In The Spirit

Hoc dico, ut nemo vos circumvenint in subtilitate sermonis. Nam etsi corpore absens sum, spiritu tamen vobiscum sum, gaudens, et videns ordinationem vestram, et supplens id, quod deest utilitati fidei vestrae in Christum. Commonet ne in malorum colloquis et astutia iniquitatis sensus eroum transduceretur; quia sapientes mundi arte quadam et minutiis disputationum irretire gestiunt simplicium animos; ut ratione mundanarum rerum abstrahant eos a spe, quae est in Christo. Unde Apostolos spiritu se illic adesse dicit, ut reverentiam ejus ante oculos habentes, abstinerent se ab hujusmodi hominibus. Si enim spiritus Elisaei prophetae vidit fraudem Giezi euntis ad Naamam Syrum, ut acciperet sub nomine ejus, quae illi mandata non fuerant, et descendentem prompto animo Naaman ei plus dedisse, quam fuerat postulatus; quanto magis Apostolus ea, quae dixit, poterat in spiritu videre. Major enim gratia fuit in apostolis, quam in prophetis. Et ut promptiores illos faceret circa traditionem evangelicam, gaudere se dicit in dispositione convesationis illorum; ut scientes unde Deo placeatur, in eo fierent firmiores, per quod digni effecti ad utilitatis profectum fidei suae addiscerent sensum. Ambrosiaster, Commentaria In Epistolam ad Colossenses, Caput II Source: Migne PL 17.482a-b

I say this that no one delude you with cunning speech. Even if I am absent in the body, yet in the spirit I am with you, rejoicing and seeing your order, and fulfilling it, that your faith in Christ lack no usefulness. 1 He warns them lest their minds be borne off by the talk of the wicked and the cleverness of iniquity, because those who are wise by the world by a certain art and intricacy of disputation tangle up and bear off simple souls, dragging them away from their hope which is in Christ by means of worldly things. Whence the Apostle says he is near in the Spirit, that they have his piety before their eyes, and they turn away from such men. For if the spirit of Elisha the Prophet saw the deceit of Gehazi when he came to Naamam the Syrian, that he might receive under his name what he was commanded he not to do, and Naman, coming down, with eager soul, gave to him more than he had asked, 1 how much more the Apostle was able to see these things which he said in the Spirit. For greater was the grace in the Apostles than in the Prophets. And that he make them more eager concerning the things given by the Gospel, he says that he rejoices in the order of their way of living, that knowing how to please God, they become stronger in Him, by which they are made worthy to understand the usefulness of their faith. Ambrosiaster, Commentary On The Letter to The Colossians, Chapter 2 1 Colos 2.4-5 2 4 Kings 5.24