Who in his times he shall show, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords;
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Ambrose of Milan
AD 397
When I speak of the Father, I do not make separation of the Son, because the Son is in the bosom and the solitude of the Father. When I speak of the Son alone, I also associate the Father, even as the Son also associated him, saying, “Behold the hour is coming for you to leave me alone. But I am not alone, because the Father is with me.” In this way is the Father called “the blessed and only Sovereign”—in such a way that the Son, who is always in the Father, is not separated from him. .
Prayer itself must come from a humble, meek, pure heart. It must confess its sins without making excuses. In the course of bitter tears it will show trust in the most sweet pity of the Lord. It must not seek earthly aims but desire heavenly ones. It must be sequestered from desires of the body and attach itself solely to the divine. In short, it must be wholly spiritual, bestowing nothing but tears on the flesh. Insofar as it is lawful, seek to behold in mental contemplation him whom you entreat and then you realize what sort of person you should be in offering yourself prostrate before him. He is, as Paul says, “the blessed and only Mighty, the King of kings and Lord of lords.” Explanation of the Psalms , Conclusion.
God’s other titles fall into two distinct groups. The first group belongs to his power, the second to his providential ordering of the world, a twofold providential ordering—involving, and not involving, incarnation. Clear cases of titles which belong to his power are … “King” of “rulers” and “Lord of the masters.” … For since we are controlled by three conditions—fear of punishment, hope for salvation and glory too, and the practice of the virtues which result in these last—the name which mentions retribution deals with fear. The one which mentions salvation with hope, and that which refers to virtues, disciplines us to practice them. The intention is that by, as it were, carrying God inside him, one may have some success here and press on all the harder to perfection, toward that affinity with God which comes from the virtues.
When someone sees resplendent lords of rank, kings, leaders and all those who appear prominent in wealth, to them he speaks in fearful words. Their dynasties are advantaged by his fear. Yet “now, kings, understand; be instructed, all you who judge the earth; serve the Lord with fear and rejoice in him with trembling,” because “he is the King of kings and the Lord of lords.” Wherever the mighty rules, God threatens with the fear of his kingdom. Yet wherever the worthless are humbled, God offers the medicine of his clemency. For this God is a great King to those who reign and a Lord to those who exercise lordship. Again, the very same one lowers his rank and is found, according to holy Scripture, to be a Father to orphans and a Judge to widows, a King to kings, a Leader to leaders, a Lord to lords. .
In His times, that is, the due and fitting times, that he may not be impatient, because it has not yet come. And whence is it manifest, that He will show it? Because He is the Potentate, the only Potentate. He then will show it, Who is blessed, nay blessedness itself; and this is said, to show that in that appearing there is nothing painful or uneasy.
But he says, only, either in contradistinction to men, or because He was unoriginated, or as we sometimes speak of a man whom we wish to extol.
He, the framer of all creation and maker of our race, became man for our sake, and coming from a holy Virgin’s womb, on earth conversed with men. For us ungrateful servants the master endured death, even the death of the cross, that the tyranny of sin might be destroyed, that the former condemnation might be abolished, that the gates of heaven might be open to us again. In this way he has exalted our nature, and set it on the throne of glory, and granted to them that love him an everlasting kingdom and joys beyond all that tongue can tell or ear can hear. He is the mighty and the only potentate, King of kings and Lord of lords, whose might is invincible and whose lordship is beyond comparison. He alone is holy and dwells in holiness, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit is glorified. Into this faith I have been baptized.
