The "instruments of darkness" Banquo refers to are the witches who cross paths with Macbeth and Banquo after the men have played a major role in putting down the rebellion against Duncan, their king. The witches promise Macbeth that he will be Thane of Cawdor and ultimately king, and that Banquo's descendents will be kings. This prophecy plants the seed of ambition in Macbeth, who begins to experience inner turmoil as the idea of killing his king, and thus hastening the prophecy, takes shape.
Banquo, in contrast to Macbeth, is less inclined to believe the witches and to trust their intentions. He voices his concern that the witches offer future glory, "tell us truths," only "to win us with honest trifles." Unlike Macbeth, he fears that these evil beings' predictions may indeed come true, but only as a way of snaring those whom they intend eventually "to betray's / In deepest consequence." Banquo sets himself apart from Macbeth here because he has the insight to see a trap in these prophecies.
In a play where "fair is foul" and appearance cannot be taken for reality, Banquo seems instinctively to know that the witches are using the truth in order to lure Macbeth away from his conscience. Their words will result in a deed so inconsistent with who Macbeth is at the beginning of the play that, after murdering Duncan, he will admit that he no longer knows himself.
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