Where they ceased to do the above, they are already dead and void, and are of no more value; just as when a good coin is debased, sad or retired on account of its abuse, and issued anew; or when everyday shoes wax old and rub, they are no longer worn, but thrown away and new ones bought.
According to Lutheran ecclesiastical teaching (Formula of Concord, II; Solida declaratio, x.; Apology, xiv.
a uniform liturgy is requisite only in so far as it is indispensable to uphold proper doctrine and the administration of the sacraments; whereas in general the rightful appointment of the external functions of church officers and their sphere in the congregations is committed to the church governing board of the state authorities.
The spontaneous development of church law, and especially the regulation of divine service, the sacraments, and discipline, as Luther ideally conceived it, proved impracticable, and gave place, though not invariably so, to definition on the part of temporal sovereigns.
As a rule, later compilations have made use of earlier forms, and thus the Orders are grouped in families.