"“Greater strength must be brought into the managing force of the Conference.... God has not put any kingly power in our ranks to control this or that branch of the work. The work has been greatly restricted by the efforts to control it in every line. Here is a vineyard presenting its barren places that have received no labor. And if one should start out to till these places in the name of the Lord, unless he should get the permission of the men in a little circle of authority he would receive no help. But God means that His workers shall have help. If a hundred should start out on a mission to these destitute fields, crying unto God, He would open the way before them.... If the work had not been so restricted, ... it would have gone forward in its majesty. It would have gone in weakness at first, but the God of heaven lives; the great Overseer lives.... LS 386.2"
"For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard."
Both passages use the vineyard analogy. Matthew 20:1 is the parable of the laborers in the vineyard, while EGW uses the vineyard to illustrate the need for more freedom and less control in spreading the work.
"“The arrangements which are being made for that field are in accordance with the light which has been given me. God desires the Southern field to have a conference of its own. The work there must be done on different lines from the work in any other field. The laborers there will have to work on peculiar lines, nevertheless the work will be done.... LS 386.5"
"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 deal with spreading the message of God to different regions. Acts 1:8 is the Great Commission, and the EGW passage speaks of God's desire for work in the Southern field, implying a similar mission.
"“The Lord God of Israel will link us all together. The organizing of new conferences is not to separate us. It is to bind us together. The conferences that are formed are to cling mightily to the Lord, so that through them He can reveal His power, making them excellent representations of fruit bearing.” The General Conference Bulletin, April 5, 1901 . LS 386.6"
"From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love."
Both passages emphasize unity and interconnectedness within a body (the church or conferences). Ephesians 4:16 describes the body of Christ being joined together, while the EGW passage speaks of new conferences binding together rather than separating.