On September 1, 1894, in the deep woods of Minnesota, a huge forest fire came raging into a little lumber town named Hinckley. As walls of flame roared towards them, the terrified inhabitants raced in panic toward the railroad tracks, the only clear pathway through the forest.
As they ran wildly away from the town and its buildings, some already bursting into flame, a passenger train was heading toward Hinckley, bound for the city of St. Paul. Jim Root, the engineer at the throttle, saw the fire and thought he could race it, but as he neared Hinckley he realized that it was too late. The trestle ahead had collapsed in flame.
Reversing his engine, Jim held his train there long enough to let the fleeing crowd of people clamber aboard—held it until the flames were surrounding his train. Then it was full speed backward toward the nearest deep water, Skunk Lake, six miles back down the line.
Through a furnace of fiery flames they plunged. Overheated air exploded against the locomotive, and glass was flying everywhere. The baggage car and crossties were burning.
Flying pieces of debris tore into Jim's face and shoulders; flame scorched his hair, face and hands. Faint from the smoke, he slumped into unconsciousness until Jack McGowan, the fire tender, threw a bucket of cold water on him. Gritting his teeth, he shifted the throttle back open and the train continued through the inferno with its load of screaming, crying and praying people.
At last, Jim could tell through his swollen eyes that they were at the lake. He slammed on the brakes and collapsed. The passengers tumbled off and broke down the fencing around the water and dived into its cool wetness as the fire roared over them.
McGowan and two other men pulled Jim Root from the cab. As they pulled his hands from the throttle, the skin stayed on the metal. They dragged him, badly burned, into the lake.
The fire passed, leaving the train looking like a skeleton of twisted metal. Jim Root survived, although scarred for life. His bravery and courage had saved many lives, but at a terrible cost to himself.
There is another who went through fire—the awful fire of the judgment of God upon sin. It was the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who suffered on the cross—suffered more than we can ever know or understand—and did it to save others. (He saved others; Himself He cannot save. This was the taunt of the watching crowd at the crucifixion.) He too was scarred, and those scars make their appeal to this day: He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed. (Isa. 53:55But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. (Isaiah 53:5).)
The passengers on Jim Root's train accepted his sacrifice for them in deep thankfulness, and were saved from the fire. To accept the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus means salvation too: salvation from the terrible, never-dying fire of hell. The passengers were saved—are you saved? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.