When the functionaries of the king attempt to apprehend Abinadi, he is able to withstand them and continue with his discourse. Because Mormon is giving this recounting, we don't known whether or not the "withstanding" was a physical thing first, and then secondly verbal. It is most likely that the reason he withstood is described later, with this comment that "he withstood them" being a foreshadowing of the next events.
Specifically, Abinadi declares that they should not lay hands upon him. This suggests that while the functionaries may have made a move to do so, they had not yet touched him. Abinadi notes that he has a message to deliver, and that it is not completed. It is important for our understanding of the character of Abinadi that he mentions that he should not be "destroyed at this time." He clearly understands that his is a fatal mission. Even in the apparent prophetic foreknowledge of his personal destruction, Abinadi yet accepts his mission from the Lord.