"The Hope of the Second Advent On the way home we talked seriously concerning the evidences of our new faith and hope. “Ellen,” said Robert, “are we deceived? Is this hope of Christ's soon appearing upon the earth a heresy, that ministers and professors of religion oppose it so bitterly? They say that Jesus will not come for thousands and thousands of years. If they even approach the truth, then the world cannot come to an end in our day.” LS 44"
"Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation."
The EGW passage directly addresses the question of whether the belief in Christ's soon return is a deception, and it mentions the opposition from religious figures who claim Jesus will not come for thousands of years. This strongly echoes the sentiment in 2 Peter 3:3-4, which speaks of scoffers questioning the promise of Christ's coming and asserting that everything continues as it always has.
"When the presiding elder addressed others in the class, he expressed great joy in anticipating the temporal millennium, when the earth should be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. He longed to see this glorious period ushered in. LS 44.1"
"They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea."
The EGW passage directly quotes and references the concept from Isaiah 11:9 about the earth being filled with the knowledge of the Lord. The presiding elder's anticipation of the 'temporal millennium' echoes the prophetic vision in Isaiah.
"After the meeting closed, I was conscious of being treated with marked coldness by those who had formerly been kind and friendly to me. My brother and I returned home feeling sad that we should be so misunderstood by our brethren, and that the subject of the near coming of Jesus should awaken such bitter opposition in their breasts. LS 44.2"
"And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved."
Both passages deal with being hated or treated coldly for one's faith. The EGW passage describes a specific instance of this, while the Matthew verse is a general principle. The connection is valid and meaningful.
"If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you."
Similar to the previous pair, this connects the experience of being hated for one's beliefs (EGW) with Jesus's statement about the world hating his followers (John). The connection is valid.