The Devil IS Real Whether You Believe It or Not

Recently Nightline had four people debate whether satan is real or not. Two supported the belief that he is real; and two were against. I was saddened to see that one of the debaters who spoke against his being real is a practicing Bishop of the Christian faith. The debate can be contained swiftly by most Christians in that if God said it, It's Truth, and that's that! But to break it down a little bit further, with hopefully a clearer clarification of why a Christian should believe satan is real begins when he is cast from heaven as a fallen angel, because he touted that he would ascend into heaven and be like the most High God (Isaiah 14:12-14). God clearly states that He is a jealous God and that we can worship no other god beside Him. And yet every day, because we are sinners, whether saved by grace or unsaved, we have this enemy in spirit form seeking to steal, kill and destroy our very souls ( John 10:10) in an attempt to keep us from enjoying our heavenly reward which he, in his arrogance, has forfeited. But to not belabor the point, any one who questions his existence needs only to Google a Biblical Concordance and read up on the numerous times satan has reared his presence from Genesis, as the serpent, to Matthew tempting Jesus, all the way to Revelation where he eventually gets to live in his eternal lake of fire. It does little to discuss this in detail because the bottom line is this: Either one believes that the Word of God is infallibly, Holy-Ghost breathed pure Truth or It's not. Some choose to say that It's metaphorical. But any one who's lived any length of time, with a clear tune to good and evil knows that whatever one chooses to call him, satan is real. And only a fool would deny his existence. Simply put; why would God spend so much time warning us of him if he did not exist? People caught up in sinful behavior are being controlled by him. People who have survived the torture of cocaine addiction or any other demonic possession can attest to you that the control he has over his followers is real. But the joy comes in Holy-Ghost deliverance by choosing to follow Jesus and genuinely repenting of sinful behavior by saying an emphatic NO to anything that is anti the Word of God. The beauty of being tested and even used by satan is the testimony that one has after being released from his bondage. No, this writing is not to sell you on whether satan is real or not; because that would be like convincing you that God's Word is Truth. And that brings us back to square one. If he weren't real; and if he really didn't exist, then Jesus wouldn't have recorded that he was tempted by him. I'm ashamed that a believer would profess anything differently. But it's said that many will fall away from the Truth and begin to preach falsities for "itching" ears to hear. For them, and for all who fail to know and accept the Truth, we can only pray while our prayers are still being heard. One last word: If he weren't real, then why do some people choose to worship him and deny God; not to mention His Son, and my Saviour, Jesus Christ?