I listened to a message preached by Sherwood Lancaster at Highest Praise in Shallotte, NC.

I confess that I have NOT had the time to look up the Hebrew and Greek words before posting this, but if you are interested — do some research for yourselves.

Here are the notes I took from this awesome message. I’ll just give you the highlights.

Psalm 8:1
O LORD, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens.

Glory means WEIGHT AND HONOR.

Psalm 8:4-9
What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet: All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field; The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas. O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! (KJV)

In the above passage, Pastor Lancaster said that in the original text, “angels” really meant ELOHIM, but the original transcribers felt like it would be blasphemous to say that we were a little lower than God. Pastor L said it isn’t that we are a little lower than God, but IT WAS ABOUT THE AUTHORITY WE HAVE IN HIM. We do things in His authority. We have an anointing BECAUSE of God.

Revelation 1:6
To Him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to Him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen. (NIV)

God rules in the heavens. God gave Adam a domain (a place of rule/sphere of authority).

Psalm 115:16 The highest heavens belong to the LORD, but the earth He has given to man.

Earth is OUR domain — our place of rule.

Matthew 6:19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

Because of Jesus, we have been given the authority that Adam had in the garden. Adam walked around with the weight and authority of heaven backing him UNTIL he gave it away. God never intended to rule from earth, but He intended to rule from heaven.

Genesis 1:26
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

God plans for His will to be done THROUGH His people here on earth. He set this plan in place in Genesis, but Adam messed it up. The devil came and STOLE that authority. THAT IS WHY JESUS CAME (the authority and to restore our relationship with Father God).

1 Corinthians 15:45
And so it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

Again, back to Matthew 6:19, Jesus took back the keys from the enemy, gave them to US. He gave us back our authority that Adam lost.

Matthew 6:19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

Keys are symbolic of AUTHORITY as well.

Just in case you missed that, JESUS CAME AND TOOK BACK THE AUTHORITY. What Adam lost, Jesus took back. After Adam, mankind lost his weight/backing from heaven. His words didn’t carry authority. But Jesus came and now we are in Him and He is in us. We are hidden in Him.

Psalm 3:3 But you are a shield around me, O LORD; you bestow glory on me and lift up my head.

Satan doesn’t want the Church to understand our authority! He can’t stop churches from existing, but he will do what he can to trick us into operating with NO power.

Ok, this is where I really got interested in this message!! Are you ready?

Genesis 1:4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

Genesis 1:10 And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.

Genesis 1:12 And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

Pastor Lancaster pointed out that God blessed His work in the scriptures above, but when He created the firmament, He said, “It is so.” See below:

Genesis 1:6-8 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

This pastor believes God didn’t bless the firmament because that is the area where the devil and his hosts (1/3 of heaven who fell with him) dwell. Have you noticed that the “3rd heaven” is mentioned in the bible?

2 Corinthians 12:2 I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven.

Pastor Lancaster also believes John (in Revelation) was taken to the 3rd heaven.

3rd Heaven (Paradise, Throne room of God)
2nd Heaven (Above our heads, the firmament)
1st Heaven (Where we are, the earth)

I remember when I had this realization years ago, but in case you haven’t realized it YET — satan and his demons don’t just hang out in hell.

Revelation 12:7-8 And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.

1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

When God created Adam, He gave him authority in heaven 1 & heaven 2.

Just in case this is all new to you, look at this scripture in Ephesians.

Ephesians 2:2
…in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience …

I haven’t researched this, but Pastor Lancaster said that the word “firmament” in Genesis 1 is the same word in Greek as “AIR” in Ephesians 2:2. Interesting, eh?

So satan is the prince in heaven 2 … in the firmament, the air.

Psalm 115:16 The highest heavens belong to the LORD, but the earth He has given to man. (NIV)

Demons hang out where there is darkness (absence of God’s rule). If God is not in your house, marriage, parenting, etc … then demons will dwell.

Ok, back to the binding and loosing in Matthew 16. Jesus was not talking about the 3rd heaven, because obviously we can’t bind our Lord! He was talking about the 2nd heaven where the enemy roams, where he is prince. Since Jesus gave us back our authority, we CAN bind and loose. Now that we have our authority back, the weight of heaven is backing us up.

We are SUPPOSED to be changing the world. The Kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, but the VIOLENT TAKE IT BY FORCE.

How many of you have read the book of Daniel? If you have, you know about this:

Daniel 10:12-13 Then he continued, “Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia.

God heard Daniels prayer (in 3rd heaven), but the prince of the Persian kingdom (demon/devil) blocked the angel Michael for 21 days (in the 2nd heaven). God releases our blessings in the 3rd heaven, but we often have to battle to get the blessings through the 2nd heaven! Daniel fasted and prayed 21 days to get his breakthrough. Are you waiting for something God has said was YOURS? Continue to press through!

The enemy will fight for any territory that you take back, but “He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4). QUIT letting the enemy have the last word. He is a liar anyway.

John 8:44b He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

I hope all of this makes sense. Listening to his message was powerful. If you are still hanging on and following this LONG post … leave with this: You have authority because of Jesus. Don’t allow the enemy to push you around. Press through until you receive the promises from God.

Luke 10:19 I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.

Can you imagine if every Christian had this revelation and WALKED in victory? We would be world changers. We wouldn’t be “doers” (as far as religion and works) but because of WHO WE ARE, the world would be changed. We would just “be” …