I've read the whole of the original post and I've tried to follow the line of discussion, but I have to admit that I've got a bit lost. For my part, I'm completely satisfied that the "body" and the "bride" are both the assembly, composed of all believers in the Lord Jesus. The assembly has great importance in the counsels of God, and so He speaks of it in different ways, to convey different impressions about it. The assembly as the body of Christ and the assembly as the bride of Christ are two different thoughts, but both are speaking about the same entity.
This is a large subject, not one I would claim to be hugely familiar with. There are some important distinctions to be made though, and I believe the difference between "the kingdom of God" and the "kingdom of the heavens" is something that we need to get hold of, especially in connection with the
parable of the ten virgins.
The Lord Jesus spoke of the kingdom of God as referring to the time that He was here (and the future time when He will come again and establish His rightful dominion over the earth).
"... Jesus came into Galilee preaching the glad tidings of the kingdom of God, and saying, The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God has drawn nigh; repent and believe in the glad tidings." (Mark 1:14).
"And into whatsoever city ye may enter and they receive you, eat what is set before you, and heal the sick in it, and say to them, The kingdom of God is come nigh to you. But into whatsoever city ye may have entered and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, Even the dust of your city, which cleaves to us on the feet, do we shake off against you; but know this, that the kingdom of God is come nigh." (Luke 10:8).
The kingdom of God was come nigh, it was there, and it was evidenced by the healing of the sick. God, in the Person of the Lord Jesus, was in the kingdom and His power was in evidence in it. Though, as we see from Luke 9 and 10, He wouldn't come where He wasn't wanted, I don't think the kingdom would be composed of insubject people. More than that, I can't say: I fully admit that I have a great deal to learn about this. I found the following extract from J.N.D.'s ministry helpful (and I include the next question as to the Church as an interesting aside):
"
Question: What is the difference between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of heaven?
JND: When the King was here, the kingdom of God could be said to be present, but, for that very reason, the kingdom of heaven was not come;
the kingdom of heaven could not come until He went away. When the kingdom of God shall be set up in power, it will still be the kingdom of heaven. When He comes again, it will be the kingdom of God according to Mark and Luke, and will be the kingdom of heaven according to Matthew. The moral force of it is the great point of difference.
Question: How is it different from the church?
JND: The church is God's assembly, and, viewed in its heavenly place of association with Christ, it is the body of the Head. The kingdom is the sphere of government. The church is very distinct as God's house, the Spirit of God makes it His habitation; but it is the body of Christ, united to Him, the Head, in heaven; a wholly different thing. Government is the great thought in the kingdom; but grace is the thought in the church; that which God calls, that which He elects."
(Collected Writings of J.N.D. - Volume 42 - page 14).
In the kingdom of the heavens, we have a different idea. It doesn't communicate the same idea as the kingdom of God, with Jesus on earth among men and all things held in His power. The kingdom of the heavens speaks of conditions on earth in Christ's absence, while the King is in heaven. What are these conditions? We see them in the parables related in Matthew's gospel. The kingdom of the heavens
"has become like a man sowing good seed in his field" (Matthew 13:24)
"like a grain of mustard seed" (Matthew 13:31),
"like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal until it had been all leavened." (Matthew 13:33),
"like a seine which has been cast into the sea, and which has gathered together of every kind" (Matthew 13:47),
"like a king who made a wedding feast for his son" (Matthew 22:2), and it will
"be made like to ten virgins that having taken their torches, went forth to meet the bridegroom" (Matthew 25:1). Every one of these parables has a common feature, and that is the introduction or the development of what is evil. We see the enemy sowing tares among the wheat, the grain of mustard seed becoming a tree in which the birds come and roost, the leaven contaminating the whole of the meal, the seine (or, 'net') being cast into the sea and gathering together every kind (some worthless), the persons invited to wedding feast who wouldn't come, and then the foolish virgins. All this has come in or will come in during the "waiting time", the time of the Lord's absence. Each parable describes a different feature of evil, persons, actions and systems which are in Christendom (and by Christendom, I mean the mass of the
profession of Christianity, which includes believers and unbelievers - unconverted professors of religion).
The tares (or 'darnel') are false brethren. They look very much like the real thing, just as tares are very close in appearance to wheat, and they are "the sons of the evil one" (Matthew 13:38). They come in "surreptitiously" as we see in Galatians 2:4. These are not believers.
The mustard tree is false greatness. Christendom has grown up to be a "tree", large and influential in public life, but in doing so, it has attracted unclean things, "the birds of heaven come and roost in its branches". It's become a haven, down the centuries, for the power-hungry and the ambitious to build themselves a nest of clerical privilege.
The leaven is evil, introduced in small, subtle ways, but spreading its contamination throughout. A sober word.
The worthless fish are empty professors, with no savour for God in them. These are not real believers, who are "gathered... into vessels", saved from destruction.
The persons originally invited to the wedding feast are (I believe) the Gentiles and the Jews. The former "made light of it, and went, one to his own land, and another to his commerce" - they disdained God and went after their own things, and were given up to the worship of idols. We perhaps see this in the family line of Cain. The latter "laying hold of his bondmen, ill-treated and slew them." There were those of the back-sliding Jews, "those who slew the prophets" (Matthew 23:31) and eventually slew the Messiah Himself. I think we get a touch of Roman truth here: neither Gentile nor Jew answered to the glory of God, so He "shut up together all in unbelief, in order that he might shew mercy to all." (Romans 11:32). His love "went out into the highways" to all men, and brought them in "both evil and good", regardless of their sin history. But, one comes without the wedding garment. Someone who has not trusted in the Saviour. He trusted in works, or righteousnesses. He comes dressed in his own clothes, the filthy rags of his own righteousness, and before the Great White Throne "he was speechless". Again, this is not a believer, and never could a believer be expelled into "the outer darkness" as this man was.
Then we come to the foolish virgins. Again, we have outward profession, they have torches, just as the prudent did, and they were virgins, like the prudent - they were indistinguishable from the prudent. But, "all grew heavy and slept". This would perhaps equate to the Dark Ages, that period in history when the light of the testimony shone out only in a few places, and much of the precious truths of Christianity were obscured by superstition and ignorance. Then, there's the midnight cry. Some might say that that was the Reformation, others might put it at a later date. I wouldn't like to speculate, but I think we can say that the midnight cry has already come. God, in His grace, has revived so much precious truth, of "the faith once delivered to the saints" (Jude 1:3) and brought it to light! The oil in this parable would speak of the Holy Spirit, and this awakening is a drawing attention to the service and Person of "the friend of the Bridegroom" (John 3:29), the one who is preparing the bride, the assembly, for the Bridegroom's arrival. The virgins arose and trimmed their torches. Much has had to be dealt with and judged by the faithful believer during the recovery of the truth. Much that is not of God, which would dim the light of the testimony, has had to be "trimmed". No doubt there is still trimming to be done of
my lamp. Then, the lack of the oil becomes apparent, and the empty, foolish virgins are exposed. "Give us of your oil, for our torches are going out", the plead with the prudent. The emptiness of their profession is exposed - they've scorned and grieved the Holy Spirit. Although they've got by on rituals, histrionics, charitable deeds, good works, all the outward profession of Christian character, they lack the
life which fuels the
light. They now see others who have the Spirit, and they want what they have to prop up their profession. The prudent, however, won't share their oil. They won't contaminate themselves by association with unreal professors of empty religion. The Lord would say to these, "Because thou sayest, I am rich, and am grown rich, and have need of nothing, and knowest not that
thou art the wretched and the miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked; I counsel thee to buy of me gold purified by fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white garments, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness may not be made manifest; and eye-salve to anoint thine eyes, that thou mayest see." (Revelation 3:18). But, for these foolish virgins, it's too late. They go away to buy for themselves, and the ones who were ready, those who had trusted in Christ and depended on the Holy Spirit,
they go in to the feast. The Lord says to them, "I do not know you." They had nothing of Him, they hadn't trusted in Him.
So, we see here, in the prudent virgins, the
Church and in the foolish virgins,
the profession. Both are lumped together in Christendom, they grow together till the harvest. We mustn't confuse the thought of the Church with the kingdom, or Christendom with the Church.
P.S. I apologise for the length of this post, but I think Gerald has set the tone in his OP.