The Literal Devil

The reading for the first Sunday in Lent is from Luke 4:1-13 in which Jesus is tempted by the devil,

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished. The devil said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.’ Jesus answered him, ‘It is written, “One does not live by bread alone.” ’
Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And the devil said to him, ‘To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.’ Jesus answered him, ‘It is written,“Worship the Lord your God,   and serve only him.” ’
Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written,“He will command his angels concerning you,   to protect you”, and“On their hands they will bear you up,   so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.” ’ Jesus answered him, ‘It is said, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” ’ When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time. 

I once had an Episcopal priest who from the pulpit said, "We don't believe in a literal devil." One of my friends stood up and said, "I do!" and walked out in the middle of the sermon never to return.

The rest of the congregation shook the priest's hand and thanked him as they left after the service was over.

I went out the side door.

Among Christians, belief in a literal Satan or the Devil is waning.

From a Barna survey taken in 2009,

"Four out of ten Christians (40%) strongly agreed that Satan “is not a living being but is a symbol of evil.” An additional two out of ten Christians (19%) said they “agree somewhat” with that perspective. A minority of Christians indicated that they believe Satan is real by disagreeing with the statement: one-quarter (26%) disagreed strongly and about one-tenth (9%) disagreed somewhat. The remaining 8% were not sure what they believe about the existence of Satan."

I suppose many of those Christians who do not believe in the existence of Satan may have come under the influence of a revisionist preacher like mine. They also are probably not studying their Bibles.

From Bible.org's article on Satanology,

"...Satan is not just an evil, impersonal influence, but a very real person, a fallen angel with supernatural powers.

...To reject the reality or existence of Satan is to reject the Bible as God’s inspired and infallible revelation to man. As God’s Word, the Bible is comprehensive in its teaching about the reality of Satan or the devil. His existence is taught from Genesis to Revelation. Seven Old Testament books teach his existence (Genesis, 1 Chronicles, Job, Psalms, Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Zechariah) and every New Testament writer refers to his reality and activity as a personal being. More importantly, Christ also affirmed the fact of Satan and his activity as a personal being.

In twenty-five of the twenty-nine passages in the Gospels which speak of Satan, our Lord is speaking. In some of those passages there can be no question of Christ’s accommodating His teaching to the crowd’s supposed ignorance or faulty concepts of Satan due to Persian dualism. Notice especially passages like Matthew 13:39; Luke 10:18; and 11:18.3...

...The devil and demons are never presented as independent forces in opposition to God, but as beings created by God who fell from their original place of glory." 

I always thought that if the devil was real enough for Jesus, the devil is real enough for me. Ignore Jesus at your own risk.

1 Peter 5:8-9  Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.  Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.