Second Sermon.
1 Cor. 15:20-28.
But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that sleep. For by one man cometh death, and by one man cometh the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam they all died, so in Christ they shall all be made alive. But each in his own order. The firstfruits Christ, then those who belong to Christ when he comes. After that the end, when he will hand over the kingdom to God and the Father, when he will abolish all rule and all authority and power. But he must reign until he puts all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be abolished is death. For he has put all things under his feet. But when he says that all things are subject to him, it is evident that he is excepted who has put all things under him. But when all things shall be subject unto him, then shall the Son himself also be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.
To the reader.
We have not wanted to throw away the common Sunday epistles, as they are usually read, until this time, especially because some of them are beautiful and useful. However, one could have had a different choice and order of them; for, among others, St. Jacob's Epistles are also included for the two following Sundays by those who distributed the Epistles in this way, and only saw to it that something was taken from each apostle, and St. Jacob was kept and placed among the most prominent, which is not the apostle's and is far from being equal to the other apostles. It would be better, however, to do justice to this time, and between Easter and Pentecost, like
The first chapter of the first epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians, which deals with the resurrection of the dead, is the entire fifteenth chapter. Therefore we will henceforth order the same chapter for this and the following Sundays, as we intend to keep it; so that those who wish may also use it in this way. But this is not to prevent those who ever wanted to keep the old previous order. But because the whole of the fifteenth chapter to the Corinthians is abundantly laid out with special sermons, and according to length, we will command every one to read it.