John Calvin Commentary 1 Timothy 6:15

"which in its own times he shall show, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords;" — 1 Timothy 6:15 (ASV)

Which in his seasons he will show. We are commonly hasty in our wishes and are not far from prescribing a day and hour to God, as if we should say that he must not delay to perform anything he has promised. For this reason, the Apostle promptly restrains excessive haste by focusing on the expectation of Christ's coming.

For that is the meaning of the words, “which in his seasons he will show.” When people know that the proper time for anything has not fully come, they wait for it more patiently.

Why is it that we are so patient in bearing with the order of nature, if not because we are restrained by this consideration: that we would act unreasonably if we struggled against it with our desires? Thus we know that the revelation of Christ has its appointed time, for which we must wait patiently.

The blessed and only Prince. These splendid titles are employed here to exalt the princely authority of God, so that the brilliance of this world's princes may not dazzle our eyes.

Such instruction was especially necessary at that time, because the more all kingdoms were then great and powerful, the more the majesty and glory of God were thrown into the shade. For all who governed the kingdoms of the world were not only deadly enemies of God's kingdom but also proudly mocked God and trampled his sacred name under their feet; and the greater the haughtiness with which they despised true religion, the happier they imagined themselves to be.

From such a state of affairs, who would not have concluded that God was miserably vanquished and oppressed? We see to what a pitch of insolence Cicero rises against the Jews on account of their humbled condition in his oration for Flaccus.

When good people see that the wicked are puffed up with prosperity, they are sometimes cast down. Therefore Paul, to withdraw the eyes of the godly from that transitory splendor, ascribes to God alone “blessedness, principality, and kingly power.”

When he calls God the only prince, he does not overthrow civil government, as if there ought to be no magistrates or kings in the world, but means that He alone reigns from himself and from his own power. This is evident from what follows, which he adds by way of exposition:

King of kings, and Lord of lords. The sum of it is that all the governments of the world are subject to his dominion, depend on him, and stand or fall at his command; but God's authority is beyond all comparison, because all the rest are as nothing when compared with his glory, and while they fade and quickly perish, his authority will endure forever.