He spoke of the "exclusivity and sufficiency of Jesus Christ," noting that he asserted an exclusive truth claim in his declaration as "the way, the truth and the life." While he acknowledged that members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints differ in many of their views from historic Christianity, he emphasized much of what they share in reverence for a being both consider the divine Savior of mankind.

Christ as Lord offered the perfect "description of the human condition," he said, noting that when surveying the world's major religious traditions, "no where is the doctrine of sin so clearly enunciated as in the Christian faith." Without such a definition, relativism makes almost any behavior acceptable because it can simply be called some kind of sickness.

He related a conversation with a woman who had dedicated her life to freeing children from sexual slavery in an Asian nation, and how she had snatched an 18-month-old girl out of the hands of a man who was defiling her. "You tell me there is no such thing as evil. You want to call it deviance, aberrant, a slip of judgment? Jesus looked at it and called it what it was.

"Psychologists are coming to the realization that in taking away that word (sin), they've taken away that which was needed to identify what was real."

The Bible says all people commit sin, and thus "come short before the glory of God. Have you seen your own heart before Jesus Christ?"

Christianity is the one faith that offers true forgiveness, he said, recalling his own suicide attempt as a young boy in India. Someone brought a Bible into his hospital room, and he can now relive the "moment knowing what it was to hear the Lord say, 'neither do I condemn thee. Go they way and sin no more.' "

The Christian gospel offers the one true chance at lasting peace, he said, noting a conversation last March with one of the founders of Hamas, whose members regularly take responsibility for suicide bombings among Israelis. Reminding the leader of the biblical account both Islam and Christianity share of Abraham offering his son on the altar, he told the man that God stayed the execution.

"Until we receive the Son that has been provided, we'll be offering our own sons" up to the killing fields of warfare.

He said Jesus is the "embodiment of the ideal" of purity, and as such, evil will seek to besmirch his character. Singling out the best-selling novel, "The Da Vinci Code," as a great "gasp of human skepticism," he said, "what better way to nail in the coffin of Christendom than to attack the purity of Christ." The book presumes a sexual relationship between Jesus and Mary Magdalene.

Christ's triumph over the grave will outlast such speculation, he said, quoting evangelist Billy Graham's answer to the chancellor of Germany in the wake of World War II. "Outside the resurrection of Jesus Christ, I know of no other hope for mankind." The 45-minute sermon was greeted with a warm standing ovation.