Former nobleman that is meeting resistance (7)
I believe the answer is:
earlier
'former' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'nobleman that is meeting resistance' is the wordplay.
'nobleman' becomes 'earl' (member of the nobility).
'that is' becomes 'ie' (short for Latin 'id est', 'that is').
'meeting' says to put letters next to each other.
'resistance' becomes 'r' (electronics abbreviation).
'earl'+'ie'+'r'='EARLIER'
(Other definitions for earlier that I've seen before include "in the past" , "Further back in time" , "(Happening) before in time" , "Beforehand" , "Further in advance" .)