Jeremiah 23:18
For who hath stood in the counsel of the LORD, and hath perceived and heard his word? who hath marked his word, and heard it? For who hath stood in the counsel of the LORD, and hath perceived and heard his word? who hath marked his word, and heard it?
The question is who has stood in the counsel of the Lord and perceived and marked and heard His word, who has understood and received and followed His word and light and direction and warning, receiving the message from Him rather than from human imagination. The true messenger must have so stood and heard and understood, and must have received a message from the Lord Himself and not from his own imagination. Standing in that counsel means receiving His light and direction and receiving and understanding His word.
Those who have stood in His counsel make His words and warning known and turn His people from their evil ways and deeds. Faithful messengers declare what God has spoken in order to turn men from evil, and watchmen who stand in His counsel receive His warning and faithfully pass it on to the people. Those who have not heard the Lord must not claim to speak for Him, and must not reassure people who reject Him that they will have peace.
Success in teaching truth does not prove that a person is called by God, since even self-sent or wicked people may speak truth and others may accept it. Those who speak truth without standing in God's counsel remain accountable for the deception and confusion they bring. Standing in that counsel gives sound judgment and leads to acting in harmony with God's guidance and in unity with fellow laborers. Failing to stand blinds judgment of people and circumstances and produces a hindering spirit rather than a helping one, and failure to follow God's counsel leaves one vulnerable to Satan's deception, which undermines order and discipline.
God's watchmen should stand in His counsel, receive His warning, and faithfully pass it on, but unfaithful watchmen asleep at their post were among the last to accept the truth, with the people receiving the warning before their teachers. The verse calls people to listen to what the Lord says, who sees even what is hidden and fills heaven and earth. Applied to the church and the Institute, failure to stand in God's counsel meant failure to guide that branch of the work, to spread light to it, and to prevent its errors, so that spiritual sickness spread darkness and death through it.
Applied to Connecticut, failure to stand in the Lord's counsel meant failure to check false spiritual excitement and burdens there, with words that encouraged the deception instead of reflecting the Lord's counsel, as was charged concerning Brother Barr. Applied to Butler and Smith, they had not stood in God's counsel, and their attitude and influence made the work far more taxing. Applied to the youngest son, he must stand in that counsel as the appointed counselor, guided by God's Word and prayer and not controlled by human influence, having borne his test wisely and continuing the work appointed to him. Standing in the Lord's counsel for him means receiving and following His words and receiving and understanding His word.