At college of law I was introduced to oral exams, the viva voce. I normally don’t like written exams or being tested and tried. I hate looking stupid or looking like I don’t know something. But in the viva voce there is nowhere left to hide.
Even though I don’t like exams, the process of being tested or tried is important. It crystallises your learning. It says that the subject or course that you’ve been studying is important. It is so important that your teachers want to know what you’ve learnt. And if you’ve written an essay, and got it back, your teacher interacts with your ideas. Your ideas matter and are worthy of discussion and interaction. Another intelligent human being has thought about what you think.
Actually, exams and essays and other assessments are ways your teachers value you. It is much easier to teach a subject and not have to mark essays or exams. But an exam or essay let’s you see what has managed to get in.
Plato quotes Socrates as saying, “The unexamined life is not worth living.”
And friends, the scripture tells us that every human life will be examined by God. Every image bearer, created in God’s likeness, every human being, will be judged by God. And God’s judgment on our lives mean that we matter to God. Our choices, our lives, our passions, our loves, our hates, our thoughts and motives. None of them are hidden from God. None of them are kept from his all seeing gaze. Everything we’ve thought, said and done is open and laid bear before him to whom we must give an account.
And God cares about them. It matters to God what we think, what we say, what we do.
Friends, this invests our time now with enormous significance. Our lives matter eternally. We are not just accidents, blips, speed humps in space and time, that don’t really matter. The atheist thinks that our lives will be unexamined, except by people. Only the judgment of yourself or other people matter and if they don’t know about it, they don’t matter. And of course, other people’s good opinion can be bought or influenced, because human justice is not equal. He who has the most money wins.
Then, if the atheist is right, everyone’s life is fundamentally unexamined, because there is no god, no resurrection, no judge of the living and the dead.
Then friends, the Hitlers and the Stalins and the Mao Tse Tungs and the Pol Pots of this world GOT AWAY WITH IT. Who cares that western history today writes them off? Histories will be re-written. There is no final accounting for what they did.
But friends, the scripture is clear. Each one of the billions and billions of humans who have existed or will exist will appear before God, their maker and judge, and Jesus Christ, the one who died and has risen again for their salvation (whether they accept it and enter heaven or reject it and bears God’s wrath), and each one will meet him and give an account to him, including you and me.
Judgment is good news, in that we matter to God.
But friends, it is bad news, because we are sinners.
Our reading was First Corinthians chapters 3 and 4. Sadly, for all the Corinthians interest in being ‘spiritual’, they are worldly and fleshly (verses 1-3). They have fallen for the cult of personality.
Our world is always looking for the charismatic person, the one with the ‘X’ factor, who is charming and who we can follow.
The church in Corinth latched on to Cephas, the rock on which Christ will build his church, and Apollos, the great debator, orator, and teacher, and Paul, the mighty Apostle to the Gentiles. And members of the church in Corinth seemed to think they belonged to one or the other of these Christian leaders.
Now we know the church in Corinth was planted by Paul. Apollos came afterward and was a great help to those who by grace had believed, encouraging them and continuing the work. And Peter’s name somehow got thrown into the mix, although we don’t know that he visited Corinth, or why that was so.
But it appears that the Corinthian Christians are following their favourite minister. And they have divided and formed parties over these Christian ministers[1]. Chapter 3 verses 4:
For when one says, "I follow Paul," and another, "I follow Apollos," are you not mere men? (NIV)
Now, Paul has already spoken about this in chapter 1. 1 Corinthians chapter 1 verses 12 to 13:
What I mean is this: One of you says, "I follow Paul"; another, "I follow Apollos"; another, "I follow Cephas"; still another, "I follow Christ." Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptised into the name of Paul? (NIV)
One is a follower of Paul, one prefers Apollos. I remember in first class walking around the playground taking a tally, ‘Do you like Abba or Sherbet’. One likes the Beatles, the other the Stones. One likes Harry, another likes Zayn, out of One Direction. You become a connoisseur, picking and choosing to whom you belong.
There is something very personal about the relationship between the minister and his people. Personalities differ. You click with one person, not with another. You cannot help those preferences.
However, we can all decide to put aside personal preferences for the sake of following Jesus Christ, who died and rose again for us[2].
Paul’s point, as you saw last week, is Christianity is not about the messenger’s style but the content of the message. That message is the gospel, that Jesus Christ is Lord, and that he died a horrible death on the cross for our sins, that he was buried, and that he rose again, all in accordance with the Old Testament Scriptures. Later, Paul will say this to the Corinthians:
For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. (2 Corinthians 4:5 NIV)
It is not the medium, but the message, that counts. The message is that Jesus Christ is Lord, and that he died and rose again for us and our salvation. The messengers, Apollos and Paul, are merely the servants and stewards and ambassadors of the mighty King, the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 4:1-2; 2 Corinthians 5:18, 20)[3].
The Corinthians need to grow up. And Paul is going to send them a letter so that they grow up before either he or Apollos goes to see them. He wants them to sort these matters out before any of their founding pastors meet them face to face.
The Corinthians need to understand that they do not belong to any of their ministers, but that the ministers belong to the Church. Peter, Apollos and Paul don’t have the church, and own it. The church has Paul, Apollos and Peter, to serve them. The Apostles don’t own the church, they are simply servants of the church and sent to serve the church. And you really belong not to any one of them, but to Christ. And if you belong to Christ, then you own everything, because you will inherit everything with your big brother, Jesus Christ. Chapter 3 verse 21 to 23:
So then, no more boasting about men! All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future - all are yours, and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God. (NIV)
And so it is with you. You don’t belong to one of the teachers, and not to me, but all the teachers you have had or will have belong to you. And together we all belong to Christ Jesus.
So because the church belongs to Christ and God, we don’t boast about mere men, but we boast about, God, who gives the growth.
Suppose a church is blessed to have had Paul to plant it and Apollos to water it? It’s good that Paul plants and Apollos waters. They were experts at those jobs. But ultimately, God is the one who makes the gospel grow.
And so Paul wants to ensure that the glory and credit for Christian growth to God, not humans.
So Paul first of all relativizes the minister who God uses. The minister is simply a tool in the hands of God. 1 Corinthians chapter 3 verse 5:
What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe--as the Lord has assigned to each his task. (NIV)
The word minister means servant. And every minister you’ve had in this church – paid or unpaid, preacher or bible study leader, Scripture teacher or kid’s church leader – each one is just a servant. Not one minister can change your heart or mind. Not one minister can open your heart and break your stubborn will. The arm of flesh is too short to save. Only God can change the heart.
Yes, God uses means. God allows us and privileges human ministers to play a role. But each minister is simply a means, a tool in the hands of God, the one who really works in the hearts. Paul will say in 1 Corinthians chapter 4 verse 7:
For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not? (1 Corinthians 4:7 NIV)
Do you understand the gospel of Jesus Christ? Good, that’s a gift from God. You received that from God. That comes by the Spirit.
Do you have faith in Jesus Christ? Good, that’s a gift from God too. God is the one who opens the heart.
Where you converted or built up under Lloyd Bennett or John Collins or Peter Baines’ preaching and ministry?
Good, the Lord Jesus decided to use them.
Did you grow as a Christian under Kevin Wares or David Lloyd or Peter Robinson or Adrian Fox. Excellent… know that it was God who gave them their task, and God who made you grow.
Your growth was the Lord Jesus’ doing. Jesus simply chose to use one servant or another to do his work.
Neither Paul nor Apollos are anything, really. Verse 6 and 7:
I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow (1 Corinthians 3:6-7 NIV).
Ultimately, God is the one who makes Christians. God is the one who gives the Spirit. God opens the heart. God changes the mind. God gives the gift of faith in his Son. And then God continues to work in us, transforming those to whom he has given faith into the image of his Son.
So I cannot boast about me in your salvation. And you cannot boast about you in your salvation. Neither can we boast about the one who preached the gospel of salvation to us. We can and should only boast about God, who is the ultimate source of every good thing that we have.
God gives the growth. Everything we have, we have received from God. However, each human minister, tools in the hands of the sovereign God, is rewarded for his labour. There is also human responsibility in the church. 1 Corinthians chapter 3 verse 8:
The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labour. (NIV)
Again, 1 Corinthians chapter 3 verse 10:
By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. (NIV)
And again, 1 Corinthians chapter 4 verse 2:
Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. (NIV)
God is the one who makes Christians. God gives the growth. But the Christian minister must be faithful. The Christian minister is responsible for the work he or she does. So one should be careful in the ministry that they do.
And friends, that includes you, because you too are a minister, if you are a Christian. The Christian minister will be rewarded for his or her labour into eternity. There are rewards in heaven. Every Christian will receive a wage on the last day, exactly proportionate to how they have built here one earth. So each should be careful how they build.
And because every Christian is a minister, I am going to apply this to everyone here, to every Christian, not just to those in the teaching and pastoral ministry.
It is true that Paul applies this principle here to Christian ministers, and that those who are teachers will be judged more strictly. Yes, that is true. But the difference between Pastor and People is not in kind but degree. I will be judged more strictly, but we all will be judged.
I as a minister have greater responsibility and teachers are judged at a higher standard, but Paul will later remind the Corinthians…
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due to him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. (2 Corinthians 5:10 NIV)
So you too will be judged by Christ. So care in our work for him is required because the Christian pastor, and Christian people, can suffer loss. The work of the Christian who doesn’t build correctly can go up in a puff of smoke. Verses 12 to 15:
If any man builds on this foundation [which is Christ] using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames. (NIV)
Judgment according to works is taught throughout Scripture. The Teacher in Ecclesiastes says:
Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil. (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 NIV)
Our Lord Jesus says ‘that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken’. (Matthew 12:36 NIV )
And Paul says elsewhere, in Romans 14:10-12:
You, then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before God's judgment seat. It is written: "`As surely as I live,' says the Lord, `Every knee will bow before me; every tongue will confess to God.'" So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God. (NIV)
Notice, however, that here this judgment is not about whether the person will be saved and given eternal life with God. This is a judgment of the saved, the ones justified in Christ by trusting in Jesus sinless life, sinbearing death, and sindestroying resurrection. Notice chapter 3 verse 15 again:
If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames. (NIV)
The person who builds on the foundation of Christ with wood hay and stubble is saved. They do not go to hell. They had put their trust in Christ Jesus, the rock. Christ Jesus was their foundation. Christ Jesus was their righteousness, holiness and redemption. So they enter into heaven.
However, the work they did as Christians was shoddy and sub-standard. They used materials that didn’t endure. They wasted their time and energy using unsuitable building materials. The work could not survive the judgment of God, which showed it to be wood, hay and stubble. It did not last into eternity.
I am not now talking about justification by faith, of salvation by grace alone through the merits of Christ alone. Now I am talking about judgment according to works.
Justification by faith alone is true and right. It is the foundation, that is Christ. If anyone is to be saved, it must be through the instrumentality, through the means, of faith in Christ, and that alone. The dying criminal had nothing to bring to Christ except his confession, and Christ promised him paradise that day. The tax collector had nothing to offer God, but simply beat his breast and said, ‘God, propitiate me, the sinner’. And he went home justified. Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to the cross I cling. That is justification by faith. And it is by faith alone that we are justified and accounted righteous before God.
Our sins are forgiven, and we are accounted righteous before God, only because of the merit of Christ and his death and resurrection for us. Jesus Christ is our righteousness, holiness and redemption.
And we need this righteousness not just at the start of the Christian life, but all the way through it. It’s not as if we come into the Christian life by faith alone, and stay in by faith plus works. No, in the Christian life, we never move beyond needing to be justified by faith alone.
Friends, do not depend on any work for your justification, for the putting away of your sins, but only on Christ, by faith. Depend on the righteousness that doesn’t come from the law, but comes from God and is by faith.
However, for us who are justified and saved by faith alone, there is also a judgment according to works. We will give an account to God for every word and deed. We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God has prepared in advance for us to do. We are God’s very own people, eager to do what is good.
And God has quality control. Wood, hay, and stubble will not survive the purifying fire. Such shoddy workmanship, such poor, slap-dash building work, will not be rewarded in heaven. Yes, the Christian will be saved, thank God for his grace, even if his or her works do not survive the judgment. But the Christian then suffers loss. And thank God for that. Thank God that there is a building code in heaven.
Friends, this is a call to careful work. In Christian work, like in any other, we need to do a proper job. We need to do it right the first time.
What does good Christian work look like? It involves preaching the word in season and out of season (2 Timothy 4:2). It involves correction and rebuke as well as encouragement. And this requires great patience and careful instruction.
It means telling people the bad news, not just the good news. We need to tell people the bad news about God’s anger and judgment, and hell, as well as the good news about God’s love and heaven.
It means we need to tell them the cost of being a Christian. That whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved, yes. But also, whoever calls on the name of the Lord must also turn away from wickedness.
That Jesus says, whoever will, come to me and drink. Take the living water without any cost. But Jesus also said, whoever will come after me, must take up the cross and follow me.
People need to know that following Jesus Christ will be costly and unpopular. That Jesus said, Matthew 10:37-38:
Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. (NIV)
Whoever wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. (2 Timothy 3:12)
And we must say this because we want our work to last the day of judgment. We want those to whom we preach the gospel to continue in Christ, and not fall away because of wrong expectation of what the Christian life involves.
But negligence in church building is not the only problem. There is something more serious than dodgy building work. There is also the arsonist.
On early Sunday morning last week, Holy Trinity Anglican Church Dulwich Hill was burnt to the ground. The roof collapsed and the 100 year old church building could not be saved. CCTV footage showed kids running away in the early hours of the morning just as the fire was lit. It looks like a church arsonist.
But that is not the arson I am talking about. The bricks and mortars aren't the church. The people are the church.
Bricks and mortar, wood and pottery, they will all melt in the conflagration that will accompany the second coming of Christ.
But you lot, sitting here in front of me, you will rise and live again. And you are precious to God. You have an eternal soul, and you will live in your new resurrection body for an eternity, either in heaven or hell. You are God’s field, God’s building, verse 9. You are God’s temple, in which the Holy Spirit lives by his Spirit, verse 17.
So the church is precious to God. And judgment will come upon the church destroyer. Verses 16 and 17:
Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him; for God's temple is sacred, and you are that temple. (NIV)
There is no narrow escape through the fire for this sin of destroying the church. The church wrecker who destroys the church will himself be destroyed. He will be sent to hell, unless he repents.
How does someone wreck the church?
How about sexually abusing children, that will do it. That’s a good way to end up in hell for the impenitent. And then the gospel is tainted with that abominable sin. And the child victims cannot see Christ for who he is, and who knows where they end up after that.
How about committing adultery with church members, or fornicating with men or women. That’s a good way to destroy the church. And it destroys the church, even if the world says it’s OK.
NSW law says it is OK for a man to have sex with a 16 year old boy. (http://www.aifs.gov.au/cfca/pubs/factsheets/a142090/).
It is no longer a crime. The State Labor government lowered the age of consent for males just after they won the state election in 2003 (http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/05/06/1051987705006.html). It might no longer be a crime according to the law of NSW. But it is an offence against God, and our church still sees it as such.
That’s why Paul will hand over the incest offender to Satan in 1 Corinthians chapter 5. The man who has sex with his father’s wife is destroying the church. Adultery destroys the church, fornication destroys the church. Paedophilia destroys the church.
You know, the kids that burnt down Holy Trinity Dulwich Hill made the news, but not the minister who commits adultery. But I can tell you which of those two sins will destroy the church. And it’s not the kids burning down the building, although that is a sin bad enough. Sexual sin in the body is a sin against the body of Christ, and does more damage to the church than any arson. The real arsonist is the Christian who sins sexually in the church.
Other things destroy the church. False teaching will do it, leading the church into heresy and moral compromise. False teaching that says, ‘Well, we don’t believe the bible anymore’, or ‘Everyone Goes to Heaven, as long as you’re good’, or ‘It doesn’t matter what you do with your body, as long as you have love’.
Being schismatic will do it, splitting the church and engaging in factious behavior, and the cult of personality was doing exactly that, “I follow Peter”, “I follow Paul”, “I follow Apollos”
Part of Corinthians’ problem is they stood over their ministers in judgment. This one’s a good preacher. This one’s a good church planter. This one is the rock on whom Christ will be build the church. This one’s letters are weighty, but his speaking amounts to nothing.
We of course live in a judgmental culture. We have expert judges in so many of our reality television competitions.
Professional eaters like Pete and Manu. The Voice or Australian Idol or the X-Factor pay millions for their celebrity judges. For tonight’s meal, I give you, a 6. You don’t have the X-factor, you can go home. For today’s sermon, I give you, a 4. For today’s sermon, I give you a 2, you can go home, because you don’t have the voice.
But Paul cares very little about such human judgments. Chapter 4 verses 3 and 4:
I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent[4]. It is the Lord who judges me. (NIV)
There’s a judgment of God just around the corner for each one of us. God is the one who will judge each of us for every thought, word and deed.
So, because that is the case, we need to do three things.
Firstly, we need to get ready to meet the judge. Meeting the Judge, the risen Jesus Christ, is around the corner. God has set the day when he will judge the world. He has set the judge of the world, the risen man Jesus Christ.
Hadn’t you better make sure you are right with Jesus Christ? You are on the way, so hadn’t you better get reconciled with him along the way? Jesus in the sermon on the mount says this.
"Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still with him on the way, or he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. (Matthew 5:25 NIV)
Jesus is your judge. And he has made a way for you to stand before him on the day of judgment. By his death on the cross he bore God’s wrath against your sin. By his resurrection, he defeated your enemies, death, satan, sin and hell. And if you trust in him, there is no condemnation for you to fear.
Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died--more than that, who was raised to life--is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. (Romans 8:33-34 NIV)
Friends, flee from the wrath to come, to Jesus Christ, who rescues us from the coming wrath.
But, second, if you have been justified by faith, this is what I say. Don’t go to the judgment empty handed. For justification, yes, you can only have an empty hand. But on the great day of Jesus Christ assessing your life’s work, and whether how you have spent your life will last into eternity, don’t just have wood, hay and straw to show for it. That won’t cut it. Give yourself fully to work of the Lord, for you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain. Spend yourself on God’s great cause, which is glorifying his Son Jesus Christ. It is making disciples of all the nations.
Yes, you will be saved, if your foundation is Christ. But don’t leave all your work in the fire.
If you are a two talent servant, have four ready to give back to the Lord on that day. If you are a five talent servant, give ten back to the Lord on the day of reckoning. Or maybe you can make 1000% profit. From just 1 mina, you can make 10 more. So, give the Lord back a thousand percent profit on the day he visits us.
You understand that he will give you the same number of cities when he returns, don’t you? He will give you a rich recompense. And in doing so, God rewards his own gifts. God gave you the ability to make an abundant. For God gives the ability and power to work. And when he rewards us, he crowns his own gifts.
But whatever you do, whether you can yield 200%, 500% or a 1000%, don’t hide your one talent in your hanky, to hand back to the Lord, having done nothing with it. (Matthew 25:14-30; compare Luke 19:11-27). That will just show you aren’t really a Christian and don’t really have faith. Because faith works itself out in love.
Maybe from one gospel seed, your life will produce 30 more. Wonderful. Maybe you are a 60 fold plant, or a hundred fold plant. (Mark 4:20; Matthew 13:23; cf Luke 8:8) Good, produce for the Lord. But don’t let your Christian life be baked by persecution, or choked out by the worries of this world, the deceitfulness of wealth or the desire for other things.
I say to you, brothers and sisters, ‘go forth and multiply’. Be fruitful, increase in number. Be full of the good works that God prepared in advance for you to walk in. Serve the brothers and sisters of the Son of Man, so when they are hungry feed them, and thirsty, give them to drink, and when they are naked, clothe them, and when strangers, welcome them, and when sick, visit them. Do this to the least of your Christian brothers and sisters, and understand, you will be doing it for the Lord Jesus (Matthew 25:31-46).
So don’t waste your time. It is for the Father’s glory that we bear much fruit, showing ourselves to be Christ’s disciples (John 15:8).
That being the case, thirdly, we need to leave room for God’s judgment on things that really aren’t ours to judge. 1 Corinthians chapter 4 verse 5:
Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God. (1 Corinthians 4:5 NIV)
We do not understand why Christian leaders sometimes make the decisions they do. We cannot judge the heart. Yes, some of us have to make decisions sometimes for the sake of the church, which requires judgments. Even Paul had to. But even then we cannot judge the heart of others. And whatever judgments we make are provisional. So in many matters we don’t have to worry about others but simply worry about ourselves.
It is written: "`As surely as I live,' says the Lord,`Every knee will bow before me; every tongue will confess to God.'" So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God. Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling-block or obstacle in your brother's way. (Romans 14:11-13 NIV)
Many things, most things, we can leave to God. And anyway, we should be busy doing the good works God has planned for us to do, and leave the judging of others up to God.
Let’s pray.
[1] Sounds like an Archbishop’s Election, doesn’t it? In many ways, as we come up the Archbishop’s elections, ministers have been organizing around particular candidates. Nominators might do it, too. In their search for a minister, nominators need to work out who of a list of potential ministers they wish the Archbishop to invite to become rector. Is there any place for distinguishing between Christians, as we must do in an election, or a nomination? Sometimes Paul does distinguish between Christians. Earlier in the letter, Paul has said, 1 Corinthians chapter 2 verse 15: ‘The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man's judgment’ (1 Corinthians 2:15 NIV). And later on, Paul says that, ‘No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God's approval.’ (1 Corinthians 11:19 NIV) Indeed, Paul judges that the Corinthian church is fleshly and unspiritual. And Paul even judges one of the church members when he hands him over to Satan, meaning excommunication, for incest. So an element of division, and judgment, is inevitable in the church this side of glory. Indeed, division may serve a good purpose of testing and sifting, and seeing who stands the test. But the Corinthians are not spiritual in this matter of following particular personalities. They are very fleshly and worldly. And their cult of personality is not a good thing.
[2] It is probable that the Corinthians compared Paul with Apollos. That would be understandable, because Paul was untrained in public speaking, while Apollos who followed him was powerful as a public speaker. And at the time Paul writes First Corinthians, nether Paul nor Apollos were in Corinth. Both were in Ephesus. Perhaps some of the Corinthians preferred Apollos over Paul.‘Apollos is such a good preacher. It would be good to get Apollos back. Paul’s letters are meaty, to be sure, but he is personally an unimpressive speaker (2 Corinthians 10:10).
[3] In 1 Corinthians 16 verses 12-13, it may well be that the Corinthians wanted Apollos to come back to Corinth. Their sentiment might have been, “Paul, we want Apollos, ‘(‘cos his a good preacher), and by implication, ‘Paul, we don’t want you!’ What’s Paul’s response? 1 Corinthians 16:12-13: 12 Now about our brother Apollos: I strongly urged him to go to you with the brothers. He was quite unwilling to go now, but he will go when he has the opportunity. (NIV) Paul probably thought: ‘They want Apollos not me. Well, they are immature. They are fleshly, babies needing milk. But I’m big enough for that. Apollos and I have the same message. And if they’ll listen to you, Apollos, you had better go. Preach the gospel to them. What do I care, except the gospel is preached. Apollos, go and help them grow to maturity.’ Now of course, Apollos might not have gone simply because it was not convenient, or he was doing other important things. But there is the distinct possibility that Apollos said, ‘No, Paul, I won’t go because of this situation. My going will just pander to their entertainment mentality. They need to fix up their attitude. Only then will I go.’ If this reconstruction is correct, then Paul at the end of 1 Corinthians was saying, ‘Go Apollos, they will listen to you!’ Apollos says, ‘No Paul, I won’t go, until they listen to you’.
[4] 3Now to me it is a tiny [matter] that I be appraised by you, or by a human court [lit, Day]. But neither do I appraise myself. 4For I am not conscious of anything against myself, but it is not in this [that] I am justified, but the one appraising me is [the] Lord.