"years the cause had advanced in a marked manner. At the beginning there were only three or four preachers, or “messengers” As they then styled themselves, all of them dependent upon what they earned by physical labor and the freewill offerings of the few believers, who also were poor in this world's goods. These beginnings were limited in area almost entirely to the New England States. 1T 5.2"
"Nor scrip for your journey, neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves: for the workman is worthy of his meat."
Both passages touch on the idea of ministers/messengers relying on the support of others and their own labor. The Matthew verse provides a justification for this reliance, while EGW describes the early SDA preachers' situation.
"By 1855, the year of issuance of the first Testimony Pamphlet, there were about a score of preachers of the Sabbath and Advent message. The number of believers had grown from less than one hundred to well into the second thousand. 1T 5.3"
"And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith."
Both passages describe the growth of a religious movement. The Acts passage speaks of the early church, while the EGW passage speaks of the early Seventh-day Adventist church. The parallel is in the numerical increase and spread of the message.