"Ministers should have no separate interest aside from the great work of leading souls to the truth. Their energies are all needed here. They should not engage in merchandise, in peddling, or in any business aside from this one great work. The solemn charge given to Timothy rests with equal weight upon them, laying upon them the most solemn obligations and most fearful responsibilities. “I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom; Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine.” “But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.” 1T 470.1"
"I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine."
EGW directly quotes 2 Timothy 4:1-2, making this a clear and explicit allusion.
Wrong habits of life have lessened our mental and physical sensibilities, and all the strength we can acquire by right living and placing ourselves in the best relation to health and life should be devoted unreservedly to the work which God has assigned us. We cannot afford to use the few enfeebled, crippled energies which we possess to serve tables or to mingle merchandise with the work God has committed to us. Every faculty of mind and body is now needed. The work of God requires this, and no separate business can be engaged in aside from this great work without taking time and strength of mind and body, and thus lessening the vigor and force of our labor in the cause of God. Ministers who do this will not have all that time for meditation and prayer, and all that strength and clearness of mind that they should have to understand the cases of those who need help, and to be prepared to “be instant in season, out of season.” A word fitly spoken at the right time may save some poor, err…
"No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon."
The EGW passage warns against dividing one's time and energy between God's work and worldly pursuits, echoing the sentiment of Matthew 6:24 that one cannot serve both God and mammon. The idea of not being able to fully dedicate oneself to God's work if also engaged in "mingling merchandise" aligns with the principle of undivided loyalty presented in Matthew.
"What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s."
The EGW passage emphasizes the importance of dedicating one's physical and mental strength to God's work, aligning with the concept in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit and should be used to glorify God. While not a direct quote, the underlying principle of dedicating oneself fully to God is present in both passages.