The Letter to the Church in Sardis is the 5th of seven messages from Jesus to churches in Asia Minor. He has the Apostle John rip their actions, which gave the church a reputation for being alive. However, Jesus knew their actions were not out of obedience nor for His sake, and thus the people were spiritually dead. Instead of being true worshippers and followers of Jesus, they were mere people pleasers, particularly trying to please only themselves.