Introduction: Religious imagination is never good for us. We must never live our lives with a worldview taken from our own minds. We must live our lives with a worldview submitted to Scripture. What we find in Scripture is truth. What we embrace as spiritually true that isn’t found in Scripture is imagination. That includes religious imagination when it comes to the question of demons. We must not imagine demonic activity where there is none. Nor should we ever understand demonic activity in a way contrary to Scripture — attributing to demons what Scripture doesn’t teach and practicing a response to demons that we don’t find in a right reading of God’s Word. NONE OF THAT IS SAFE OR GOD-GLORIFYING. But are we convinced that it is EQUALLY dangerous to imagine NO DEMONIC ACTIVITY where the Bible clearly says it exists? MYSTICISM must be rejected by God’s people. But MATERIALISM must also be rejected by God’s people. THE BIBLE LEAVES US WITH NO DOUBT ABOUT THE REALITY AND THE CONSEQUENTIAL NATURE OF A WORLD THAT WE CAN’T SEE. The Bible tells us of spiritual realities that we would never understand without its testimony. WHERE WE ONCE LIVED There is a real kingdom of darkness that — not only operates at this very moment — we BELONGED TO before the Lord saved us. NAS Colossians 1:13 For He delivered us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. We must let it sink in — we must truly believe — that when we talk about demons and see their hateful, evil, destructive nature, that it represents the very realm that our lives once operated in spiritually. WHERE WE CURRENTLY HAVE A BATTLE BUT NOT ONLY IS THAT REALM WHERE WE ONCE LIVED, IT REPRESENTS A CURRENT BATTLE. NAS Ephesians 6:12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. WHERE LOST HUMANITY EXISTS AND THE DESTINY TOWARD WHICH IT IS HEADED What we are seeing in Revelation 9 is that during the great tribulation that is going to come upon this world, God is going to pour out a judgment upon humanity that allows for demonic activity to be unleashed upon people with great and terrible force. In the fifth trumpet we saw it will be a TORMENTING activity. In the sixth trumpet we will see it will be a MURDEROUS activity. THE WORLD OF SPIRITUAL DARKNESS THAT WE CANNOT SEE WITH OUR EYES WILL BE UNLEASHED ON HUMANITY IN TERRIBLE WAYS UNMATCHED IN HUMAN HISTORY. And the apostle John is being told about this through visions. He saw SPIRITUAL REALITIES BEING DEPICTED IN WAYS HE COULD DESCRIBE. I. THE DEMONS RELEASED (vs.13-16) The demons released with the 5th trumpet were specifically forbidden to bring death (9:5). Those demons are now joined by a release that brings death. A. THE VOICE (vs.13) John hears a voice (it is likely the voice of the angel stationed at this altar in 8:3). That voice comes from the altar of incense. 1. COMING FROM THE ALTAR OF INCENSE (vs.13) The altar of incense in 8:3 is associated with the prayers of God’s people. We are now told that there are four horns on this altar. ESV Exodus 30:1 "You shall make an altar on which to burn incense; you shall make it of acacia wood. 2 A cubit shall be its length, and a cubit its breadth. It shall be square, and two cubits shall be its height. Its horns shall be of one piece with it. ESV Exodus 30:10 Aaron shall make atonement on its horns once a year. With the blood of the sin offering of atonement he shall make atonement for it once in the year throughout your generations. It is most holy to the LORD."