"Grieved and desponding, I often went alone to some retired place to pour out my soul before Him who invites the weary and heavy-laden to come and find rest. As my faith claimed the promises, Jesus would seem very near. The sweet light of heaven would shine around me, and I would seem to be encircled by the arms of my Saviour, and would there be taken off in vision. But when I would relate what God had revealed to me alone, where no earthly influence could affect me, I was grieved and astonished to hear some intimate that those who lived nearest to God were most liable to be deceived by Satan. LS 88.2"
"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."
EGW directly alludes to Matthew 11:28, using similar language and referencing the invitation to find rest.
"Some would have had me believe that there was no Holy Spirit, and that all the exercises that holy men of God experienced, were only the effect of mesmerism or the deception of Satan. LS 88.3"
"Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world."
The EGW passage discusses the challenge of discerning the true Holy Spirit from deceptive influences. This aligns with the theme of discernment in 1 John 4:1, which urges believers to 'try the spirits' to determine whether they are from God, as many false prophets have emerged.
"Those who had taken extreme views of certain texts of Scripture, refraining wholly from labor, and rejecting all who would not receive their ideas on this and other points pertaining to religious duty, charged me with conforming to the world. On the other hand, the nominal Adventists charged me with fanaticism, and I was falsely represented as the leader of the fanaticism which I was laboring constantly to arrest. LS 88.4"
"Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake."
Both passages describe being falsely accused and reviled for one's beliefs. The EGW passage illustrates the experience of being criticized from opposing viewpoints, mirroring the general sentiment of Matthew 5:11.