None but Christ

"A believer who hath the eyes of his understanding enlightened, his judgment and apprehension is [that] God is the chief good and supreme happiness [is] an interest in God, a conformity to God, the enjoyment of God here and hereafter….As a covetous and an ambitious man, and a man given to carnal pleasure, will go through much difficulty to have their respective desires fulfilled; so will a believing soul suffer the loss of all, so he may win Christ. “None but Christ,”saith an illuminated believer. “Whom have I in heaven but thee, or in the earth I desire in comparison of thee?”There are many good objects in heaven and earth besides thee. There are angels in heaven and saints on earth. But, soul, what are these to thee? Heaven, without thy presence would be no heaven to me. A palace without thee, a crown without thee, cannot satisfy me. But with thee can I be content, though in a poor cottage. With thee I am at liberty in bonds…. [I]f I have thy smiles, I can bear the world’s frowns. If I have spiritual liberty in my soul that I can ascend to thee by faith and have communion with thee, thou shalt choose my portion for me in this world, “for in the multitude of my thoughts within me, thy comforts delight my soul.”This is the esteem a believing soul hath of divine objects. Christ is precious to him, because he seeth him and believeth in him."

Hercules Collins

Devoted to the Service of the Temple: Piety, Persecution, and Ministry in the Writings of Hercules Collins.  Edited by Michael A. G. Haykin & Steve Weaver