1 Corinthians 16:12

'But as touching Apollos the brother, I besought him much to come to you with the brothers, and it was not at all his will to come now, but he will come when he shall have opportunity.'

Meanwhile he lets them know that he had urgently asked Apollos to visit them, but that it had not yet proved possible, although as soon as it was he would come. Whether Apollos' reluctance was due to God's call to another sphere, or whether it was due to the fact that he had a deeper awareness than Paul of the hardened attitude of many in the Corinthian church, we do not know. Perhaps he felt that if he went at that stage it would simply make the relationship between Paul and the church more difficult. But what Paul wants the Corinthians to know is that he and Apollos are at one and not rivals.