These disasters will lead to spiritualism on a grand scale because of the great loss of life. Spiritualism is the belief that a person can communicate with the dead. This belief is linked directly with the non-scriptural understanding that dead loved ones are alive in the spirit world. It is widely taught among Christians that when a person dies their spirit being goes directly to heaven. This belief opens the door "to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils" 1 Timothy 4:1.

People seek comfort when loved ones die. Many seek comfort that their loved ones are still alive and attempt to communicate with them. This happened during the time of the American Civil War and World War I because of the great casualties and loss of life. It led to the rise of Spiritualism in America. This will happen again when natural calamities strike with devastating loss of life.

Arthur Conan Doyle, The History of Spiritualism Volume I, 1926 stated the following during the time of the American Civil War:

Despite numerous instances of chicanery, the appeal of Spiritualism was strong. Prominent in the ranks of its adherents were those grieving the death of a loved one. Many families during the time of the American Civil War had seen their men go off and never return, and images of the battlefield, produced through the new medium of photography, demonstrated that their loved ones had not only died in overwhelmingly huge numbers, but horribly as well. One well known case is that of Mary Todd Lincoln who, grieving the loss of her son, organized séances in the White House which were attended by her husband, President Abraham Lincoln. The surge of spiritualism during this time, and later during World War I, was a direct response to those massive battlefield casualties.

Spiritualism is based on the unscriptural belief of the "immortality of the soul" - the soul is inherently immortal. This is a fundamental teaching among Protestant Americans and Catholics. It is also the teaching of Eastern Religions through Mysticism and ancestor worship. It is however unbiblical, and opens the door for communication with demons disguised as dead loved ones.

Here is what the Bible teaches.

1 Timothy 6:15,16 KJV

v.15 Which in his times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords;

v.16 Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.

Who only hath immortality? Only God has immortality who is "the King of kings, and Lord of lords." No created being has inherent immortality. God grants immortality to all created beings that obey His commands. Therefore when death occurs, there is no immortal soul to go to heaven or hell.

If a soul is not immortal what happens when a person dies?

The breath ceases. The body returns to dust. The person sleeps. At the resurrection morning, Jesus returns in the clouds of heaven to take the righteous to heaven.

John 11:11,14,24 KJV

v.11 These things said he: and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep.

v.14 Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead.

v.24 Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.

Clearly, Jesus taught that Lazarus' death was a type of sleep. When Christ told Martha that her brother would rise again, she immediately understood that this would occur at the resurrection "at the last day." However, Jesus called Lazarus from the dead to show Martha and all present that He is the resurrection and the Life.

Some make a distinction between the resurrection of the body and the ascension of the spirit. At death, they say the body sleeps while the spirit goes to heaven. However, the Bible teaches that a righteous person sleeps at death and receives both an incorruptible body and immortality from God, at the same time, during the second coming of Christ in the clouds of heaven.

1 Corinthians 15:51-54 KJV

v.51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,

v.52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

v.53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

v.54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

Death is not "swallowed up" or conquered until we put on an incorruptible body and receive the gift of immortality at the same time, "at the last trump."

"For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first." 1 Thessalonians 4:16.

Therefore, if the righteous receive their incorruptible body and the gift of immortality at the same time when Christ returns, how can a person's immortal soul go to heaven without their incorruptible body when they die?

And if a righteous person receives their incorruptible body and the gift of immortality immediately when they die, why have a resurrection when Christ returns?

1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 KJV

v.13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.

v.14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him [back to heaven John 14:1-3].

v.15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.

v.16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

v.17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

The second coming of Jesus Christ in the clouds is the hope of every Christian. Many righteous people have died believing in faith that Jesus will resurrect them at His second coming. The righteous living also look forward to Christ return.

John 5:25,28,29 KJV

v.25 Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.

v.28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,

v.29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

The verses above state clearly that the dead who rise at the resurrection of life hear the voice of the Son of God from their "graves." Why do the righteous dead hear the voice of the Son of God from their graves if they are already in heaven when they die?

Again, some believe that to "be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord" 2 Corinthians 5:8, means to die and immediately go to heaven in spirit form without a body.

But 2 Corinthians 5:1 says, "For we know that if our earthly house [corruptible body] of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house [incorruptible body] not made with hands, eternal in the heavens."

If God has a "house" [incorruptible body] for us "eternal in the heavens", why are we not joined to that incorruptible body immediately when we die, "absent from the [corruptible earthly] body" and present with the Lord in heaven?

Since there is no sense of time in sleep or unconsciousness, can this simply mean to be absent from the body [unconsciousness] is to be present [consciousness] when the Lord returns?

Satan is a deceiver. Those who believe that their dead relatives are alive in the spirit world will be deceived by Satan and his demon companions.

Natural disasters will bring death to people and loved ones on a grand scale. Understanding the state of the dead that the "dead know not any thing", Ecclesiastes 9:5, will keep you from falling to the spiritualistic delusions of the enemy in these last days.

Remember, "the Protestants of the United States will be foremost in stretching their hands across the gulf to grasp the hand of spiritualism; they will reach over the abyss to clasp hands with the Roman power; and under the influence of this threefold union, this country will follow in the steps of Rome in trampling on the rights of conscience" (GC 588, 1911). It is this combined union of Protestants, Catholics and Spiritualism that leads to the enforcement of Sunday observance contrary to the Bible Sabbath.

Here are some additional Bible verses that refer to the state of the dead and the resurrection at the return of Jesus.

Psalm 17:15; Ecclesiastes 9:5,10; John 11:11,14; Matthew 9:24; Mark 5:39; Luke 8:52; John 14:1-3; John 5:25,28-29; Acts 2:34; Acts 13:36; 1 Corinthians 11:30; 1 Corinthians 15:6,18,51-52; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17

Reference:

¹ 07/25/2015 CNN: "Powerful earthquake possible in San Francisco's Hayward Fault Zone "