am in fact a fool. I cannot ignore What I've heard, this is truth, and I turn my life over to the Lord Jesus Christ. I believe God loved me, the God who made not only me, but those around me and the things above and below and beyond me. I believe that God made me for a purpose, and my purpose will never be fulfilled until I place my trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, who at that great cross paid the complete penalty for my sins and now has been raised and lives. In power and authority over my life, I trust Jesus Christ.
I cannot ignore. the truth of this. God's justice calls me into account, and I will not suppress it any longer. That's one response. Here's the second.
I cannot bear hearing this. If I had my way, I'd walk out on it. I can't cope with such harsh reality. I can't live with it. I think the accounts of such things as you named at the beginning of your message, Chuck, are just a few accounts when, in reality, people are basically good.
They're basically good at heart. And so, not being able to live with it, I began to churn with anxiety. And I search for speculations and idols. I seek out answers that will allow me to suppress the truth regarding God. And I.
Press those situations to the point of. Yeah. Brokenness. And ultimately Suicide. I don't know what you were doing when 2020 was on the other evening, but Cynthia and I watched a segment of it.
The segment was about bridge jumpers. A self-appointed photographer had set up his cameras Across from the Golden Gate Bridge, spanning San Francisco to Marin County. and he put his zoom lens on to capture the sights. that were hard to watch. Wasn't a snuff film.
He didn't do it to arouse some kind of base curiosity. But I'm going to tell you some of it I could not watch. As one person after another. Threw a leg over the four-foot-high railing. stood there.
Yeah. and jumped. Men Women. Teenagers. Jump.
Some couldn't look, so they fell backwards. Bridge jumpers. How can that be? In this world where There is Plenty to To bring us a sense of hope, or is there? He made the comment in the middle of it, and I have no idea of the man's spiritual interest or.
He just made the comment that Just about everyone they chase down, and there are some clearly mentally ill, but not all. Not all. They are all anxiety ridden. They've searched and searched and searched to find a reason to go on and the list. left them with nothing.
And so they jump. I look back in some study notes of yesteryear, and these are now obsolete. They're greater now. But I was surprised to find back then That there is an attempt at suicide every minute of every day, 24-7. 70 people succeed every 24 hours.
Seven zero. There was a 300% rise of suicide rate in those aged 30 and below. Obsolete statistics. It's greater now. Why?
You've just read the answer. It makes you quiet, doesn't it? It should. Let's bow our heads. The fruit of depravity.
is the dismal and miserable end. to a life of unbelief and ungodliness. The fruit. of depravity. I return to the good news.
If I had only bad news, I would have to stop preaching. The bad news sets us up for the wonderful news. God's love for you is surpassing anything. anything you might try to suppress. His plan for you is greater than anything you could imagine.
When he sent his son to die on that cross, he had you in mind. Had you been the only one, he would have come to die for you. Left to yourself, I warn you, it is only a downward spiral. to the point where God gives you over. to the consequences.
And every once in a while, through the report of a gun, or the blast. Of an explosion. or the stabbing of a knife. You read of, or perhaps tragically, witness. Depravity again.
I urge you to turn your heart over to Christ. I urge you not to put that off. It'll be a long journey for many of you because you've wandered a long ways. But coming back to Christ is an instant moment. and the growth in Christ will take some time.
But it's never too late to start doing what is right. Believe on the Lord Jesus. And you will be saved. We're here to help you know how to carry that out. If you need help in doing that, we have our sole care.
friends of the church who meet at the prayer room and They will stay as long as you need to stay. to come to terms. with your new birth. When we survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of Glory died. Our richest gain we count but loss and poor contempt.
On all our pride. I acknowledge, Father, if it were not for your Son Jesus. Hmm. There'd be no reason to go on. Absolutely no reason.
Not only could we not face death, we Couldn't handle life. I pray that this raw and vivid account of. Depravity on parade will haunt everyone. Who's not yet come to Christ? Lord.
keep them miserable. Awake through the night? full of unrest. unable to eat. Unable to do their work.
Till they have trusted your son. I ask this, Father, in the name of Jesus, who is the good news. Our Savior and Lord. And ever what said. Adrian.
You're listening to Insight for Living. Chuck Swindahl is our Bible teacher. and we're just beginning an in-depth study through Paul's letter to the Romans. Chuck titled today's message The Bad News About the Whole World. Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, wrote nearly half the books in the New Testament.
But many believe that Romans was his finest contribution because it describes God's character and the gospel of Jesus Christ with depth and clarity. This is an essential book for believers to understand, both seasoned Christ followers and new Christians. To help you in this process, Insight for Living offers an interactive spiral-bound Bible study. It's in our popular Searching the Scriptures format. And because of the scope of Paul's letter, our Bible study comes in two workbooks.
You'll find all the details for purchasing Volume One at insight.org slash offer. or call us at eight hundred seven seven two eighty eight eighty eight. I also want to draw your attention to a brand new hardback book from Chuck. It's called Looking in All the Right Directions. Drawing from Paul's wise counsel to his protégé Timothy, this book features the final five sermons Chuck delivered to the congregation that he shepherded for more than 25 years.
From his heart, Chuck spoke about mentoring, enduring hardship, and using your God-given gifts. You will love the biblical wisdom that's captured in this book. and it would make a thoughtful gift for a friend as well. It's called Looking in All the Right Directions. And you can purchase a copy by calling us at 800-772-8888 or go to insight.org slash offer.
Insight for Living is made possible not through the sale of books and Bible study resources, but by the generous gifts from grateful friends just like you. And during the summer vacation months, when our support sometimes declines, it's especially helpful to receive your gift. To send a donation in the mail, write to us at InsightForLiving. Post Office Box 5000. Frisco, Texas, 75034.
I'm Bill Meyer. Chuck Swindahl presents an eye-opening message founded on Romans 1 called Cinerama in Panorama. Friday on Insight for Living. The preceding message, the bad news about the whole world, was copyrighted in 2006, 2010, and 2025, and the sound recording was copyrighted in 2025 by Charles R. Swindahl, Incorporated.
All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.
