James Montgomery was a Scottish poet heavily influenced by the Moravians.   His popularity as a hymnist trails only Isaac Watts and Charles Wesley. One of Montgomery’s best-loved hymns is a Christmas Carol, “Angels from the Realms of Glory.”  Follow this link to an article on the history of the carol posted by the Discipleship Ministries of the United Methodist Church.  I was particularly interested in the final verse which seldom makes it into a Christmas Lovefeast. Indeed, I did not know of its existence, though it might have been in our old Black Hymnal from 1940 (or thereabouts).

Sinners, wrung with true repentance,
Doomed for guilt to endless pains,
Justice now revokes your sentence,
Mercy calls you; break your chains . . .

I love that appeal to all sinners, which means all of us, “Justice now revokes your sentence, Mercy calls you; break your chains!” That message is for everyone, and especially for some.

The Pastor