太一23　　“看哪，必有童女怀孕生子，人要称祂的名为以马内利。”（以马内利翻出来，就是神与我们同在）

　　　十八20　因为无论在哪里，有两三个人被聚集到我的名里，哪里就有我在他们中间。

　　以马内利是有相当经历的人所称的名。每当你对耶稣有一些经历，你就能说祂是神与你同在。耶稣一点不差就是神与我们同在。这是我们的经历。神告诉我们，祂的名是耶稣。但我们接受祂并经历祂时，我们说耶稣是神与我们同在。这是奇妙的（马太福音生命读经，八九页）。

　　Matt. 1:23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel” (which is translated, God with us).

　　18:20 For where there are two or three gathered into My name, there am I in their midst.

　　Emmanuel is the name called by people who have had a certain amount of experience. Whenever you have some experience of Jesus, you will be able to say that He is God with you. Jesus is nothing less than God with us. This is our experience. God told us that His name is Jesus. But as we receive Him and experience Him, we say that Jesus is God with us. This is wonderful. (Life-study of Matthew, p. 69)

　　照着你的经历，你里面深处不觉得耶稣就是神么？……耶稣一点不差就是神自己。祂不仅是神的儿子，也是神自己。有些优秀的作者曾说，在耶稣以外，我们绝不能找到神。神与耶稣同在，神就是耶稣。太初有话，话不仅与神同在，话也就是神（约一1）。这话成为肉体，称为耶稣。

　　我们经历耶稣时，祂就是以马内利，神与我们同在。我们听过耶稣是我们的安慰、我们的安息、我们的平安和我们的生命。耶稣对我们是如此丰富。我们若经历祂，立刻会说，“这是神！这不是远离我的神，或在诸天之上的神，乃是与我同在的神。”每当我们在某一面经历耶稣，我们就领悟耶稣是神与我们同在。……耶稣是我们的忍耐。但我们经历祂作我们的忍耐时，我们说，“这忍耐是神与我同在。”耶稣是道路和真理，但我们经历祂作道路和真理时，我们说，“这道路和这真理就是神与我同在。”阿利路亚，耶稣是神与我们同在！在我们的经历中，祂是以马内利。每当我们被聚集到耶稣的名里，祂就与我们同在（太十八20）。……在我们的聚会中，耶稣的同在实际上就是神与我们同在。……耶稣天天与我们同在，直到这世代的终结（二八20）。“天天”包括今天。不要忘了今天。许多基督徒以为耶稣天天与我们同在，只有今天例外。但耶稣今天、现在就与我们同在！

　　耶稣不仅在我们中间，祂也在我们灵里。提后四章二十二节说，“愿主与你的灵同在。”这位与我们的灵同在的耶稣就是以马内利，神与我们同在。……我们绝不能将那灵与耶稣的同在分开。那灵就是耶稣同在的实际（约十四16~20）。这个同在就是以马内利，神与我们同在。……我们呼求耶稣的名，就接受那灵，那灵是耶稣的人位、实际和实化。林前十二章三节说，“若不是在圣灵里，也没有人能说，主，耶稣！”每当我们说“主耶稣”，我们就在那灵里，我们也接受那灵。我们都在传统的影响之下，以为我们必须先禁食祷告，才能接受那灵。然而，接受那灵很简单—只要呼求耶稣的名。

　　按以赛亚八章七至八节看，仇敌企图占取以马内利的地。不要以为这话只是为着以色列人。今天我们的灵就是以马内利的地。因此，我们自己就是以马内利的地。仇敌撒但和他一切的军兵，要尽其全力占取这以马内利的地，就是占取我们的灵和我们这人。……以赛亚八章十节告诉我们，因为神与我们同在，仇敌绝不能占取以马内利的地。虽然撒但尽其所能要占取你，但你仍在这里。也许上周撒但二十一次企图要占取你，但每次他都失败了。因着以马内利，因着神与我们同在，你仍在这里。这以马内利就是耶稣。今天我们可以这样实际地享受耶稣，并经历祂作我们的以马内利（马太福音生命读经，九○至九三页）。

　　参读：马太福音生命读经，第六篇。

　　Deep within, do you not have the sense that, according to your experience, Jesus is God?…Jesus is nothing less than God Himself. He is not only the Son of God but also God Himself. Some good writers have said that apart from Jesus we can never find God. God is with Jesus, and God is Jesus. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was not only with God, but the Word was God (John 1:1). This Word became flesh and was called Jesus.

　　When we experience Jesus, He is Emmanuel, God with us. We have heard that Jesus is our comfort, our rest, our peace, and our life. Jesus is so much to us. If we would experience Him, we would immediately say, “This is God! This is not God far away from me, or God in the heavens, but God with me.” Whenever we experience Jesus in a certain way, we realize that Jesus is God with us… Jesus is our patience. But when we experience Him as our patience, we say, “This patience is God with me.” Jesus is the way and the reality, but when we experience Him as the way and the reality, we say, “This way and this reality are just God with me.” Hallelujah, Jesus is God with us! In our experience, He is Emmanuel.

　　Whenever we are gathered together into the name of Jesus, He is with us (Matt. 18:20)…The presence of Jesus in our meetings is actually God with us. Jesus is with us all the days until the consummation of the age (28:20). “All the days” includes today. Do not forget about today. Many Christians think that Jesus is present all the days except today. But Jesus is with us now, today.

　　Jesus is not only among us; He is in our spirit. Second Timothy 4:22 says, “The Lord be with your spirit.” This Jesus who is with our spirit is Emmanuel, God with us. We can never separate the Spirit from the presence of Jesus. The Spirit is simply the reality of Jesus’ presence (John 14:16-20). This presence is Emmanuel, God with us. When we call on the name of Jesus, we receive the Spirit, who is the person, the reality, and the realization of Jesus. First Corinthians 12:3 says, “No one can say, Jesus is Lord! except in the Holy Spirit.” Whenever we say “Jesus is Lord,” we are in the Spirit, and we receive the Spirit. We have all been under the influence of tradition, thinking that we must fast and pray before we can receive the Spirit. However, it is simple to receive the Spirit—just call on the name of Jesus.

　　According to Isaiah 8:7-8, the enemy may try to take over the land of Emmanuel. Do not think this word is only for the children of Israel. Today our spirit is the land of Emmanuel. Thus, we ourselves are the land of Emmanuel. The enemy, Satan, with all his army will do everything he can to take over this land of Emmanuel, that is, to take over our spirit and our being. Isaiah 8:10 tells us that because God is with us, the enemy can never take over the land of Emmanuel. Although Satan has tried his best to take you over, you are still here. Perhaps during the past week Satan tried twenty-one times to take you over, but he failed every time. You are still here because of Emmanuel, because of God with us. This Emmanuel is Jesus. Today we may enjoy Jesus and experience Him in such a real way as our Emmanuel. (Life-study of Matthew, pp. 69-71)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Matthew, msg. 6