"The Lord is ready to help all who need help and feel that need. If you see your poverty and wretchedness before God, and earnestly take hold of His strength, He will help, and bless, and impart to you strength, that by your good works you may lead others to glorify our Father who is in heaven. Will you see yourself? Will you submit your will and ways to God? Will you seek for pure and undefiled religion before God? Oh, what will it avail you to pass along in this wretched condition! You have no happiness yourself in this way of living, and those around you have no happiness in your society. Surely you make for yourself a great amount of misery; and such a life as you have led is not worth much. Why not, then, be reconciled to God? Die to self and be converted, that Jesus may heal you. He wants to save you, if you will consent to be saved in His appointed way. May the Lord help you to see and correct every error is my prayer. 2T 83.1"
"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."
The EGW passage directly echoes the sentiment of Matthew 5:16, emphasizing the importance of good works leading others to glorify God. The connection is clear and intentional.
"Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world."
Both passages discuss pure and undefiled religion before God. While James 1:27 provides a specific example, the EGW passage speaks more generally about seeking this purity. The connection is thematic and meaningful.
"balances of the sanctuary will reveal the fact that you are wanting. This lack is a reproach to your faith. Unbelievers charge it to dishonesty, and say: “If it is such men that keep the Sabbath, I don't choose to be of that sort.” 2T 83.2"
"TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting."
The EGW passage explicitly uses the imagery of being 'weighed in the balances' and 'found wanting,' which is a direct allusion to Daniel 5:27. The connection is undeniable.