"followers. Not that all are called to be ministers or missionaries in the ordinary sense of the term; but all may be workers with Him in giving the “glad tidings” to their fellow men. To all, great or small, learned or ignorant, old or young, the command is given. Ed 264.1"
"Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:"
EGW's statement about all being called to share the 'glad tidings' is a direct application of the Great Commission in Matthew 28:19.
"But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth."
Both passages emphasize the role of all believers as witnesses, empowered by the Holy Spirit, to spread the gospel. EGW's call for all to be 'workers with Him' aligns with the idea of being witnesses 'unto me' in Acts 1:8.
"In view of this command, can we educate our sons and daughters for a life of respectable conventionality, a life professedly Christian, but lacking His self-sacrifice, a life on which the verdict of Him who is truth must be, “I know you not”? Ed 264.2"
"And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."
EGW directly alludes to the judgment scene in Matthew 7:23, echoing the phrase "I never knew you" in the context of a life that lacks genuine Christian commitment.
"Thousands are doing this. They think to secure for their children the benefits of the gospel while they deny its spirit. But this cannot be. Those who reject the privilege of fellowship with Christ in service, reject the only training that imparts a fitness for participation with Him in His glory. They reject the training that in this life gives strength and nobility of character. Many a father and mother, denying their children to the cross of Christ, have learned too late that they were thus giving them over to the enemy of God and man. They sealed their ruin, not alone for the future but for the present life. Temptation overcame them. They grew up a curse to the world, a grief and shame to those who gave them being. Ed 264.3"
"Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me."
EGW's passage discusses the denial of self and the cross of Christ in the context of raising children, which aligns with the core message of Matthew 16:24. The connection is thematic, focusing on the principle of self-denial in discipleship.