Which in his times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords;
The one who will show the appearing is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, the supreme Ruler over all kings and lords. He is God the Father as the blessed supreme Sovereign who will reveal the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ in His own appointed time, while those who apply the title to Jesus exalt Him as that same blessed Potentate, King and Mediator between God and humanity. That appearing is the endpoint until which the commandment must be kept without spot and unrebukable, by fleeing the love of money and following righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience and meekness. Joined to the next verse (1 Timothy 6:16), the title proves that God alone has immortality inherently in Himself, so immortality is not natural to the human soul but must be sought and received as a free gift through Christ. His authority stands higher than every earthly ruler, council and government, calling for open loyalty to Him above human law and for careful preparation to meet so great a King.
Verse Wording and Context
The one who will show the appearing is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, the supreme Ruler over all kings and lords. That title describes God the Father as the blessed supreme Sovereign who Himself will make known the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ in His own appointed times. His greatness, power, glory, victory and majesty are unlimited, so nothing can hinder His work, which is reason to trust Him calmly and confidently, for He can give strength and do far more than people ask or imagine. The coming of the Lord Jesus Christ our King is the great event which He will show in His own times and to which He directs minds, and the following words describe Him as the only one who has immortality, dwelling in light no one can approach and whom no one has seen or can see, and as worthy of everlasting honor, glory and power.
The same title describes Jesus Christ as the blessed and only Potentate, King of kings and Lord of lords. Paul continually exalted Christ by this title while building God's kingdom among the Gentiles, who through faith in His atoning sacrifice could become members of God's household. Jesus is presented as the coming King whom followers expect to meet, and His appearing is the time until which the commandment must be kept faithfully. The title also describes Jesus as the Mediator and go-between between God and humanity, the supreme sovereign linking God and people. He directs the foundation and upbuilding of God's great work and gives counsel from One mighty in wisdom to those who stand under His direction.
The verse belongs to Paul's dying charge to Timothy, dictated while Paul was shut in a dungeon and pressed with infirmities, fearing that wicked Nero would cut his life short before he could see his beloved son in the gospel, and urging Timothy to come to him without delay. That charge calls Timothy to fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, and keep the commandment without spot and unrebukable until the appearing of Jesus Christ. It was given solemnly in the sight of God who quickens all things and before Christ Jesus who witnessed a good confession before Pontius Pilate. In that charge Timothy is commanded to flee evil and the love of money and to follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience and meekness, to fight the good fight of faith and lay hold on eternal life to which he was called.
Appearing Shown in Time
God Himself will display the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ in His own appointed times. The One who does the showing is the blessed and only Ruler, supreme over every king and lord. At that appointed time Christ Jesus will be revealed in that supreme kingship and lordship. He is the coming King whom His followers expect to meet. Meeting so great a King calls for far more careful preparation than appearing rightly before a worldly emperor or king, by putting away strife and contention, becoming like Christ, becoming acquainted with the Saviour, and growing step by step unto immortal life.
That appearing is the endpoint until which the commandment is to be kept without spot and unrebukable. It is the time until which faithfulness is to hold firm to the end. Keeping it in this way means fleeing the love of money with its temptation and snare and destruction and sorrow. It means following after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, and meekness. It means fighting the good fight of faith and laying hold on eternal life to which the called are called.
The coming of the Lord Jesus Christ our King is the great event to which the light on Daniel and Revelation points. Minds are directed to this truth by the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords. Interest in that light continues as long as probationary time lasts.
Only Sovereign Immortal God
Read with the next verse, the title proves that God alone has immortality inherently in Himself, and the human soul does not possess natural immortality. Immortality belongs to God alone and is not a natural possession of man, dwelling in light no person can approach and whom no person has seen or can see. It is something people seek, not something they already have by nature.
Immortality must be sought and can be possessed only as a free gift through Christ, receiving eternal life rather than already having it by nature. The human soul is not naturally immortal but receives immortality only through Christ. Christ's own life is original, unborrowed and underived, while man has no inherent immortal life in himself.
The One so described dwells in light which no one can approach, whom no one has seen nor can see, and to whom belong everlasting honor and power. To Him belong glory and power everlasting. His greatness, power, glory, victory and majesty are unlimited, so nothing can hinder His work. His sovereign power is omnipotent and absolute, so nothing can stand in His way, for He can remove every obstruction and difficulty to the advancement of His work and deliver those who serve Him. He can give strength and do far more than people ask or think, even more than they can ask or imagine.
That mighty power is reason to trust Him calmly and confidently, to depend on Him alone, to trust His Word, and to ask Him for what is needed. He is entirely trustworthy: He keeps truth forever, remembers His covenant, and does not fail to fulfill His promises. He unites that omnipotence with the gentleness and care of a tender shepherd, with infinite goodness and love and an unalterable, covenant-keeping faithfulness. His power is the pledge that His promises to His people will surely be fulfilled.
As supreme giver of life He accomplishes in the fullest sense what physicians aim to do in prolonging life. He endows the physician with reason and intelligence, He is truth and life, He applies the healing balm, He is the great Restorer who has repeatedly vanquished death and grants eternal life, God over all.
Higher Than Earthly Rulers
His authority stands above the emperor of Germany, above the decision of the Diet, above every human council, and above all earthly rulers and governments, so that appeal can be made from human judgment to Him just as appeal is made from human decrees to the word of God, and those weak in numbers against Rome find strength in Him. The Reformers so appealed to Jesus Christ as supreme ruler, trusting His authority despite their small numbers and apparent weakness. No divorce law drawn up by men given to wine-drinking, unable to control appetite, to reason soundly and nobly, and to discern the real situation, has any value in His eyes, for great power exercised by kings often leads to extremes in exaltation of self, and worthless vows to enact laws that disregard His higher laws lead to great injustice.
Those who preside over national affairs must know and acknowledge Him as Father and Jesus Christ as the only begotten Son of the infinite God, recognizing that they themselves are subjects of His kingdom. Without that knowledge no one can rule wisely, and no earthly ruler can exercise authority wisely or set an example safe to follow unless wisdom is obtained from God. Anyone placed in authority over others must seek wisdom from the Lord in order to govern wisely the subjects of God's kingdom, because He is too wise to err and too good to do injustice to His human subjects. The principles of the law of His kingdom, by which He rules the sinless inhabitants of heaven, must lie at the foundation of earthly governments and laws, and human laws must be in harmony with the law of Jehovah, since that law is the standard by which all created beings are to be judged. No one should be forced to obey a human law in direct opposition to the law God has given.
The One who framed and proclaimed God's law is the King of kings and Lord of lords, for the law did not originate with human beings or Moses. He proclaimed its precepts at Sinai amid scenes of great grandeur, and Israel's prosperity depended on obedience to them. His sovereignty stands above human power, so the three Hebrew youths would worship no other and would not bow to the idolatrous symbol, refusing to dishonor the God of heaven by obeying a human law opposed to His law, whatever the cost. His authority humbles rulers, and Nebuchadnezzar's experience shows that true greatness consists in goodness, with rulers acknowledging God's power and seeking their subjects' welfare. Solomon brought glory to God by using his wisdom, power, and other gifts to make the world know Him.
Satan was once a person of surpassing loveliness, holding high office with a kingly throne radiant with light, but he rebelled against and abandoned the authority of the blessed and only Potentate. He swerved from allegiance, lost connection with his first love, fell from his first estate and abode not in the truth, and by his own act compelled separation from the loyal and true. With the disloyal angels he had deceived he was driven and cast out from heaven, losing all acknowledged right to the heavenly courts. He became a kingdom to himself, Christ's avowed enemy and a determined active agency against God, planting on earth a standard of rebellion around which his sympathizers gathered. The title Lord of lords belongs to the blessed and only Potentate alone, yet the Roman pontiff, claiming to be servant of servants, endeavors to take it to himself, setting himself up in the temple as God, acting as tyrant and wolf to the sheep instead of pastor, intercepting what God provided for the church and bringing God's commands into contempt. The King of kings and Lord of lords stands in contrast to the ruler who opposes Him, whose mark is the spurious sabbath, a common working day promoted by the Papacy as the Lord's Sabbath to destroy the Sabbath sign God commanded to be preserved through generations.
Allegiance and Readiness
Allegiance to God and to right principles is what the blessed and only Potentate requires, and Satan earnestly strives by deception to lead souls to abandon that allegiance. Multitudes who profess to belong to God's true church fall under his deceptions and swerve from their allegiance, accepting wrong plans because they are clothed in saintly garments and appear righteous. Things God gave as blessings to glorify His name become snares and hindrances to spirituality when selfishness and ambition control those in charge of them.
In a crisis in God's work His people must openly show loyalty to the King of kings and Lord of lords, putting His law above their own plans and wills and remaining faithful even at the cost of life. The charge to fight the good fight of faith and lay hold on eternal life until the appearing binds all who profess to be Christians, calling for firm, spiritual-minded, earnest workers who will not turn aside to accommodate the worldly standard. Keeping the commandment without spot and unrebukable until that appearing requires self-examination as duty, looking at thoughts and actions through the Word to point out defects God will not sanction, to know whether in the faith, to correct wrongs, and to hold the beginning of confidence in God's past leadings firm to the end, not by individual choice and inclination but with hearts desiring to be improved and set in order.
The appearing to be shown in God's own appointed times anchors that keeping of the commandment by fleeing the love of money with its temptation, snare, destruction and sorrow, and by following righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience and meekness. It serves as defense in the latter days against seducing spirits, doctrines of devils, lying hypocrisy and departures from the faith, and against trusting uncertain riches instead of the living God who gives richly all things to enjoy. For one entrusted with talents the charge places him under the blood-stained banner of Prince Immanuel with a true good profession before many witnesses, meaning money as a talent from God must be wisely employed to His glory for saving souls for whom Christ died, not selfishly and unwisely appropriated to selfish ends to the injury of the user amid surrounding temptations.
Meeting so great a King requires careful preparation, far more than men make to appear rightly before a worldly emperor or king. That preparation means being cleansed and refined and made pure to discern spiritual things and be ready to enter His presence, putting away strife and contention, becoming like Christ, becoming acquainted with the Saviour, and growing step by step unto immortal life. Preserving connection and alliance with the King of kings, the Lord of life and glory, gives honor, dignity and power, so that even the vilest sinner by belief on His name may become a partaker of the divine nature, an heir of eternal riches, a son of God and member of the royal family and child of the Heavenly King, a condescension and amazing love it is stubborn to refuse or cast aside as worthless trifles.
The King of kings is Christ in His beauty, the Divine One majestic in holiness and glorious beauty, to be made the day-and-night study and meditation until mind, heart and soul are filled with the vision, as John the Baptist beheld Him in nature and the prophets. Beholding Him makes self lost sight of in inefficiency and unworthiness and bowing with trembling, giving readiness to go as Heaven's messenger to declare God's message and to stand in God's power and righteousness, unawed by man and fearless before earthly monarchs. He as the blessed and only Potentate, the Mediator and go-between between God and humanity, directs the foundation and upbuilding of God's great work and gives counsel from One mighty in wisdom to those who stand under His direction. He works together only with consecrated workers who receive that counsel with reverence and awe for sacred things, vital piety and personal connection with God, conversion, humility, mercy and tender compassion, and humble reliance on God rather than confidence in human wisdom. When men handling sacred things exalt self rather than glorify Him, trust human wisdom, lack conversion, heart-searching, reverence and reliance on God, and teach for doctrine the commandments of men like the Pharisees, He does not work with them in power and they cannot be laborers together with Him.
His supreme rulership over all and the sacredness of His law must be revealed to those who persistently refuse obedience, for He has appointed a time to visit transgressors in wrath for persistent disregard of His law, especially wickedness in large cities, yet visiting the disloyal in mercy with judgments to arouse them if possible to realization of the sinfulness of their course. Daniel spoke and had communion with the King of kings and Lord of lords in prayer, not confining himself to the earthly king's business but making it his special duty to keep close to prayer to the heavenly King.
The one who will show the appearing is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, the supreme Ruler over all kings and lords. He is God the Father as the blessed supreme Sovereign who will reveal the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ in His own appointed time, while those who apply the title to Jesus exalt Him as that same blessed Potentate, King and Mediator between God and humanity. That appearing is the endpoint until which the commandment must be kept without spot and unrebukable, by fleeing the love of money and following righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience and meekness. Joined to the next verse (1 Timothy 6:16), the title proves that God alone has immortality inherently in Himself, so immortality is not natural to the human soul but must be sought and received as a free gift through Christ. His authority stands higher than every earthly ruler, council and government, calling for open loyalty to Him above human law and for careful preparation to meet so great a King.
Verse Wording and Context
The one who will show the appearing is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, the supreme Ruler over all kings and lords. That title describes God the Father as the blessed supreme Sovereign who Himself will make known the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ in His own appointed times. His greatness, power, glory, victory and majesty are unlimited, so nothing can hinder His work, which is reason to trust Him calmly and confidently, for He can give strength and do far more than people ask or imagine. The coming of the Lord Jesus Christ our King is the great event which He will show in His own times and to which He directs minds, and the following words describe Him as the only one who has immortality, dwelling in light no one can approach and whom no one has seen or can see, and as worthy of everlasting honor, glory and power.
The same title describes Jesus Christ as the blessed and only Potentate, King of kings and Lord of lords. Paul continually exalted Christ by this title while building God's kingdom among the Gentiles, who through faith in His atoning sacrifice could become members of God's household. Jesus is presented as the coming King whom followers expect to meet, and His appearing is the time until which the commandment must be kept faithfully. The title also describes Jesus as the Mediator and go-between between God and humanity, the supreme sovereign linking God and people. He directs the foundation and upbuilding of God's great work and gives counsel from One mighty in wisdom to those who stand under His direction.
The verse belongs to Paul's dying charge to Timothy, dictated while Paul was shut in a dungeon and pressed with infirmities, fearing that wicked Nero would cut his life short before he could see his beloved son in the gospel, and urging Timothy to come to him without delay. That charge calls Timothy to fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, and keep the commandment without spot and unrebukable until the appearing of Jesus Christ. It was given solemnly in the sight of God who quickens all things and before Christ Jesus who witnessed a good confession before Pontius Pilate. In that charge Timothy is commanded to flee evil and the love of money and to follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience and meekness, to fight the good fight of faith and lay hold on eternal life to which he was called.
Appearing Shown in Time
God Himself will display the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ in His own appointed times. The One who does the showing is the blessed and only Ruler, supreme over every king and lord. At that appointed time Christ Jesus will be revealed in that supreme kingship and lordship. He is the coming King whom His followers expect to meet. Meeting so great a King calls for far more careful preparation than appearing rightly before a worldly emperor or king, by putting away strife and contention, becoming like Christ, becoming acquainted with the Saviour, and growing step by step unto immortal life.
That appearing is the endpoint until which the commandment is to be kept without spot and unrebukable. It is the time until which faithfulness is to hold firm to the end. Keeping it in this way means fleeing the love of money with its temptation and snare and destruction and sorrow. It means following after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, and meekness. It means fighting the good fight of faith and laying hold on eternal life to which the called are called.
The coming of the Lord Jesus Christ our King is the great event to which the light on Daniel and Revelation points. Minds are directed to this truth by the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords. Interest in that light continues as long as probationary time lasts.
Only Sovereign Immortal God
Read with the next verse, the title proves that God alone has immortality inherently in Himself, and the human soul does not possess natural immortality. Immortality belongs to God alone and is not a natural possession of man, dwelling in light no person can approach and whom no person has seen or can see. It is something people seek, not something they already have by nature.
Immortality must be sought and can be possessed only as a free gift through Christ, receiving eternal life rather than already having it by nature. The human soul is not naturally immortal but receives immortality only through Christ. Christ's own life is original, unborrowed and underived, while man has no inherent immortal life in himself.
The One so described dwells in light which no one can approach, whom no one has seen nor can see, and to whom belong everlasting honor and power. To Him belong glory and power everlasting. His greatness, power, glory, victory and majesty are unlimited, so nothing can hinder His work. His sovereign power is omnipotent and absolute, so nothing can stand in His way, for He can remove every obstruction and difficulty to the advancement of His work and deliver those who serve Him. He can give strength and do far more than people ask or think, even more than they can ask or imagine.
That mighty power is reason to trust Him calmly and confidently, to depend on Him alone, to trust His Word, and to ask Him for what is needed. He is entirely trustworthy: He keeps truth forever, remembers His covenant, and does not fail to fulfill His promises. He unites that omnipotence with the gentleness and care of a tender shepherd, with infinite goodness and love and an unalterable, covenant-keeping faithfulness. His power is the pledge that His promises to His people will surely be fulfilled.
As supreme giver of life He accomplishes in the fullest sense what physicians aim to do in prolonging life. He endows the physician with reason and intelligence, He is truth and life, He applies the healing balm, He is the great Restorer who has repeatedly vanquished death and grants eternal life, God over all.
Higher Than Earthly Rulers
His authority stands above the emperor of Germany, above the decision of the Diet, above every human council, and above all earthly rulers and governments, so that appeal can be made from human judgment to Him just as appeal is made from human decrees to the word of God, and those weak in numbers against Rome find strength in Him. The Reformers so appealed to Jesus Christ as supreme ruler, trusting His authority despite their small numbers and apparent weakness. No divorce law drawn up by men given to wine-drinking, unable to control appetite, to reason soundly and nobly, and to discern the real situation, has any value in His eyes, for great power exercised by kings often leads to extremes in exaltation of self, and worthless vows to enact laws that disregard His higher laws lead to great injustice.
Those who preside over national affairs must know and acknowledge Him as Father and Jesus Christ as the only begotten Son of the infinite God, recognizing that they themselves are subjects of His kingdom. Without that knowledge no one can rule wisely, and no earthly ruler can exercise authority wisely or set an example safe to follow unless wisdom is obtained from God. Anyone placed in authority over others must seek wisdom from the Lord in order to govern wisely the subjects of God's kingdom, because He is too wise to err and too good to do injustice to His human subjects. The principles of the law of His kingdom, by which He rules the sinless inhabitants of heaven, must lie at the foundation of earthly governments and laws, and human laws must be in harmony with the law of Jehovah, since that law is the standard by which all created beings are to be judged. No one should be forced to obey a human law in direct opposition to the law God has given.
The One who framed and proclaimed God's law is the King of kings and Lord of lords, for the law did not originate with human beings or Moses. He proclaimed its precepts at Sinai amid scenes of great grandeur, and Israel's prosperity depended on obedience to them. His sovereignty stands above human power, so the three Hebrew youths would worship no other and would not bow to the idolatrous symbol, refusing to dishonor the God of heaven by obeying a human law opposed to His law, whatever the cost. His authority humbles rulers, and Nebuchadnezzar's experience shows that true greatness consists in goodness, with rulers acknowledging God's power and seeking their subjects' welfare. Solomon brought glory to God by using his wisdom, power, and other gifts to make the world know Him.
Satan was once a person of surpassing loveliness, holding high office with a kingly throne radiant with light, but he rebelled against and abandoned the authority of the blessed and only Potentate. He swerved from allegiance, lost connection with his first love, fell from his first estate and abode not in the truth, and by his own act compelled separation from the loyal and true. With the disloyal angels he had deceived he was driven and cast out from heaven, losing all acknowledged right to the heavenly courts. He became a kingdom to himself, Christ's avowed enemy and a determined active agency against God, planting on earth a standard of rebellion around which his sympathizers gathered. The title Lord of lords belongs to the blessed and only Potentate alone, yet the Roman pontiff, claiming to be servant of servants, endeavors to take it to himself, setting himself up in the temple as God, acting as tyrant and wolf to the sheep instead of pastor, intercepting what God provided for the church and bringing God's commands into contempt. The King of kings and Lord of lords stands in contrast to the ruler who opposes Him, whose mark is the spurious sabbath, a common working day promoted by the Papacy as the Lord's Sabbath to destroy the Sabbath sign God commanded to be preserved through generations.
Allegiance and Readiness
Allegiance to God and to right principles is what the blessed and only Potentate requires, and Satan earnestly strives by deception to lead souls to abandon that allegiance. Multitudes who profess to belong to God's true church fall under his deceptions and swerve from their allegiance, accepting wrong plans because they are clothed in saintly garments and appear righteous. Things God gave as blessings to glorify His name become snares and hindrances to spirituality when selfishness and ambition control those in charge of them.
In a crisis in God's work His people must openly show loyalty to the King of kings and Lord of lords, putting His law above their own plans and wills and remaining faithful even at the cost of life. The charge to fight the good fight of faith and lay hold on eternal life until the appearing binds all who profess to be Christians, calling for firm, spiritual-minded, earnest workers who will not turn aside to accommodate the worldly standard. Keeping the commandment without spot and unrebukable until that appearing requires self-examination as duty, looking at thoughts and actions through the Word to point out defects God will not sanction, to know whether in the faith, to correct wrongs, and to hold the beginning of confidence in God's past leadings firm to the end, not by individual choice and inclination but with hearts desiring to be improved and set in order.
The appearing to be shown in God's own appointed times anchors that keeping of the commandment by fleeing the love of money with its temptation, snare, destruction and sorrow, and by following righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience and meekness. It serves as defense in the latter days against seducing spirits, doctrines of devils, lying hypocrisy and departures from the faith, and against trusting uncertain riches instead of the living God who gives richly all things to enjoy. For one entrusted with talents the charge places him under the blood-stained banner of Prince Immanuel with a true good profession before many witnesses, meaning money as a talent from God must be wisely employed to His glory for saving souls for whom Christ died, not selfishly and unwisely appropriated to selfish ends to the injury of the user amid surrounding temptations.
Meeting so great a King requires careful preparation, far more than men make to appear rightly before a worldly emperor or king. That preparation means being cleansed and refined and made pure to discern spiritual things and be ready to enter His presence, putting away strife and contention, becoming like Christ, becoming acquainted with the Saviour, and growing step by step unto immortal life. Preserving connection and alliance with the King of kings, the Lord of life and glory, gives honor, dignity and power, so that even the vilest sinner by belief on His name may become a partaker of the divine nature, an heir of eternal riches, a son of God and member of the royal family and child of the Heavenly King, a condescension and amazing love it is stubborn to refuse or cast aside as worthless trifles.
The King of kings is Christ in His beauty, the Divine One majestic in holiness and glorious beauty, to be made the day-and-night study and meditation until mind, heart and soul are filled with the vision, as John the Baptist beheld Him in nature and the prophets. Beholding Him makes self lost sight of in inefficiency and unworthiness and bowing with trembling, giving readiness to go as Heaven's messenger to declare God's message and to stand in God's power and righteousness, unawed by man and fearless before earthly monarchs. He as the blessed and only Potentate, the Mediator and go-between between God and humanity, directs the foundation and upbuilding of God's great work and gives counsel from One mighty in wisdom to those who stand under His direction. He works together only with consecrated workers who receive that counsel with reverence and awe for sacred things, vital piety and personal connection with God, conversion, humility, mercy and tender compassion, and humble reliance on God rather than confidence in human wisdom. When men handling sacred things exalt self rather than glorify Him, trust human wisdom, lack conversion, heart-searching, reverence and reliance on God, and teach for doctrine the commandments of men like the Pharisees, He does not work with them in power and they cannot be laborers together with Him.
His supreme rulership over all and the sacredness of His law must be revealed to those who persistently refuse obedience, for He has appointed a time to visit transgressors in wrath for persistent disregard of His law, especially wickedness in large cities, yet visiting the disloyal in mercy with judgments to arouse them if possible to realization of the sinfulness of their course. Daniel spoke and had communion with the King of kings and Lord of lords in prayer, not confining himself to the earthly king's business but making it his special duty to keep close to prayer to the heavenly King.