⁹ for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.

Paul’s Anxiety in Troas

¹² When I came to Troas to proclaim the good news^[a] of Christ, a door was opened for me in the Lord,^(A)

²⁷ When they arrived, they called the church together and related all that God had done with them and how he had opened a door of faith for the gentiles.

³ At the same time, pray for us as well, that God will open to us a door for the word, that we may declare the mystery of Christ, for which I am in prison,^(A)

The Message to Philadelphia

⁷ “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:

⁸ “I know your works. Look, I have set before you an open door that no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.^(B)

⁸ We do not want you to be ignorant, brothers and sisters, of the affliction we experienced in Asia, for we were so utterly, unbearably crushed that we despaired of life itself.^{(A) 9} Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death so that we would rely not on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. ¹⁰ He who rescued us from so deadly a peril will continue to rescue us;^[a] on him we have set our hope that he will rescue us again,^(B)

¹⁸ For many live as enemies of the cross of Christ; I have often told you of them, and now I tell you even with tears.^(A)

³² If I fought with wild animals at Ephesus with a merely human perspective, what would I have gained by it? If the dead are not raised,

⁸ He entered the synagogue and for three months spoke out boldly and argued persuasively about the kingdom of God.^{(A) 9} When some stubbornly refused to believe and spoke evil of the Way before the congregation, he left them, taking the disciples with him, and argued daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus.^{[a](B) 10} This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia, both Jews and Greeks, heard the word of the Lord.^(C)