Matthew chapter 1 and 2 is where we're going to be this morning. On this Sunday before Christmas,

I thought it would be good for us to look at this Christmas story from a particular angle,

because here we are the Sunday before Christmas. So I started thinking about events before that

first Christmas. And in particular, what did the prophets have to say before that

first Christmas about that first Christmas? So we're going to be looking at the prophets who

foretold the birth of Christ hundreds of years before it happened. Now, there are some 300

prophecies in the Old Testament about the birth, the life,

the death, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ, some 300 plus prophecies in the Old Testament.

And we're going to be looking at five prophecies in particular that Matthew presents, that Matthew quotes in the first two chapters of his gospel.

But first, why is it important that we see this?

Why is it important for us to be familiar with what the prophets said hundreds of years

before the actual birth of Christ?

Well, for two reasons, for you no-takers.

Number one, because it validates that God is faithful to his promises. In Psalm 145, verse 13,

the Bible says, your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations.

The Lord is faithful to all his promises and loving toward all he is made.

And also in Isaiah 46, verse 11, God said through the prophet Isaiah, what I have said, that will I bring about.

What I have planned, that will I do. You see, if God made specific promises

that never came true, well, everyone then would rightfully question whether God himself

were true. But by speaking through the prophets about specific details related to, in the context of our study, related to the birth

of the Messiah that were all fulfilled in time by Jesus Christ, it validates that God is

faithful to his promises.

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