Thus in the presence of His Forerunner, the Divine nature of the Messiah was attested, and His work of Redemption inaugurated. He had come to _destroy the works of the devil_ (1 Jn. iii. 8), His very first work, therefore, was to enter on a conflict with the great Enemy of mankind. _Full of the Holy Ghost_, He was _led up_ by the motions of that Spirit (Mtt. iv. 1), either into the wilderness of Judæa, or the lonely desert mountains east of the Jordan[253], to _be tempted by the devil_ (Mtt. iv. 1; Mk. i. 12). For forty days and forty nights He remained amidst the thickets and caverns of that dreary region, abounding in fierce and savage beasts (Mk. i. 13), and during all this period He had nothing to eat. At length, when hunger had weakened the energies of the body, the Tempter approached, and suggested that if He was in truth the Son of God, He should command the stones that lay around to become bread. But the Holy One detected at once the subtle insinuation to mistrust His heavenly Father’s power, and in the words of Scripture (Deut. viii. 3) replied, _It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God_ (Mtt. iv. 4; Lk. iv. 4). Foiled in his attempt to induce the Redeemer by a selfish display of power to satisfy the wants of the body, the Tempter now sought by another avenue to achieve a victory over Him. Taking Him up to an exceeding high mountain, he displayed before His eyes in a moment of time all _the kingdoms of the world and the glories of them_, promising to place all in His power, if He would only fall down and worship him. But this temptation also the Holy One repelled. Falling back a second time on the revealed Word, and the same portion of it (Deut. vi. 13), He replied, _It is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve_. But yet again the Evil One renewed his attack. Taking the Redeemer into the Holy City, he placed Him on the lofty pinnacle, the topmost ridge of the South side of the Temple, and bade Him, if He were the Son of God, vindicate His eternal nature, cast Himself down, and thus display by one dazzling exhibition of power His relation to the Supreme, and confirm His Messianic claims. But he was no more successful than before. The Redeemer saw through his wiles, and the sophistry wherewith he sought to support his demand by quoting the language of the Psalmist (Ps. xci. 11), _He shall give His angels charge concerning Thee, and in their hands they shall bear Thee up, lest at any time Thou dash Thy foot against a stone_. For the third time He had recourse to the written Word, and for the third time referring to the same portion of it (Deut. vi. 16), made answer, _Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God_.